Playoff Out & About: STMA/Alexandria

#5 posting 10.31.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 8AAA
Championship
ST. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE knights 3, ALEXANDRIA cardinals 2
(25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 19-17)

In a Halloween classic, #1 South seed STMA beat #1 North seed Alexandria in a tight thriller/heartbreaker depending on which side of the bleachers you sat. The passion of the fans took on an added emphasis with the Halloween costumes. The fact is I went through a whole clip of photos and then some. I also had to move from my favorite angle on the bleachers due to the overwhelming Cardinal support than continually blocked my view. I perched myself in the end zone for unobstructed views, but photo profiles were sacrificed.

This had all the makings of a classic before it began: #1. Both teams were ranked in the coaches poll---STMA #4; Alex #7; #2 Both teams were ranked in the MaxPreps all state poll---STMA #5; Alex #6. #3. Both teams had two players each that will continue on with their volleyball careers after high school. The electricity was already crackling in the air. Throw in Costumes and the give and take and you come up with memorable volleyball. Rallies lasted longer, with players making digs and keeping the ball alive. With a ticket to state on the line you would expect nothing less than full effort. Both teams did that and more tonight.

Alex had a 2-1 lead in the contest. In the fourth set both teams were tied at 20 before the Knights closed with five straight points. In the fifth set, STMA led 14-10. Alex fought back four straight match points to tie it at 14. STMA had two more chances and didn't close. Alex then had one match point but it wasn't in the Cards for them at 17-16. Katherine Harms had the key side out point to tie at 17 and then served out. Alex was in the net for point 18, and Harms put down her 33rd kill of the night from the back row to make it a good Knight for STMA.

The first set was a back and forth until a 10-3 run by STMA broke the game open. Alex led 13-12 when the Knights started their surge. Alex took two time outs at 16-13 and 22-16 trying to stop the Knight momentum. In both situations it worked. STMA led 24-18 but needed four set points to close out the Cardinals. Harms had 12 points in the first set, including five of the last eight STMA points.

The first set featured four runs by both teams combined. Set two the runs doubled. STMA used the momentum in the first set to get out to a 7-4 run. Harms had three points at that time, but only had one more the rest of the set. Alex got right back into the fray with four straight points of their own. That was the start of a 11-2 Cardinal run to put Alex up 13-9. The pendulum swung back to the Knights as they embarked on a 10-2 run. Alex had to burn two time outs to halt the momentum, one with Alex up 13-12, the other at 19-15 STMA. The pendulum swung back Alex's direction after the second time out. The Cardinals closed with a 10-3 run with five different players putting down kills for Alex. STMA took their first time out at 20 and after the break exchanged three side outs to lead 22-21. The final four Alex points came on a block and kill by Jacque Brown and then two kills by Alicia Montbriand. The series was all tied up.

The theme of set three was a block party. Alexandria had 8 points on blocks in set three as the Knights didn't pierce their defenses. STMA had to resort to tips at times. Alex jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Of the first 9 Cardinal points in set three five came via blocks. STMA did close to 10-9, but Alex responded with a 4-1 run forcing a Knight time out at 14-10. Ariel Carlson delivered two blocks in that sequence. She had four for set three alone. After the time out both teams traded side outs for six serves. STMA had another push of three to cut the margin to 18-16 which forced the first Alex time out. Jacque Brown scored the next two points for Alex on a block (naturally) and a kill. Once again the persistent Knights closed the gap to 23-22 with two straight points by Carly Rothstein on an overpass kill followed by a block. Alex burned their second time out and got a kill from Samantha Dale. That prompted a Knight time out. The final point ended up with STMA in the net. There was jubilation among the Cardinal costumed crazies, with concern emanating from the STMA camp.

STMA broke open set four with a 7-1 sequence which started with two Alex hitting errors. The Cardinals took their first time out at 11-8, but STMA added another point before Alexandria sided out. Side outs ruled the court with 12 straight back and forths. For Alex, Carlson had three of the six FBSO points. For STMA Harms had three of the six Knight side out points. A disputed point stopped the exchange on Katie Brown's serve for the Cardinals. Either it was a back row attack ---a late call---or STMA was in the net. It negated what looked to be a kill by Marie O'Neil. Carlson added a kill after that to tie the contest at 18. Again it was back to the side out exchanges with STMA pulling out 21-20 after a Harms kill. She got the ball on the serve and didn't let go. Alex took their second time out at 22-20, but Harms kept serving right to the finish. Rothstein ended the set with a block and the match was now knotted at four.

Alex got the serve to start the fifth set. O'Neil put down a kill and STMA soon led 3-0. Alex grabbed a 5-3 lead with five straight points, their largest sequence of the night. The Knights were able to tie it up at 6 all on an ace by Harms. Dale put up a block for a Cardinal point. Brittani Wiese got the side out for STMA and Maria Berning put down a kill to tie at at 8. Two Cardinal hitting errors put STMA up 10-9 and forced a Alex time out. Nicole Throngard got a kill to tie at 10 after the break. STMA then ran off four more points, two coming on Alex hitting errors. That put the contest on the brink at 14-10. With their backs to the wall, the Cardinals held off four straight match points. Angela Christianson had a kill and a block for 12 and 13, and Carlson put down a kill to tie it at 14. Both teams then traded four straight side outs. STMA had two more match points in that run, but could close the deal. A hitting error by STMA put Alex one point away from St. Paul, but Harms put an end to those thoughts with a side out kill. She then went to the service line. In sets four and five she had missed three of her last four serves. She didn't miss the next two. Alex was in the net for point 18 and then Harms herself from the back row finished the grueling contest with a kill. STMA is going back to St. Paul for the second straight season, and 8th trip overall.
You can see the humongous STMA vs Alexandria photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com. You might need to hold all calls when viewing these.

More to come

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
ST. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE
1. Catherine Yager, 2009, S 3-3-5-----11
2. Lindsay Berning, 2009, DS 2-0-0-----2
2fr: Maria Berning, 2009, OH 0-1-11------12
3. Samantha Dick, 2009, serve 1-0-0-----1
3fr: Marie O'Neil, 2009, MH 0-3.5-2-----5.5
3br: Allie Knutsen, 2009, L
4. Katherine Harms, 2009, RH 2-1.5-33----36.5
5. Brittani Wiese, 2009, OH 0-0-10-----10
6. Allie Knutsen, 2009, L 2-0-0--------2
6fr: Carly Rothstein, 2010, MH 0-2-4----6
totals: 10-11-64------85 points, 28 points on Alex errors

ALEXANDRIA
1. Katie Brown, 2010, S 0-0-2-----2
1fr: Angela Christianson, 2010, RH 0-2-9----11
2. Greta Wood, 2009, DS 2-0-0-----2
2fr: Alicia Montbriand, 2009, OH 0-0-4----4
2fr: Nicole Throngard, 2009, OH 0-0-2----2
3. Ariel Carlson, 2009, MH 3-5-17----25
3br: Valerie Smith, 2009, L
4. Keely Gross, 2010, S 0-0-0-----0
4fr: Jacque Brown, 2010, RH 0-3-7----10
5. Samantha Dale, 2009, OH 0-3-12-----15
6. Valerie Smith, 2009, L 0-0-0----0
6fr: Sam Trumm, 2011, MH 0-5-1----6
6fr: Kaitlin Becker, 2011, MH 0-1-0----1
totals: 5-19-54------78 points; 30 points on STMA errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Katherine Harms rose to the occassion in set five with 8.5 points

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
STMA 37/65 -.569; 113; .752; .259
Alexandria 37/64-.578; 108; .722; .265
Runs 3+: STMA 13, Alex 10
Longest string: STMA 5, Alex 5
Missed Serves: STMA 11, Alex 2
Time Out %: Alex 6/10-.600; STMA 4/7-.571

ROTATIONS
STMA
1. Yager 24-20 .545
2. Berning 20-27 .426
3. Dick 18-22 .450
4. Harms 22-15 .595
5. Wiese 10-15 .400
6. Knutsen 19-9 .679
totals: 113-108 .511

ALEXANDRIA
1. Brown 23-20 .535
2. Wood 26-19 .578
3. Carlson 20-25 .444
4. Gross 14-11 .560
5. Dale 14-19 .424
6. Smith 11-19 .367
totals: 108-113 .489

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 S S S S S
set 2 S A S S A
set 3 A A A A A
set 4 A S S S S
set 5 A S S

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3 4 5
STMA 6 4 0 5 4
Alex 2 4 5 2 2

Next up: tomorrow

#13 Gophers vs #1 Penn State Tonight

#4 posting 10.31.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COLLEGE REPORTS
D1
BIG 10
#13 Minnesota faces #1 Penn State and Indiana this weekend. PSU has not lost a set all year.

