Out & About: Blaine/Andover

#2 or is it 3? posting 11.4.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

7AAA FINALS
BLAINE 3, ANDOVER 2
25-17, 20-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-8

Blaine won a five game battle with their neighbor & rival from the Northwest Suburban Andover. The Kelly family was split with daughter Jackie of Blaine taking home bragging rights. Mom Lisa is an assistant at Andover. Both teams put up great rallies, but Blaine had overall better net play and more weapons to advance to the state. They open with Hibbing on Thursday at 11 am at the Excel Center.

Andover started off with the lead due to Blaine hitting/passing errors 2-0, but their last lead was at 3-2. With Kristin Cook serving the Bengals grabbed the lead for good at 5-4. Both ot the points on Cook's serve were the result of Andover net violations. Of the first nine Blaine serves, six players delivered points. There was never a big run at this stage, but Blaine started to put distance between themselves and Andover. At 17-12 with Andover took a time out. They got the ball back and cut the lead to 18-16 after a Megan Carlson kill. Lindsey Baumgartner got a tip kill for Blaine to get the ball back. Jessica Granquist served up five straight point to put them on the verge 24-16. Cook had two kills in the run. A missed serve gave it back to Andover. Baumgartner ended the first frame with a quick kill.

Andover shook off the first game blues and grabbed a 5-2 lead in game two. Krista Erickson got involved in the scoring this game as she was shut out of scoring in game one. Blaine tied it up, the last time at six, but after a missed Blaine serve, Carlson delivered an ace and Andover never trailed again. Blaine burned a time out at 11-7 after an ace by Heidi Larsen. Lauren Cipperly had three straight points to push the lead to 16-10. Blaine had a run left too. Arriel Mewhorter served up five points and cut the Andover lead 18-17. Andover took a time out at 18-16, but got the ball back one serve later on a Granquist hitting error. Sarah Kurtovich then served up three points for Andover to make it 22-17. Blaine took their second time out during the run. The second game closed out with six straight side outs and Andover had tied the contest. Erickson had five points in this frame.

In the first seven points in game three four points were the result of missed serves. Game three started to break Blaine's way as they scored at least one point on seven straight serves. Andover couldn't get their first ball sideout game rolling in this frame. Andover took the first time out at 15-9. Blaine had runs of three twice, but it was the small double points (8 times) that spelled the end for Andover, that and their FBSO % of .167. Even so, Andover did inch back into the contest with their own runs. Blaine took the first time out at 21-17 during Carlson's serve. They had to do another time out at 24-21 after a block by Cipperly on a Mewhorter slide kill attempt. Mewhorter did deliver point 25 on the left side directly off the serve.

Blaine led 2-0, but that was the last lead they held in game four. Andover built up a 7-3 lead after Erickson's serve. Carlson delivered two kills in the run of four. Andover built the lead to 16-9. Cook delivered two aces, including a net hugger to make it 16-12. The closest Blaine got in game four was 18-15 after a Granquist kill. Andover finished up with a 7-2 run. Cipperly ended it with a tip kill.

Blaine started off with two points on a dump by Kelly and then a hitting error by Andover. Again missed serves reared their head with three straight missed. Both teams were if fbso mode with five straight changes of possession. The game broke on Kreklow's serve as Baumgartner delivered two straight blocks. Andover took the first time out at 7-3. That did stop the Blaine run and two Blaine errors made it 7-5. The Bengals got the ball back on a Granquist kill off the block. A passing error made it 9-5 Blaine. Cipperly got a kill to get the ball back, but Larsen's serve never made it over the net. Baumgartner delivered three points on her serve. This time it was Mewhorter delivering two blocks in the run. The night ended on four straight side outs. Erickson had the two kills for Andover, and Mewhorter had points 14 and 15, the game winner.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
BLAINE
1 Jackie Kelly, S, 5-8, 2007, 0-0.5-3---3.5
2 Kristin Cook, OH, 5-10, 2007, 3-0.5-4--7.5
3 Arriel Mewhorter, MH, 6-0, 2009, 0-3-18---21
4 Molly Kreklow, S, 5-11, 2010, 0-1-2--3
5 Jessica Granquist, OH, 5-7, 2008, 0-0-12---12
6 Lindsey Baumgartner, MH, 5-11, 2007 0-5-9---14
Totals: 3-10-48---61 points, 41 points on Andover errors

ANDOVER
1 Amy Olson, S, 5-5, 2007, 0-0-0----0
1fr Chayna Wold, RH, 5-9, 2007 0-0-1---1
2 Lauren Cipperly, OH, 5-9, 2009, 2-1-7---10
3 Krista Erickson, MH, 5-10, 2007, 0-2-13---15
4 Sarah Kurtovich, S, 5-7, 2009, 0-0-0----0
4fr Samantha Neunsinger, RH, 5-10, 2007, 0-0-0---0
5 Megan Carlson, OH, 5-9, 2008, 1-1-14---16
6 Heidi Larson, L, 5-4, 2007 1-0-0----1
6fr Deena Ewert, MH, 6-1, 2008, 0-3-4---7
Totals: 4-7-39----50 points, 46 points on Blaine errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Lindsey Baumgartner for two key blocks that accelerated the momentum in game five.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Blaine 29/56--.519; 102; .598; .479
Andover 25/54---.463; 96; .521; .402
Both teams were inconsistent in their fbso. For Blaine it was .606 in the games they won, .391 in the two losses. Andover was no different. They were even better when winning at .667; only .300 in the losses. Blaine had quicker feet, played bigger at the net, and had more attack options. Andover didn't get Erickson involved early, had to modify their attack by setting deeper off the net, and had no real options on the right side.

ROTATION POINTS
BLAINE
1 Kelly 19-20 .487
2 Cook 18-16 .529
3 Mewhorter 19-15 .559
4 Kreklow 15-18 .455
5 Granquist 17-13 .567
6 Baumgartner 14-14 .500
Totals: 102-96 .515

ANDOVER
1 Olson 16-18 .471
2 Cipperly 19-19 .500
3 Erickson 17-19 .472
4 Kurtovich/Neunsinger 15-15 .500
5 Carlson 18-17 .514
6 Larsen 12-14 .462
Totals 96-102 .485

As you can see no one rotation had a great advantage. It was interesting that the best rotation and worst rotation were right next to each other on the Blaine side.

I will see if my photos took tonight. If it worked, I will post them tomorrow. I also have photos of the Eagan/Cretin game.

Next up: tomorrow morning