Out & About: Shakopee/Lakeville North

#9 posting 9.22.2007
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

APPLE VALLEY TOURNAMENT
Championship
SHAKOPEE sabers 2, LAKEVILLE NORTH panthers 1
(23-25, 25-23, 15-12)

In a true heavyweight battle #2 Shakopee topped #1 Lakeville North in three. LN rallied from a 17-15 deficit to go ahead 22-20 in game one. Shakopee took the punch and had a counter. They tied it at 23 on an overpass kill by Mariah Monnens. LN took a break and when they returned outside hitter Amy Braun put down two kills. She had six kills in the first game.

It was side out heaven in game two with 10 straight side outs. The first points scored on a serve----a rotation error on LN. The game then morphed into a sequence of five straight rotations with runs of three. That propelled Shakopee to a 17-14 lead. Lakeville North answered the challenge with a 6-3 run to tie the game. Maggie Geske helped lift Shakopee to a 23-20 margin forcing LN to call a time out at 22-20. LN had one last run, but other than the side out kill by Kelsey Brandl, the points were on Shakopee errors. After the Panthers tied the game at 23 Shakopee took a time out. Wittman got the vital side out and then powered it down on Mollie Geske's serve.

In the first five servers in the third game Shakopee was able to get the fbso 4/5 times, LN 1/5 times. That proved to be the difference maker. There was only one run in game three with Shakopee getting two points off LN errors. LN took the a time out at 9-5. Shakopee didn't hesitate to call a time out at 10-6 after a hitting error. It didn't work out Shakopee's way with another hitting error and LN was off the mat ready to challenge. The game moved into side out mode for the next seven servers. That wasn't helping LN's cause as Shakopee moved to the verge at 14-10. Braun nailed two kills to make it 14-12. Shakopee had to talk about it and the break may have iced Ellen Fox who served it deep for the final point. The FBSO difference in game three--Shakopee 7/10 .700; LN 5/9 .556.

photos: #1 Ashley Wittman goes up for an attack. Wittman had 21 kills. #2 Jessica Menden and Elizabeth Benusa share a dig. photos by kja

SHAKOPEE
1. Jessica Menden, S 0-0-2----2
2. Maggie Geske, OH 0-0.5-11--11.5
3. Mollie Geske, L 1-0-0----1
3fr Jean Theis, MH 0-0-0---0
4. Elizabeth Benusa, RH 1-0-7---8
5. Ashley Wittman, OH 0-0-21----21
6. Mariah Monnens, MH 0-1.5-1---2.5
totals: 2-2-42----46 points; 17 points on Lakeville North errors

LAKEVILLE NORTH
1. Taylor Fieldsted, L 0-0-0----0
1fr Brook Lewko, MH 0-0.5-8---8.5
2 Lindsey Weaver, DS 0-0-0----0
2fr Kristina Hanf, RH 0-0-1----1
3. Kayla Kirby, DS 0-0-0----0
3fr Kristen Zeise, OH 0-0-1---1
4. Kelsey Brandl, MH 0-1-13----14
4 Ellen Fox, Server (g2, 3) 0-0-0-----0
5 Leah Johnson, S 0-0-1----1
6. Amy Braun, OH 1-0.5-14----15.5
totals: 1-2-38----41 points, 19 points on Shakopee errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Jessica Menden. She is what I call a Mary Tyler Moore player. She took nothing plays and suddenly made it seem all worthwhile.

BY THE NUMBERS
Shakopee 23/40; .575; 63; .730; .317
Lakeville North 21/39; .538; 60; .683; .270
3+ runs: Shakopee 6, Lakeville North 5
missed serves: Shakopee 3, Lakeville North 3

ROTATIONS
SHAKOPEE
1 Menden 12-12 .500
2. Ma. Geske 14-12 .538
3. Mo. Geske 12-12 .500
4. Benusa 10-8 .556
5. Wittman 7-8 .467
6. Monnens 8-8 .500
totals: 63-60 .512

LAKEVILLE NORTH
1. Fieldsted 11-11 .500
2. Weaver 12-14 .462
3. Kirby 11-14 .440
4. Brandl/Fox 10-11 .476
5. Johnson 8-7 .533
6. Braun 8-6 .571
totals: 60-63 .488

I saw both teams earlier in the week on Monday and Tuesday. A good crowd to watch 1 vs 2.

next up: tomorrow morning