BIG 12
Iowa State hosts an angry #2 Nebraska Saturday. The Huskers stubbed their toe in Colorado this week.

BIG SKY: Idaho State beat Weber State in four with a margin of 15 points. Jackson County Central's duo of Brittney Bisaillon and Leah Burmeister had 12.5 and 8.5 points respectively.

MISSOURI VALLEY: Creighton travels to Drake today.
Northern Iowa travels to Southern Illinois and Evansville.

MOUNTAIN WEST: #14 Colorado State hosts Air Force on Saturday.

SEC: South Carolina sees Arkansas and Mississippi.

SUMMIT: Two freshmen are making a big impact for North Dakota State---Chrissy Knuth of Champlin Park and Jennifer Lopez of DGF.

WEST COAST: #15 San Diego swept Portland with a margin of 16 points. Jennifer Sheedy (Totino-Grace) had 2 points for Portland.

D2
UM Duluth is #6 in the North Central rankings.

D3
Concordia Moorhead's Anna Tinkham (Climax-Fisher) digs volleyball. From the Fargo Forum.

Next up: later today

Mabel-Canton Rallies Down 2-0 to Beat WK

#3 posting 10.31.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

A PLAYOFFS
There were 7 sections in operation last night with 14 subsection finals.
There were 8 sweeps and 4 five setters.
There was one top 10 battle--in 1A with Mabel-Canton beating Wabasha-Kellogg in five.
There were 2 lower seeds winning. MC and in section 6 #4 South Underwood beat #3 Brandon-Evansville.

SECTION 1
In the East #2 seed Mabel-Canton upended #1 Wabasha-Kellogg in five with a margin of xx points. WK led 2-0. It was dead even in point totals. MC won the last three sets by two each. Plus video from the Rochester Post Bulletin (3:13).

In the West #1 seed Bethlehem Academy swept #3 Kenyon-Wanamingo with a margin of 41 points. From the Faribault Daily News, Red Wing Republican Eagle and the Rochester Post Bulletin (no video this time).

SECTION 2
In the North #1 Sleepy Eye St. Mary's ended the Cinderella run of #7 GFW in a sweep. Each of the sets were decided by two points. SESM's margin therefore was 6 points. GFW was the first to reach 23 in each set. From the New Ulm Journal.

In the South #1 Martin County West swept #3 St. Clair with a margin of 24 points. From the Mankato Free Press and Fairmont Sentinel.

SECTION 3
In the North #1 Minneota survived an upset bid from #6 KMS in a fiver. KMS led 2-1. Minneota's point margin was 14 points. From the Marshall Independent and West Central Tribune.

In the South #1 Windom swept #3 Murray County Central with a margin of 23 points. Windom's experience was a key factor in the win. From the Worthington Daily Globe and Marshall Independent.

SECTION 4
In the North #1 Meadow Creek needed five to get past #2 Heritage. MC's point margin was 23 points.

In the South #1 SW Christian of Chaska beat New Life in four with a margin of 7 points.
No links as usual on these contests.

SECTION 5
In the North #1 NW Nevis swept #1 NE Onamia. Not a link to be found.

In the South #1 SE Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa swept #1 SW Bertha-Hewitt with a margin of 24 points. From the West Central Tribune.

SECTION 6
In the North #1 Ada-Borup swept #3 Norman County West with a margin of 27 points.

In the South #4 Underwood swept #3 Brandon-Evansville with a margin of 23 points. no links....yet.

SECTION 8
In the East #1 Lake of the Woods swept #3 Fosston with a margin of 34 points.

In the West #1 Northern needed five sets to beat #3 Win-E-Mac. WEM's had a 1 point advantage for the night.
Both matches are reported in the Grand Forks Herald.

Next up: College reports

Foley Edges Mora in Marathon Five

#2 posting 10.31.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AA PLAYOFFS
Six sections had their subsection finals yesterday with 12 contests.
There were 7 sweeps, and two five set matches.
There were two top 10 battles last night...both went to the higher placed teams (Jordan over Belle Plaine and Marshall over JCC).
There were two lower seeds topping higher seeds and both were fivers. ---Foley topped Mora in an upset in 5AA North marathon while Concordia Roseville upended Visitation in 4AA East.

SECTION 1
In the West #1 seed Stewartville swept #2 Pine Island with a margin of 29 points. Stewartville is searching for their 19th state trip. From the Rochester Post Bulletin.

In the East #1 seed Caledonia swept #2 Chatfield with a margin of 15 points. From the Rochester Post Bulletin.

SECTION 2
In the East #1 seed Jordan swept #2 Belle Plaine with a margin of 25 points. Jordan's Brittany Chambers had 19 kills. From the Mankato Free Press.

In the West #1 seed LeSueur-Henderson swept #3 Maple River with a margin of 36 points. From the Mankato Free Press.

SECTION 3
In the North #1 seed Yellow Medicine East beat #3 seed Lac Qui Parle Valley in four with a margin of 14 points. Stina Leiseth had 22 kills for YME. From the Marshall Independent and West Central Tribune.

In the South #1 seed Marshall beat #3 seed Jackson County Central in four with a margin of 8 points. This was a battle between two top 10 teams. Defense was the key for the defending AA champs. From the Marshall Independent and Worthington Daily Globe.

SECTION 4
In the East #2 seed Concordia Roseville beat Visitation in five with a margin of 10 points.

In the West #1 seed Minnehaha beat #2 DeLaSalle in four with a margin of 34 points.
No links for either match.

SECTION 5
In the North #2 seed Foley beat #1 Mora in five. Mora held the point advantage with 8. Foley led 2-0. The final fifth set was a marathon with the Falcons winning 26-24.

In the South #1 Delano swept #2 Fridley with a margin of 38 points. No links on this match.

SECTION 6
In the North #1 seed St. Cloud Cathedral swept #2 Sauk Centre with a margin of 39 points. SCC's Anna Zyvoloski had 19 kills. From the St. Cloud Times.

In the South #1 seed Rocori swept #3 New London-Spicer with a margin of 15 points. From the St. Cloud Times and West Central Tribune.

Next up: A Playoffs

Five is Lucky for CDH

#1 posting 10.31.2008your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AAA PLAYOFFS
Three sections punched tickets to St. Paul----Cretin-Derham Hall is the closest, but had to travel from furthest back. Also going to the dance-Wayzata and Andover.


SECTION 4
The stunner last night was #5 seed Cretin-Derham Hall picking up their third upset in 4AAA with a five set win over #2 seed Stillwater. Stillwater had a 12 point advantage on the night. This is CDH's first trip to state since 1998. This was CDH's second straight five set match. From the StarTribune.

SECTION 6
#1 seed Wayzata beat #2 Hopkins in four. I reported on this contest last night. Wayzata's margin on the night was 16. Here is the StarTribune's version.

SECTION 7
#2 seed Andover swept #1 Grand Rapids with a margin of 25 points. From the Duluth News Tribune.

TONIGHT
The only game in the state tonight features 8AAA's final. #1 North Alexandria faces #1 South St. Michael-Albertville at St. Cloud Tech at 7 pm.

