Out & About: Blaine/Hibbing

#3 posting 11.9.2006
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AAA QUARTERFINALS
BLAINE 3, HIBBING 0
25-21, 25-23, 25-17

Blaine had more weapons, better athletes, and better defense in the sweep of Hibbing. Five Bengals had five or more kills whereas not one Hibbing player got to that level. For the game Blaine had 41 kills to 16 for Hibbing. In fact Blaine had more kills than Hibbing produced for earned points. They will face Lakeville North, a 3-2 winner over Marshall.

Blaine took control of the first game with a four point run on the serve of Jackie Kelly to make it 10-6. Next up Kristin Cook delivered four more including two straight aces to make it 15-7 Blaine. Hibbing called a time out after the first ace. After the TO Cook served up a net hugger. Ali Mewhorter then served up three more to make it 19-9 and it looked like Blaine would cruise. Alia Cook put an end to that thought process with six points off her serve including three aces off her wicked serve. Blaine took the time out at 19-16 and got the ball right back on a Lindsey Baumgartner kill. Both teams traded side outs and Blaine scored their last two points on Mewhorter fbso.

Blaine again took command with a 8-4 lead on five service points from Jessica Granquist. Cook had two kills during the run. Hibbing fought back and took a 14-13 lead because Blaine didn't side out for four straight Bluejacket servers. An ace by Nicole Nyberg gave Hibbing their first lead and force Blaine to talk about it. Blaine was mired in a six straight service drought with fbso game humming for Hibbing. That broke on Jackie Kelly's serve. She broke a 17 tie with an ace and then added five more points with Mewhorter providing a kill and a block in the run. Blaine led 23-17, but Hibbing wasn't done yet. Breanna Chamernick had five straight points off her serve to make it 23-22. Amber Brant provided two straight kills to close the margin. A kill by Molly Kreklow from the left side on a touch ball put Blaine on the verge. The turned it over on Cook's missed serve, but Mewhorter ended it with a kill 25-23.

Blaine again had the early lead with Granquist serving up three points on a 6-1 lead. Hibbing tied it right up at six with Amber Brant providing two straight aces to six. Both team got their fbso game going with Blaine stopping Hibbin seven straight times, and Hibbing returning the favor four. Granquist broke the pattern with an ace, Baumgartner got one point off her serve. Cook delivered three points on her serve to make it 22-16. Her first two were aces and Hibbing had to stop that at 20-16, but again Cook had an ace after the TO. Hibbing got the ball back on a net serve, but never scored again. Baumgartner had a slide kill to finish the game.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
BLAINE
1 Ali Mewhorter, MH, 6-0, 2009, 1-3-10---14
1br Ashley Kuduk, DS, 5-4, 2007 0-0-0---0
2 Molly Kreklow, S, 6-0, 2010, 0-0-4---4
3 Jessica Granquist, OH, 5-7, 2008, 1-0-7---8
4 Lindsey Baumgartner, MH, 5-11, 2007, 0-1-8--9
5 Jackie Kelly, S, 5-8, 2007, 2-0.5-1--3.5
6fr Kirstin Cook, OH, 5-9, 2007, 4-0.5-11--15.5
6br Jane Ollila, L, 5-5, 2007, 0-0-0---0
Totals: 8-5-41---54 points, 21 points on Hibbing errors

HIBBING
1br Lindsey Jacobson, DS, 5-8, 2007 2-0-0---2
1fr Alia Cook, MH, 6-2, 2008, 3-3-2---8
2 Nicole Nyberg, S, 5-6, 2007 2-0-0--2
3 Amber Brant, OH, 5-10, 2007 3-1-4---8
4 Chelsea Koth, MH, 5-10, 2008, 0-2-4---6
5 Kelsey Wirtanen, RH, 5-7, 2009, 0-0-1--1
5fr Kate Lange, RH, 5-11, 2010 0-0-3---3
6 Breanna Chamernick, OH, 5-6, 2008, 0-0-0---0
6g3 Paige Hardy, OH, 5-7, 2009, 0-0-2---2
Totals: 10-6-16---32 points, 29 points on Blaine errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Kristin Cook tough serving, and 11 kills gets her the nod.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Blaine 22/35--.629; 75; .720; .475
Hibbing 17/34---.500; 61, .525; .280
Blaine really didn't get their fbso game going until the final frame with 10/12. They were flirting with 50% in games one and two. Two players with 10 kills, and four with 7 or more shows the balance and versatility of the Blaine offense. Hibbing on the other hand, had no real chances to get in their flow, they were constantly reacting to the Blaine attack, never getting the ball where they wanted.
One potential problem for Blaine was their 14 missed serves on the night. It didn't bite them on the rear tonight, but I don't know if Lakeville North will be as forgiving.

ROTATION POINTS
BLAINE
1 Mewhorter 12-16 .393
2 Kreklow 8-6 .571
3 Granquist 17-11 .607
4 Baumgartner 11-8 .579
5 Kelly 15-13 .536
6 Cook 12-7 .632
totals 75-61 .551

HIBBING
1 Jacobson/Cook 15-9 .625
2 Nyberg 10-12 .455
3 Brant 11-15 .423
4 Koth 7-10 .412
5 Wirtanen 8-19 .296
6 Chamernick 10-10 .500
Totals: 61-75 .449
Blaine altered their service order from Kelly as #1 to Mewhorter #1. Mewhorter was sub .400 on the day, but Cook delivered the top performace at .632. Hibbing's 3-5 rotation were anemic.

Next up: I am going back to St. Paul to watch Lake of the Woods/Stewartville in the Marquee match up tonight. I was forced to leave the tournament this afternoon due to medical, business, and dog issues.