Rushford-Peterson Pulls Stunner, MN Twins?

#1 posting 10.27.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BOWMAN/PENIATA
Imagine my surprise when I opened the StarTribune this morning and saw two volleyball players on the front page--even above the fold. Kelly Bowman and Malama (better known as Marci in HS) Peniata have been linked forever. I thought good--VB is getting some respect.

I personally know the early stages of this linkage as Osseo (the team I coached back then) faced Armstrong for the championship in 5AAA for two of the three years they played. The 2001 final was one for the ages because both had over 50 kills. I believe Peniata had two more than Bowman.

One more tidbit since we are in playoff season: In 1997 Kelly Bowman was a 7th grader starting for Osseo. (Peniata and Armstrong were in different sections then). We were the 10th seed in 5AAA, and upset #7 Fridley in three, #2 Mpls South at South in the quaters in five after trailing 2-0, (Kelly Bowman made some spectacular plays to save our hides in that contest) #6 Mpls Southwest in the semis in five after trailing 2-0 and 13-9 in the third game. We did lose to Columbia Heights in the finals, but I don't think a 10 seed has made the finals since then in any MN section.

The MN Daily has a preview of the upcoming two games against Ohio State & Penn State.

SECTION PLAYOFFS
AAA
2
#1 seed Marshall dusted their brooms with Fairmont 8, 10, & 11. From the Marshall Independent.
#7 Mankato East survived an upset bid by #10 Dassel-Cokato in five. From the Mankato Free Press.
# Litchfield beat Worthington with the fourth game going extra time to Litch 28-26. Worthington took the first game. From the West Central Tribune and Worthington Daily Globe.
#8 New Ulm ended #9 Monticello's season in a sweep 23, 9, 21. From the New Ulm Journal. #4 Waconia swept #13 Willmar 17, 13, 18. From the West Central Tribune.
4 For those of you wondering who won the switcheroo game Champlin Park did win in three over Stillwater. Check yesterday's last story for that rip off. The teams that were supposed to win did. The longest contest was Spring Lake Park's five gamer with Mounds View. They trailed 2-1.
7
Hibbing swept Proctor on Wednesday and here is the story on the sweep in the Hibbing Daily Tribune.
8
St. Cloud Tech won the play in game over Brainerd in three. From the St. Cloud Times.

AA
1
#7 East Rushford-Peterson shocked and stunned #2 East Winona Cotter. RP trailed 14-5 in the 5th and final game and somehow managed to find away to tie the game at 14. Junior Alyssa Miller served up those points for RP. RP took game five 19-17. Much more in the Winona Daily News.
#3 East Caledonia swept past St. Charles 16, 10, 14 in a statement game. From the Winona Daily News. Caledonia will play Rushford-Peterson in the semis Saturday.
#1 East Wabasha-Kellogg didn't have problems Plainview-Elgin-Millville in a 18, 18, 17 sweep. From the WDT.
In the west half Byron and Stewartville both had sweeps to move on. Kingsland had to go five in order to move on with a marathon win over Pine Island. Kingsland trailed 2-0 before their comeback.
2
Upsets abounded in the East side of this section with three upsets. #5 Cannon Falls pulled a mild upset with a four game win over #4 Hayfield. But the bigger upset was #6 NRHEG taking out #3 Kasson-Mantorville in five. NRHEG won the last three games after trailing 2-0. They won game three 26-24, game four 28-26 and game five 15-13. In the final upset it was a sweep for Kenyon-Wanamingo over Medford with tight games in one and three.
In the West only #5 Maple River's win over #4 Sibley East threw off the seeds.
4
All the top seeds moved on in this section. Jordan didn't let Blake get into double digits in their sweep. Mayer Lutheran also slammed the door on Breck with no double digits.
5
three 3-0 sweeps ruled in the north half.
6
Montevideo swept Ortonville 11, 17, 8 in the start of 6AA action. this & More in the West Central Tribune. The north half starts tonight.
8
There are four number one seeds, but only three move on. Breckendridge upset Barnesville in five to spoil the seeds. Breckenridge trailed 2-1 but won game four 27-25, and game five 16-14.
DGF swept Crookston. From the Fargo Forum. There is also video from WDAY on the Forum site. It is still somewhat choppy, but DGF, and Rothsay have highlights.
East Grand Forks beat Hawley in three. From the Grand Forks Herald.

A
1
There were on upsets in this field. Bethlehem Acadmey only gave up 11 points in their dominating win over MN Deaf. LeRoy-Ostrander had to go five to get past Spring Grove. LRO trailed 2-1 before getting the comeback win.
2
Nicollet swept Mankato Loyola 19, 15, 20. They will face GHECML in the semis. GHECML dropped New Ulm Cathedral in three. Both stories from the New Ulm Journal.
KMS swept Cleveland in the north half 10, 12, 9. This and more in the West Central Tribune.
Cedar Mountain-Comfrey upset Buffalo Lake-Hector in four in the only match that didn't go according to seed.
4
No upsets here. Fourth Baptist had to go five with Bethany to advance.
5
In the south #5 Brandon-Evansville swept #4 Isle in an upset game and in the north #5 Northland did the same to #4 Verndale but it took one more game.
6
Lake Park-Audubon had to go five to beat Park Christian.
Underwood took care of CGB 18, 17, 13 to start their tournament experience. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.
8
In a mild upset #9 Fertile-Beltrami swept #8 Red Lake Falls to move on.

SECTION PREVIEWS
The Worthington Daily Globe has a rundown of the matchups in 3AA and 3A.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
AAA
Kerri Jones, Mankato East 45 vs Dassel-Cokato 3-2

BLOCKS
3 games
AAA
Courtney Steinhauser, New Ulm 11 (9 solo) vs Monticello 3-0

DIGS
4 games
AAA
Holli Aggen, Worthington 23 vs Litchfield 1-3
AA
Laura Tvrdik, Minnewaska 24 vs Benson 1-3

KILLS
5 games
AAA
Mallory Zimmermann, Mankato East 25 vs Dassel-Cokato 3-2
4 games
AAA
Brittany Euerle, Litchfield 19 vs Worthington 3-1
Megan Lambertson, Litchfield 17 vs Worthington 3-1
Holli Aggen, Worthington 17 vs Litchfield 1-3
A
Sam Lindstedt, Rothsay 15 vs Waubun 3-1
3 games
AA
Krystal Lacey, West Central 17 vs Parkers Prairie 3-0
Katrina Brekke, East Grand Forks 17 vs Hawley 3-0
A
Kayla Tschida, Upsala 16 vs Henning 3-0

Next up: later tonight after the Gopher/Ohio State game