Next up: AA recaps

Playoff Out & About: 6AAA Wayzata/Hopkins

#3 posting 10.30.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 6AAA
Championship
WAYZATA trojans 3, HOPKINS royals 1
(25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23)

#1 seed Wayzata punched their ticket to the state AAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over Hopkins. The Trojans keep their recent string of tournament berths in even years as both teams have traded spots in the state tournament the last four seasons. This was the third time this season Wayzata beat their Classic Lake Rivals. Last year Hopkins went to the show with the exact same 3-1 win in the championship. It was touch and go at the end of the match. Wayzata scored on their seventh match point. Tia Gaffen had 23 points on the night to lead the Trojans.

Both these team know each other well. Points were not flowing freely as they anticipated each other's moves. Hopkins had the advantage early in this set as they used two runs to build an 11-7 lead. Then the set broke open with an 11-1 Wayzata run. Of the 11 points, six came on Hopkins errors. The Royals took their first time out at 15-12 after an overpass kill by Gaffen. Gaffen had three kills in that run. In the meantime Wayzata had their first ball side out game ramped up. The Trojans finished with seven straight FBSO and were 11/13 for the first set. Gaffen had kills points in the first set.

Hopkins led at the early stages in set two with two three point runs to lead 9-3. Once again the Wayzata FBSO game went into overdrive with seven straight. With the Trojans slamming the door on defense, they chipped away on offense. Wayzata took their first lead at 17-16 and pushed it out to 20-17. Hopkins took a time out at 19-17. The Royals didn't crack. Alicia Vossen finished strong with five points in a 8-3 Hopkins closing run. Vossen had 7 points in the second set. The set ended on a Wayzata hitting error. Here is the big difference in this set----Hopkins had 20 earned points to Wayzata's 11.

Hopkins adrenaline was flowing a bit too much to start the third set. Of the first 10 Wayzata points six came on Hopkins errors. The Trojans kept building their lead out to 17-12 when Hopkins took their first time out. A quick three point burst by Hopkins cut the margin to 17-15. Wayzata left no doubt at the end of set three with a 8-1 run. Wayzata had 14 earned points to Hopkins' 10.

It looked like Wayzata was going to stampede to the fourth set win as they had three runs in the first four serves to lead 13-4. Hopkins took their second time out at that point and it stopped the bleeding. In fact Wayzata started to bleed with a five point run. All five points came on Wayzata errors. Hopkins managed to cut the margin to 14-11. Gaffen then had four of the next seven Trojan points and it looked like Wayzata was on their way at 21-13. Not so fast. Hopkins again rose up with four straight points to cut the lead to 21-17. After a net side out Wayzata tacked on two more to lead 24-17. A kill by Erin Ohlemann put the ball back in the Royals' hands. The Trojans couldn't get the side out for the next three points which forced Wayzata's second time out at 24-21. On match point five and six Hopkins added to their totals with a kill by Ohlemann and an ace by Vossen. The match ended on a Hopkins hit that went out and the Trojans picked up their even year State tournament ticket.

you can see the entire Wayzata vs Hopkins photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
WAYZATA
1. Kelsey Durocher, 2010, L 1-0-0-----1
1fr: Toni Okuyemi, 2012, MH 0-0.5-10----10.5
2. Julia Doyle, 2012, S 0-0.5-2----2.5
3. Olivia Fiergola, 2010, OH 1-0-10-----11
3br. Jackie Smith, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
4. Tia Gaffen, 2009, MH 1-2-20----23
4br: Kelsey Durocher, 2010, L
5. Allison Lutz, 2009, S 2-0-2-----4
6. Kelsey Simmons, 2010, DS 0-0-0-----0
6fr: Jessica Kegel, 2011, OH 0-0-6----6
totals: 5-3-50-----58 points, 40 points on Hopkins errors

HOPKINS
1. Emily Gunsch, 2009, L 1-0-0---1
1fr: Ellen Gallagher, 2009, MH 0-1-3----4
2. Emma Henke, 2010, S 1-0-4----5
2. Christine Gilbert, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
3. Jill Greenfield, 2011, OH 1-0-12----13
4. Alicia Vossen, 2010, MH 1-4-8-----13
5. Sarah Younger, 2009, S 0-1-5----6
6. Erin Ohlemann, 2011, OH 0-0-9----9
totals: 4-6-41-----51 points, 31 points on Wayzata errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Tia Gaffen, Dominated in set 4

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Wayzata 33/50-.660; .592; .378
Hopkins 22/49-.449; .622; .408
Runs 3+: Wayzata 12, Hopkins 8
Longest string: Wayzata 6, Hopkins 6
Missed Serves: Wayzata 9, Hopkins 6
Time Out %: Hopkins 3/7-.429; Wayzata 0/3-.000

ROTATIONS
WAYZATA
1. Durocher 17-9 .607
2. Doyle 21-14 .600
3. Fiergola 17-17 .500
4. Gaffen 15-18 .455
5. Lutz 17-14 .548
6. Simmons 11-10 .523
totals: 98-82 .544

HOPKINS
1. Gunsch 10-22 .313
2. Henke 14-17 .452
3. Greenfield 17-16 .515
4. Vossen 16-18 .471
5. Younger 13-12 .520
6. Ohlemann 12-13 .480
totals: 82-98 .455

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 H H W W W
set 2 H H H W H
set 3 W W W W W
set 4 W W W W W

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Wayzata 7 3 9 9
Hopkins 4 4 1 0

next up: tomorrow

St. Thomas MIAC Champs

#2 posting 10.30.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COLLEGE REPORTS
BIG 10
#25 Wisconsin swept Northwestern. Brittany Dolgner had 15.5 points for the Badgers. Nikki Klingsporn (Tartan) had 34 assists and 3 points for Wisconsin. Brittani Gray had 11 points for the Wildcats. Naomi Johnson (Bloomington Kennedy) added 4 more.

The Gophers' Rachel Hartmann is Off Topic. From the Minnesota Daily.

Michigan State is on the road to Wisconsin and Northwestern this weekend.

Indiana hosts Iowa and Minnesota.

Ohio State is at #20 Purdue and #17 Illinois.

Illinois junior Ashley Edinger needs 29 digs to break the Illini record. Edinger was the defensive player of the week in the Big 10.

MORE D1
ACC: Virginia heads to Clemson and Georgia Tech.

BIG 12: Iowa State beat Baylor in four with a margin of 7 points. ISU has moved into 4th place in the Big 12. Diane Kieger (Mounds View) had 12.5 points for the Cyclones.

CUSA: Marshall heads to Memphis and UAB.

SEC: South Carolina hosts a Halloween party before the Arkansas match Friday.

D2
Augustana is 5th in the North Central rankings.

D3
MIAC
#6 St. Thomas beat #25 St. Benedict in four with a margin of 5 points to claim the MIAC championship. Katie McCaffrey (Fort Collins, CO) had 24 points for St. T. Emma Jaynes (Hibbing) had 16.5 points for St. Ben's.

Augsburg beat St. Catherine in five with a margin of 14 points. Barbara Simmons (Mpls South) had 15.5 points for Augsburg. Megan Ahlbrecht (GFW) had 15 points for St. Kate's.

Concordia Moorhead swept Bethel with a margin of 12 points. The second set was a marathon at 38-36. Jenna Green (DGF) had 22 points for CM. Chelsea Falck (Abundant Life, WI) had 13.5 points for Bethel.

Gustavus beat Macalester in five with a margin of 15 points. Four of the sets were decided by two points. The 5th set was a 21-19 marathon. Gustavus trailed 2-1. Nicki Ainsworth (Eden Prairie) had 22 points for Gustavus. Sonia Muzikarova (Gymnazium Bilikova, Bratislava, Slovakia) had 33.5 points for Mac.

St. Olaf beat Hamline in four with a margin of 22 points. With the win St. O will get into the MIAC playoffs. Jessica Levin (Cedar Rapids Xavier) had 21 points for St. Olaf. Amanda Booth (Champlin Park) had 14 points for the Pipers.

St. Mary's swept Carelton with a margin of 26 points. Carleton was eliminated from the MIAC post season with the loss. Amy Kujak (River Falls, WI) had 14.5 points for St. Mary's. Kyla Walter (Aspen, CO) had 9 points for Carleton.

IIAC
On Tuesday Coe beat Buena Vista in a sweep with a margin of 17 points. Kelli Luitjens (Worthington) had 9.5 points for BV.

A COUPLE MORE HIGH SCHOOL ITEMS
Brittany Looker of Rochester Mayo was named the KAAL Athlete of the Week (plus video).

The finals of three AAA sections take place tonight: 4, 6, and 7.
There is a lot of action in AA and A with subsection finals at stake. The best bet at Redwood Valley with Marshall vs Jackson County Central.

Next up: Later today with

'Tonna and Mayo (with Video)

#1 posting 10.30.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PLAYOFFS
Only two sections were in operation last night in AAA.
Last night there were three sweeps.
There was one lower seed moving on....Rochester Mayo (#3) beat Farmington (#2) in section 1.

SECTION 1
#1 seed Owatonna swept #4 Rochester Century with a margin of 11 points. From the Owatonna People's Press and Rochester Post Bulletin.

The Rochester Post Bulletin has some video along with the story of the Rochester Mayo upset sweep of #2 Farmington. The margin was 15 points.

SECTION 5
Last night I reported on both contests with Osseo and Blaine advancing. Check out the out & abouts from Wednesday night.

FEATURED
Marshall setters Kelsey Deragisch and Kayla Wallerich get the spotlight in the Marshall Independent.

TODAY
Stillwater will face Cretin-Derham Hall tonight for the 4AAA championship. The Ponies beat Roseville on Tuesday and have never won a section tournament. From the Lake Elmo Leader and Stillwater Gazette.
CDH upset #1 seed Woodbury on Tuesday. From the Woodbury Bulletin.

Five teams in the West Central Tribune's coverage area are still fighting for a spot in the State Tournament: Cinderella story KMS; New London-Spicer; BBE; YME, and LQPV. Kind of an alphabet soup of teams.

New Life beat St. Agnes Tuesday and will play SW Christian of Chaska tonight. From the Woodbury Bulletin.

#1 North Sleepy Eye St. Mary's is in the hunt in 2A for a state berth. SESM beat LeCenter and MVL to get to this point. From the Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch.

Nevis is alive in 5A. The Tigers beat Sebeka on Tuesday and face Onamia tonight. From the Park Rapids Enterprise.

LATE RESULTS
Here is the Wadena-Deer Creek 2-0 comeback win vs Perham on Tuesday. In the Wadena Pioneer Journal and Perham Enterprise.

Verndale ended their season in 5A with a loss to Menahga last week. From the Wadena Pioneer Journal.

Pine River-Backus ended their season in 5A with a loss to Sebeka last week. From the Pines & Lakes.

Pequot Lakes ended their season in 7AA with a loss to Cloquet last week. From the Pines & Lakes.

New York Mills ended their season with a loss to Ada-Borup. From the Perham Enterprise.

McLeod West ended their season with the New Ulm Cathedral. From the McLeod County Chronicle.

Next up: College reports

Playoff Out & About: 5AAA Blaine/Spring Lake Park

#6 posting 10.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

5AAA PLAYOFFS
Semifinals
BLAINE bengals 3, SPRING LAKE PARK panthers 0
(25-12, 25-17, 25-10)

#1 seed Blaine dispatched #5 seed Spring Lake Park with a margin of 36 points. In almost any category the Bengals had an advantage. Blaine took the run category 12-3. The Bengals led at all key break points. SLP only led 1-0 and 2-1 early in the first set. Two Bengals had double digit kills---Ari Mewhorter and Brittney Barren. Blaine has won the section two straight years in a row.

This was a sandwich match with Blaine dominating in the opening and closing sets, with SLP competitive in the second frame. After the first three balls SLP led 2-1. That was their high water mark. Runs were the name of the game with Blaine picking up four in the first set. Blaine led 8-3 when SLP took their first time out. The final run came on Barren's serve at 17-7. It didn't stop Barren. She added five more points, with three straight aces to go along with the one before the time out to put up 9 points in the first stanza. Blaine led 24-8 when SLP had their only run in the first set. However two of the points were on Blaine hitting errors. Tracie Gillund ended the first set with a kill.

Blaine led 8-7 when the Bengals put together an 8-2 run to lead 16-9. A Panther time out in that sequence eventually turned the tide back with a 6-1 SLP run. That forced the only time out by Blaine with the score 17-15 Blaine. After the time out Mehworter knocked down two straight kills and everything was right in the Blaine universe. Blaine outscored SLP 8-2 to finish the second set. Mewhorter had 8 kills in this stanza.

This set took on characteristics of the first. Blaine had nine straight FBSO preventing any points on SLP serves. Blaine was spreading the ball around a little more than in the first contests I watched. Again Barren rocketed some serves forcing a SLP time out at 9-4. Barren put four more on the board to make it 12-4. SLP only earned two points the final frame. The night closed with five points off Mewhorter's serve.

Blaine will face Osseo on Saturday at Coon Rapids for the right to go to state.


you can see the entire Blaine vs Spring Lake Park photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
BLAINE
1. Mackenzie Suda, 2009, S 0-0-2----2
2. Ashley Kvistberg, 2009, OH 1-0-7----8
3. Amber Marciniak, 2009, L 0-0-0----0
3fr: Tracie Gillund, 2009, MH 0-2-6----8
4. Kelli Elhardt, 2010, RH 0-0-3----3
4br: Reiley Dahlberg, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
5. Arriel Mewhorter, 2009, 3-0-13----16
6. Brittney Barren, 6-4-10----20
totals: 10-4-41----55 points, 20 points on SLP errors

SPRING LAKE PARK
1. Melissa Backes, 2010, OH 0-0-2----2
2. Marissa Evans, 2010, S 0-0-1----1
3. Stephanie Wurzer, 2010, MH 1-0-2----3
4. Melissa Widman, 2010, OH 0-0-3----3
5. Natalee Yeazle, 2009, RH 0-1-7----8
6. Alyssa Luedtke, 2010, L 0-0-0----0
6fr. Jenna Lee, 2010, MH 0-0-0----0
6fr: Katie Norlien, 2009, MH 0-0-0----0
totals: 1-1-15----17 points, 22 points on Blaine errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Brittney Barren--solid at the serving line, with the blocking game and putting down kills.

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Blaine 21/29-.724; 75; .733; .564
Spring Lake Park 11/29-.379; 39; .436 .513
Runs 3+: Blaine 12, SLP 3
Longest string: Blaine 7, SLP 4
Missed Serves: SLP 4, Blaine 3
Time Out %: Blaine 1/1-1.000; SLP 1/5-.200

ROTATIONS
BLAINE
1. Suda 8-8 .500
2. Kvistberg 16-7 .696
3. Marciniak 11-9 .550
4. Elhardt 9-6 .600
5. Mewhorter 13-5 .722
6. Barren 18-4 .818
totals: 75-39 .659

SPRING LAKE PARK
1. Backes 7-14 .333
2. Evans 10-11 .476
3. Wurzer 8-13 .381
4. Widman 6-11 .353
5. Yeazle 4-15 .211
6. Luedkte 4-11 .267
totals: 39-75 .342

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 B B B B B
set 2 B B B B B
set 3 B B B B B

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Blaine 16 8 15
SLP 1 0 0

next up: tomorrow morning

Playoff Out & About: 5AAA Osseo/Centennial

#5 posting 10.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

5AAA PLAYOFFS
semifinals
OSSEO orioles 3, CENTENNIAL cougars 1
(26-28, 28-26, 25-15, 25-14)

#2 seed Osseo survived two set points in set two and rode that momentum to beat #3 seed Centennial in the next sets. Centennial's "earned" points dropped from 19.5 in the first two sets to 7 in the next two as Osseo's defense tightened up at the net. Osseo had 52 earned points, while getting 52 points on Centennial errors. In fact the Cougars had 53 earned points, one more that the Orioles. Osseo however had fewer errors on the night.

The night can be divided into two portions---back and forth, and going away. Centennial had five runs in the first set including the first two. Both times it was only a three point run and Osseo never trailed by more than three. Osseo had a run of four to retake the lead at 17-15 which forced the first Centennial time out. After the break the Cougars ran off three straight to take an 18-17 lead. All three points came from Micah Sater kills. Karen Hiltunen ended that with a side out kill and then started serving. The Orioles added three more points for a 21-18 lead. The last two points came on Osseo blocks. Centennial had their 4th run to tie it up at 22. That forced an Osseo time out. After that the game moved to a side out game with 8 straight side outs. Osseo had two set points in the sequence, but Leigh Pudwill got point 24 for Centennial and Sater had point 25 to tie. The Cougars had their fifth run of the first set to close out the win. Pudwill had the kill to get the 27-26 advantage and then an Osseo hitting error ended the first set.

Set two was similiar but reversed. Osseo had the early advantage. A four point run gave the Orioles a 10-5 lead. Centennial answered right away with their own four point run. Two serves later Centennial had another four point run to take a 14-12 lead. An Osseo time out ended that and started an Oriole three point run. Two straight Centennial hitting errors were part of the equation. Six side outs later Osseo still led 18-17. Centennial moved forward on their third and final run of the set. Osseo returned the favor with three straight of their own to retake the lead 21-20. Centennial edged out ahead 23-22 when Osseo took a time out. Two Centennial errors later Osseo led 24-23 forcing the Cougars second time out. A deep serve and then a block put Centennial on the cusp of a two set margin, but Rachel Pekarek got the key side out. Centennial's Krista Stoltz got a side out kill to give Centennial their second match point. A deep hitting error on a slide turned the ball over to Osseo. Hiltunen slammed home an overpass kill and then Sathre served up an ace to ice the second set.

That loss took a lot of steam out of the Cougars. The next set Centennial only had four earned points. In fact in the first 10 Osseo points only 3 were earned. In the first 7 Centennial points zero were earned. Osseo cleaned up their mistakes the rest of the set allowing only four more. Meanwhile Centennial gave away 7 more points. Sathre had four points in the third set.

Centennial had one last gasp as they led 7-3 in the fourth set. That forced an Oriole time out and the Orange and Black outscored Centennial the rest of the night 22-7. The key service came on Amanda Hoefling's serve as Osseo had an 8 point run to lead 16-9. Centennial had five errors in that sequence. Centennial narrowed the gap to 16-12 after three straight kills, two by Sater. But missed serves torpedoed any momentum that was building. Rachel Wiinanen didn't give the ball back until Osseo added six more points. Osseo led 24-13 when a missed serve gave it back to Centennial. Sathre ended the night with a kill, her 11th on the night.

you can see the entire Osseo vs Centennial photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
OSSEO
1. Rachel Wiinanen, 2009, MH 3-1-3----7
1br: Kyle Everett, 2011, L
2. Lauren Everett, 2009, S 0-0-0----0
2fr: Sarah Pekarek, 2011, RH 0-3-6----9
3. Rachel Pekarek, 2009, OH 0-1-8----9
4. Lindsey Sathre, 2009, MH 3-1-11---15
4br: Kyle Everett, 2011, L
5. Amanda Hoefling, 2009, S 1-0-0----1
6. Karen Hiltunen, 2010, OH 0-1-10----11
totals: 7-7-38----52 points; 52 points on Centennial errors

CENTENNIAL
1. Allison Atkins, 2009, L 2-0-0-----2
1fr: Amanda McAulay, 2010, MH 0-0-7----7
2. Hannah Glocke, 2011, S 2-0-0-----2
2fr: Abby Mohr, 2010, RH 0-0-3----3
3. Leigh Pudwill, 2012, OH 0-0.5-17-----17.5
4. Megan Waytashek, 2010, MH 2-2-4----8
4br: Allison Atkins, 2009, L
5. Krista Stoltz, 2010, S 1-0.5-1----2.5
6. Micah Sater, 2009, OH 0-0-11-----11
6br: Kaila Solberg, 2009, DS 0-0-0---0
6serve: Nicole Thul, 2010, serve 0-0-0----0
totals: 7-3-43----53 points, 30 points on Osseo errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Lindsey Sathre. Ace finished key second set. consistent throughout

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Osseo 29/49 -.592; 104; .500; .361
Centennial 23/48-.479; 83; .639; .500
Runs 3+: Osseo 12, Centennial 12
Longest string: Osseo 8, Centennial 4
Missed Serves: Centennial 16, Osseo 12
Time Out %: Osseo 4/5-.800; Centennial 3/7-.429

ROTATIONS
OSSEO
1. Wiinanen 21-21 .500
2. L Everett 16-14 .533
3. R Pekarek 19-12 .612
4. Sathre 13-11 .542
5. Hoefling 23-19 .548
6. Hiltunen 12-6 .667
totals: 104-83 .556

CENTENNIAL
1. Atkins 22-17 .564
2. Glocke 14-19 .424
3. Pudwill 11-14 .440
4. Waytashek 10-25 .286
5. Stoltz 18-12 .600
6. Sater/Thul 8-17 .320
totals: 83-104

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 C C C O O*
set 2 O O O C C*
set 3 O O O O O
set 4 C O O O O
*other team won set

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Osseo 3 5 10 11
Centennial 3 2 0 4

next up: The other 5AAA Semifinal

Luiz Adjusting to Minnesota

#4 posting 10.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COLLEGE REPORTS
BIG TEN
The Gophers' Brazilian Pamela Luiz is adjusting to life at Minnesota. From the Minnesota Daily.

Penn State's Nicole Fawcett is finishing strong.

Indiana's Ashley Benson is the cvu.com national player of the week.

#18 Michigan faces #17 Illinois and #20 Purdue on the road.

#17 Illinois hosts #18 Michigan and Ohio State this weekend.

Iowa travels to Ohio State and #1 Penn State.

#1 Penn State hosts #13 Minnesota and Iowa.

#20 Purdue hosts Ohio State and #18 Michigan.

#25 Wisconsin hosts Northwestern tonight.

MORE D1
BIG 12: Iowa State hosts Baylor tonight.

MID AMERICAN: Ohio visits Akron and Buffalo.

WEST COAST: Portland hosts #15 San Diego and #22 San Francisco.

NON CON: George Washington beat Howard in four with a margin of 13 points. Abby Syverson (Mpls Southwest) had 11.5 points for GW.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Deveny Moore of Fergus Falls was named to the MCAC all Tournament Team. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
The Beach Volleyball tour will come to Minnesota on January 29. Beach ....January???? The event will be at the Target Center. From the SW Scoreboard.

Next up: later today

Magic Continues for GFW & KMS

#3 posting 10.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

A PLAYOFFS
There were 26 contests last night.
13 ended in sweeps, 4 went five sets.
There were 10 upsets (or lower seeds beating higher seeds).
The magic continues for #7N GFW as the Thunderbirds beat #3N Cedar Mountain-Comfrey in section 2
#6N KMS beat #2N Lakeview in section 3.
Two #1 subsection seeds fell:
in section 6S #4 Underwood beat Parkers Prairie, and in section 7 #2W Chisholm beat #1E Babbitt-Embarrass.

SECTION 2
#3S St. Clair swept #2S Nicollet with a margin of 23 points. From the Mankato Free Press and New Ulm Journal.
Young #1S Martin County West swept #5S JWP with a margin of 37 points. From the Fairmont Sentinel and Mankato Free Press.
#7N GFW beat #3N Cedar Mountain-Comfrey in five. CMC had a 2 point advantage on the night. From the New Ulm Journal.
#1N Sleepy Eye St. Mary's sweept #4N MN Valley Lutheran with a margin of 18 points. From the New Ulm Journal.

SECTION 3
#1S Windom beat #4S SW Star in four with a margin of 25 points. From the Worthington Daily Globe.
#3S Murray County Central topped #2S SW MN Christian in five. SW Christian had a 1 point advantage for the night. MCC won the fifth set 16-14. From the Worthington Daily Globe.
#1N Minneota swept #4N MACCRAY with a margin of 30 points. From the Marshall Independent.
#6N Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sundberg beat #2N Lakeview in five with a margin of 4 points. KMS won the 5th set 15-12.

SECTION 4
It is an all MCAA final five. The only upset came with #3E New Life beating #2S St. Agnes in four with a margin of five points

SECTION 5
#1SE Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa swept #2SE Braham with a margin of 29 points. From the West Central Tribune.
The other #1 seeds all advanced---Bertha-Hewitt in the SW; Onamia in the NE; Nevis in the NW.

Late report--Osakis beat Browerville last week. From the Echo Press.

SECTION 6
In the south half of the section it will be #3 vs #4 for the subsection championship.
#3 Brandon-Evansville swept #2 Chokio-Alberta-Herman-Norcross with a margin of 19 points.
#4 Underwood toppled #1 Parkers Prairie in four with a margin of 3 points.

Late reports--Brandon-Evansville beat Ashby last week. Ashby before that beat West Central. From the Echo Press.

SECTION 7
#2W Chisholm upended #1E Babbitt-Embarrass in a sweep with a margin of 18 points. From the Hibbing Daily News (you need to be a subscriber---it doesn't cost money).
#1W Deer River beat #2E Carlton in four with a margin of 28 points.

SECTION 8
#3E Fosston swept #2E Laporte with a margin of 21 points.
#1E Lake of the Woods swept #5E Clearbrook-Gonvick with a margin of 26 points.
#1W Northern beat Red Lake County Central in four with a margin of 7 points.
#3W Win-E-Mac beat #2W Climax-Fisher with a margin of 4 points.

SEASON RECAPS
Indus was 4-16 this year. From the International Falls Daily Journal.

Next up: college reports

Wadena-Deer Creek Rallies Down 2-0

#2 posting 10.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AA PLAYOFFS
There were 24 games in AA playoff action last night.
There were 12 sweeps and 4 that went five.
There were five lower seeds beating higher seeds. One #1 seed fell. #2S Wadena-Deer Creek beat #1S Perham in five in section 8AA and did it the hard way trailing 2-0.
No ranked teams fell.

SECTION 2
#3W Maple River beat #2W Blue Earth in four with a margin of 18 points. From the Mankato Free Press.
#1W LeSueur-Henderson beat Sibley East in four with a margin of 46 points.
#1E Jordan (and #1 in the AA poll) swept #4E Holy Family with a margin of 43 points. From the SW Scoreboard.
#2E Belle Plaine swept #6 Montgomery-Lonsdale with a margin of 27 points.

SECTION 3
#3S Jackson County Central swept #2S Worthington with a margin of 12 points. The Trojans beat the Huskies during the season. From the Worthington Daily Globe.
Defending AA Champion #1S Marshall swept #4S Pipestone with a margin of 43 points. From the Marshall Independent and Worthington Daily Globe.
#1N Yellow Medicine East swept #5N Montevideo with a margin of 20 points. From the Marshall Independent.
#3N Lac Qui Parle Valley beat #2N Benson in four with a margin of 11 points. From the West Central Tribune.

SECTION 4
The remaining teams standing in section four are all privates. #1E Visitation went five to beat #4E St. Croix Lutheran. #2E Concordia Roseville beat St. Paul Johnson in five. In the West #1 Minnehaha and #2 DeLaSalle both swept #5 North and #3 Washburn respectively.
Minnehaha is looking for their first state tournament bid ever. In the middle of the StarTribune prep west section.

SECTION 5
In the north #2 Foley swept #3 Zimmerman with a margin of 22 points and #1 Mora outlasted #5 Becker in five with a margin of 6 points. From the St. Cloud Times.
In the South the top two seeds moved on with #1 Delano sweeping #5 Orono and #2 Fridley topping #3 St. Anthony in four.

SECTION 6
#1N St. Cloud Cathedral swept #5N Albany with a margin of 48 points. From the St. Cloud Times.
#2N Sauk Centre swept #3N Melrose with a margin of 10 points.
#3S New London-Spicer beat #2S Litchfield in five with a margin of 12 points. NLS led 2-0. From the West Central Tribune.
#1S Rocori beat #5S Annandale with a margin of 14 points.

SECTION 7
#1S Esko beat #2N Virginia in four with a margin of 18 points.
#1N Hibbing swept #2S Cloquet with a margin of 26 points. From the Duluth News Tribune.

SECTION 8
#1N East Grand Forks beat #2N DGF in four with a margin of 21 points. From the Grand Forks Herald and Fargo Forum.
#2S Wadena-Deer Creek beat #1S Perham in five with a margin of 3 points. Perham led 2-0.

TO COME
The Rochester Post Bulletin looks at Section 1 with the subsection finals Thursday.

Next up: A Playoffs

Woodbury Done

#1 posting 10.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

TUESDAY'S AAA PLAYOFF
Of the 12 AAA Playoff games yesterday 8 ended in sweeps, 3 went to five, and their were 2 upsets. The first #1 seed fell with Cretin-Derham Hall bumping off Woodbury in the 4AAA semifinals.
Three ranked teams fell---#3 Lakeville North, #6 Waconia and #9 Woodbury.

SECTION 2
#1 in the coaches poll Shakopee swept #5 seed Prior Lake with a margin of 30 points. The Sabers' Megan Wittman had 19 kills. plus results from section 3 and 6 from the StarTribune and the Shakopee News.
It was a bit tighter in the other semi with #2 seed Chaska sweeping #3 Waconia with a margin of 8 points. From the SW Scoreboard.

SECTION 3
In case you missed it I reported on the civil war upset sweep win of Lakeville South over Lakeville North, plus the Eastview sweep of Burnsville.

SECTION 4
#4 Cretin-Derham Hall beat #1 seed Woodbury in five. The Royals actually had the point advantage of 14 points.
#2 Stillwater beat #3 Roseville with a margin of 7 points.

SECTION 6
#2 Hopkins swept #3 Holy Angels with a margin of 18 points.
#1 Wayzata survived an upset bid by #4 Bloomington Jefferson with a margin of 4 points.

SECTION 7
#1 seed Grand Rapids survived #5 Forest Lake in a fiver with a margin of 7 points. From the Duluth News Tribune.
#2 Andover swept #3 Anoka with a margin of 37 points.

SECTION 8
#1N Alexandria swept #2S St. Cloud Tech with a margin of 41 points. From the St. Cloud Times.
Last Friday Alex swept Moorhead. From the Echo Press.

#1S St. Michael-Albertville swept #2N Bemidji with a margin of 30 points. From the Bemidji Pioneer.
Last Friday STMA's Katherine Harms reached her 1000th kill against Elk River. She went into the game with 999. Harms didn't play varsity ball until her sophomore year.

TODAY
Section 1 and 5 play their semifinals.
In section 1 could there be an all Rochester final? Mayo and Century are still alive. The Rochester Post Bulletin asks the question.

Next up: AA Playoff results

Out & About: 3AAA Eastview/Burnsville

#4 posting 10.28.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 3AAA
semifinals
EASTVIEW lightning 3, BURNSVILLE blaze 0
(25-19, 25-23, 25-11)

#1 seed Eastview rallied from a 22-19 deficit in set two and used that momentum to douse #5 Burnsville in a sweep. The Lightning's 14-6 finish in the second set carried over to the final frame. Eastview's first ball side out % was .676. Earlier in the year Eastview beat Burnsville in four. Just as in the first contest this game featured a dominating hitter vs balance. Tori Dixon had 18 points on the night for Burnsville with 13 kills. The next highest kill total for Burnsville was 4. Eastview had five players with five or more kills, with three in double digits.

Eastview broke open the first set when Tori Dixon moved to the back row. It was 7 all when Lightning struck for six straight points. Steph Kent and Ashley Murtha each had three points in the run. Burnsville took their first time out during the Lightning strike. Eastview pushed their lead out to 18-9 to finish an 11-2 run. The Blaze took their final time out then. By that time Dixon was back in the front row and Burnsville took advantage of that with a 6-3 run. Dixon had 4 points in the burst. Six straight side outs kept the set tilted for Eastview. The Lightning did have rotation problems when Stacy Kuhlmann served out of order. A Lightning time out at 24-19 had the intended effect with a side out kill by Kelsey Schile.

Burnsville's best chance to take a set came in two. The Blaze jumped to a 7-2 lead on a six point run on Lauren Butler's serve. She had two aces in the run and Dixon added two kills. Eastview narrowed the gap to 8-7 with a run of four. Burnsville didn't relinquish the lead however. The Blaze kept adding to their margin with two more runs out to 17-11. After that Eastview shut the door with six straight FBSO. Burnsville still had a 22-19 lead after a quick kill by Molly Duehn. A missed serve returned the ball to Eastview. The Lighting wouldn't part with the ball for another four points. By that time Eastview led 24-22. Grant had three straight kills sandwiched around Burnsville's second time out. A Lauren Butler kill gave new hope to the Blaze as Dixon returned to the front row. All she could do was watch as the next Burnsville serve sailed into the net for the final point of the set.

That loss seemed to dampen the Blaze's fire in set three. It was 8-6 Eastview when the roof caved in. Again with Dixon on the bench Eastview ran rampant. On Kaiti Wachter's serve Eastview added seven more in addition to the side out for a 16-6 lead. Murtha had four points in that burst. The final run of six by Eastview to make it 24-10 came on Grant's serve. In addition to her net play Grant served up three straight aces out to 24. A passing error put the ball back to Burnsville, but the hole was too deep. Karlee Lursen finished the night with her 13th kill.

Eastview will now face Lakeville South in the finals on Saturday night at South St. Paul.

you can see the entire Eastview vs Burnsville photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
EASTVIEW
1. Anna Olson, 2009, S 0-0-1----1
2. Kayla Joyce, 2009, DS 3-0-0----3
2fr: Ashley Murtha, 2011, OH 0-1.5-9----10.5
3. Lauren Grant, 2010, MH 3-3.5-11---17.5
3br: Kaiti Wachter, 2009, L
4. Stacy Kuhlmann, 2009, DS 2-0-0----2
4fr: Kelsey Schile, 2011, RH 0-0.5-6---6.5
5. Karlee Lursen, 2009, OH 1-0.5-13----14.5
6. Kaiti Wachter, 2009, L 1-0-0-----1
6fr: Steph Kent, 2009, MH 0-1-5----6
totals: 10-7-35----52 points; 23 points on Burnsville errors

BURNSVILLE
1. Camille Benson, 2012, L 0-0-0----0
1fr: Molly Duehn, 2010, MH 0-1-1----2
2. Ali Butler, 2012, S 0-0-4----4
3. Lauren Butler, 2009, OH 2-1-4----7
4. Tori Dixon, 2010, MH 0-5-13-----18
5. Abby Olson, 2010, S 0-0-1-----1
6. Laura Beckmann, 2011, OH 0-0-3----3
6br: Megan Scholl, 2011, DS 0-0-0----0
totals: 2-7-26-----35 points, 18 points on Eastview errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Lauren Grant

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Eastview 23/34-..676; 75; .693; .340
Burnsville 13/32-.406; 53; .660; .307
Runs 3+: Eastview 8, Burnsville 5
Longest string: Eastview 8, Burnsville 6
Missed Serves: Eastview 3, Burnsville 3
Time Out %: Eastview 1/2-.500; Burnsville 2/6-.333

ROTATIONS
EASTVIEW
1. Olson 11-9 .550
2. Joyce 10-14 .417
3. Grant 12-8 .600
4. Kuhlmann 12-7 .632
5. Lursen 8-7 .533
6. Wachter 22-8 .733
totals: 75-53

BURNSVILLE
1. Benson 13-13 .500
2. A Butler 9-12 .429
3. L Butler 12-8 .600
4. Dixon 6-12 .333
5. Olson 6-18 .250
6. Beckmann 7-12 .368
totals: 53-75
With Dixon in the front row Burnsville was 34-33-- .507; with Dixon in the back row 19-42-- .312

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 E E E E E
set 2 B B B B E
set 3 E E E E E

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Eastview 9 2 14
Burnsville 1 6 2

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: 3AAA Lakeville South/Lakeville North

#3 posting 10.28.2008
Your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 3AAA
semifinals
LAKEVILLE SOUTH cougars 3, LAKEVILLE NORTH panthers 0
(27-25, 25-23, 25-21)

In a civil war match up #3 South stunned rival #2 North in a revenge sweep. LN was the #1 team in the state overall according to MaxPreps. This was the first time in South's history they beat the Panthers. Since 2005 North swept the Cougars four straight years. South lost to North on September 18 in a sweep.

South rallied in each in every set for the win. In each in every set South scored the last three points to wrap up the win. South took the contest despite the fact they missed 11 serves on the night, while North didn't miss one. Balance was another factor in South's favor. North's Amy Braun had 19 kills, but only one other Panther had five kills. The Cougars countered with five players with five or more kills.

North was caught flatfooted at the start when South scored the first three points, two on aces by Josi Holter. North was forced to take a time out at 5-1 after another ace, this time by Taylor Hrdlichka. The Cougars maintained the early lead, but North had a 7-3 run to take a 16-15 lead. The Panthers bumped that lead out to 19-17. The rest of the set was spent trading three point (or more) runs. South took a 20-19 lead, then North strung together three kills to edge ahead 22-20. South took a time out at 21-20, but didn't get the side out. On the next ball Ellen Krueger got the side for the Cougars with a kill. Taylor Voss added three points off her serve for South to get to the 24-22 edge, but a net violation (South had 5 net violations in the first set alone) gave the ball back to North. A Braun kill and then a violation put North on the verge at 25-24. A North hitting error turned the ball back. Josi Holter served out with a block by Monica Turner and a kill by McKell Anderson ending the set 27-25.

North was forced to burn the first time out at 6-4 in set two when three hitting errors and a block by Jennie Kalbfell put the Cougars up. North had their own four point run later on to retake the lead 12-10. This was in the midst of a 6-1 run. Braun had three of the points. South responded right away with another three point run to lead 13-12. South broke free from a 16 all tie with their third three point run of the set to take a 19-16 lead. That forced another North time out. The momentum shifted North's way after the time out as the Panthers went on a 7-3 run to lead 23-22. McKell Anderson got the key side out kill and then Moncia Turner had a kill and then a block for the final two points.

South's adrenaline was flowing hard at this point. North, with their back against the wall, was fighting for their playoff lives. The combination of these factors put North ahead in most of the key break points. South missed four of five serves in an early stretch of set three, but North didn't move the needle that much. The Panthers did take advantage of the fourth miss to go on a 7-2 run. That forced a South time out at 17-13. Kalbfell had a quick kill after the break to stop the momentum. However a missed serve gave the ball back to North. After that South closed with a vengeance with a 11-3 run. In the first South run Ellen Krueger put down two kills. In the next South run North took a time out at 20 all. It didn't stop the South Express. Braun scored the final North point to make it 22-21 South. Taylor Hrdlichka got the side out kill and then Josi Holter served out. Turner and Hrdlichka took part in a block for point 24 and a Panther hitting error finished the night.

you can see the entire Lakeville South vs Lakeville North photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
LAKEVILLE SOUTH
1. Taylor Voss, 2011, S 1-0-1----2
1fr: Ellen Krueger, 2010, RH 0-0-7----7
2. Josi Holter, 2009, OH 2-0-7----9
3. Taylor Hrdlichka, 2009, MB 1-2.5-8----11.5
3br. Grace Sanders, 2009, L
4. Kelly Davenport, 2011, S 1-0-0----0
4fr: Monica Turner, 2012, RH 0-2.5-7----9.5
5. McKell Anderson, 2012, OH 0-0-5----5
6. Grace Sanders, 2009, L 1-0-1----2
6fr: Jenni Kalbfell, 2010, MB 0-1-4---5
totals: 6-6-40----52 points, 25 points on North errors

LAKEVILLE NORTH
1. Ellen Fox, 2010, DS 0-0-0----0
1fr: Christina Hanf, 2009, OH 0-0-3----3
2. Corinne Solheid, 2009, L 1-0-0----1
2fr: Jessica Spekman, 2009, MH 0-1-1-----2
3. Kellie McNeil, 2011, OH 1-0-4----5
4. Amy Braun, 2009, OH 1-4-19-----24
5. Cassie Weaver, 2010, DS 0-0-0---0
5fr: Brooke Lewko, 2009, MH 0-0-5----5
6. Leah Johnson, 2009, S 0-0-2----2
totals: 3-5-34-----42 points, 27 points on South errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Grace Sanders---solid defensive effort for the Cougars

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
L South 19/40-.475; 77; .675; .391
L North 20/41-.489; 69; .609; .325
Runs 3+: South 12, North 7
Longest string: South 4 (4 times), North 4 (1)
Missed Serves: South 11, North 0
Time Out %: South 1/2-.500; North 2/6-.333

ROTATIONS
LAKEVILLE SOUTH
1. Voss 15-16 .484
2. Holter 16-9 .640
3. Hrdlichka 12-13 .480
4. Davenport 11-11 .500
5. Anderson 9-9 .500
6. Sanders 14-11 .560
totals 77-69 .527

LAKEVILLE NORTH
1. Fox 13-15 .464
2. Solheid 13-12 .520
3. McNeil 14-12 .538
4. Braun 10-10 .500
5. Weaver 10-15 .400
6. Johnson 9-13 .409
totals: 69-77 .473
With Braun in the front row North was 40-39 .506; With Braun in the back row North was 29-38 .433.

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 S S S S S
set 2 S S S S S
set 3 N N N N S

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
L South 5 3 4
L North 2 2 4

Next up: the other 3AAA semifinal

College News

#2 posting 10.28.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COLLEGE REPORTS
BIG 10
Illinois' Ashley Edinger was named defensive player of the week yesterday.

D1
POLL: Colorado State is now #14.

PAC 10: Washington State travels to California and Stanford.

SUMMIT: First place North Dakota State travels to Western Illinois and IUPUI. South Dakota State has the same trip with IUPUI first and Western Illinois second.

NON CON: North Dakota travels to South Dakota on Saturday.

Portland beat Cal State Bakersfield in four with a margin of 15 points. Jennifer Sheedy (Totino-Grace) had 10.5 points for Portland.

D2
Augustana falls to #22 in the D2 poll.

Next up: later today with out & abouts.

Playoffs Tonight; Northern Sun, MIAC Awards

#1 posting 10.28.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PLAYOFFS TONIGHT
Bemidji faces St. Michael-Albertville in the 8AAA semifinals tonight. From the Bemidji Pioneer.

Nine teams in the West Central Tribune area are still alive.

Kenyon-Wanamingo says "Bring on BA." from the Red Wing Republican Eagle.

The best bets tonight: 3 comes up a lot today
AAA: Section 3 has four power packed teams with the battle of Lakeville (North vs South) and Eastview vs Burnsville. South St. Paul is the battle zone.
Section 2 is another bone crunching foursome with Shakopee taking on upset winner Prior Lake and Chaska vs Waconia in a battle of top 10 teams. Those contests are at Minnetonka.

AA: Section 3 South is an all Southwest Conference battle with Marshall taking on Pipestone and Jackson County Central facing Worthington. The action will be at Redwood Valley.

A: Again with section 3--this time in the south again Windom takes on SW Star. Both teams were in the top 10 during the season. That contest is at Luverne.

D2
Southwest Minnesota State moves up to #3 in the latest D2 poll. From the Marshall Independent.
UM Duluth moves up to #17.

NORTHERN SUN WEEKLY AWARDS
SW MN State's Devin Diedrich and Sara Graf were offensive and setter of the week in the Northern Sun.
Andreana Pieper of St. Cloud State was the defensive player of the week for the third time this season.

D3
MIAC WEEKLY AWARDS
Bridget Burtzel of Gustavus is the setter/libero player of the week in the MIAC.
Katie Christensen of Augsburg is the hitter of the week.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Rochester beat Ridgewater on Sunday in five. Here is the Rochester Post Bulletin report.

Central Lakes will be in the Region 13B tournament in Hibbing this weekend. From the Brainerd Dispatch.

Ridgewater's Karie Blommel and Carina Fesenmaier were named to the all tournament team. From the West Central Tribune.

LATE REPORTS
Zumbrota-Mazeppa recaps the end of the season in the Red Wing Republican Eagle.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown lost to Bethlehem Academy to end their season. From the Waseca County News.

Next up: college reports

Pioske's 1000; Lakeville North #1

#2 posting 10.27.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kaia Korynta of Climax-Fisher has been named AVCA/MaxPreps Player of the week for Minnesota.

#1
The Minnesota coaches poll is over, but the MaxPreps poll keeps on going. #1 today is Lakeville North with Shakopee #2.

MILESTONES
Kara Pioske of Waconia got her 1000th kill in the first set of Waconia's match against Hutchinson Friday night. From the Hutchinson Leader.

LATE RESULTS
I reported on Stillwater's win over North St. Paul last Friday. Here is the Stillwater Gazette with their version of the events.

AA
1 East: Chatfield and St. Charles went five for the third time this season with the Gophers prevailing. From the Rochester Post Bulletin.

Blue Earth swept St. Peter last Thursday in 2AA West action. From the Faribault County Register.

A
1 East: Mabel-Canton dodged LeRoy-Ostrander in five on Saturday. From the Rochester Post Bulletin.
Deer River swept Littlefork-Big Falls in 7A West action on Friday. From the International Falls Daily Journal.

D1
Ann Arbor is not a friendly site for Gophers. From the Minnesota Daily.

Minnesota falls to #13 in the latest D1 poll. Wisconsin lands at #25.

Indiana's Ashley Benson was named offensive player of the week in the Big 10. Ashley Edinger of Illinois was named defensive player of the week.

Penn State has 48 consecutive wins.

D2 NEWS
MSU Mankato travels to Bemidji State and UM Duluth this weekend.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Fergus Falls is the consolation champion in the MCAC State Tournament. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Two Big 10 Road Warriors

#1 posting 10.27.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COLLEGE REPORTS
BIG 10
The road was kind to two Big 10 teams Sunday
Indiana upset #21 Wisconsin with a four set win. The margin was 8 points. Erica Short had 21 points for the Hoosiers. Brittney Dolgner had 18 points for Wisconsin. Nikki Klingsporn (Tartan) had 13 assists for the Badgers.

Iowa beat Ohio State in four with a margin of 9 points. Catherine Smale had 17 points for the Hawkeyes. Katie Dull had 20 points for OSU. Susan Halverson (Apple Valley) had 5 digs for the Buckeyes.

MORE D1
ACC: North Carolina beat Georgia Tech in four with a margin of 4 points. Brianna Eskola (Columbia Heights) had 21 digs and 1 point for UNC.

ATLANTIC 10: Rhode Island beat George Washington in five with a margin of 5 points. Abby Syverson (Minneapolis Southwest) had 9.5 points for GW.

BIG EAST: Cincinnati swept Marquette with a margin of 19 points. Leslie Bielski (Chaska) had 10.5 points while Tiara Russell (Osseo) had 3 points for Marquette.
I haven't been linking the Cincinnati results lately because Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville North) hasn't been playing.

CUSA: Tulsa beat Marshall in four with a margin of 8 points. Megan Carlson (Andover) had 11 points and 17 digs for Marshall.

MEAC: Maryland Eastern Shore swept Hampton with a margin of 34 points. Chanita Wesley (Benilde-St. Margaret's) played but did not chart for UMES.

SEC: LSU beat South Carolina in five with a margin of 4 points. Bridget Denson-Dorman (Hopkins) had 59 assists and 2.5 points for USC.

SOUTHERN: Georgia Southern beat Furman in five with a margin of 9 points. Pamela Gehrke (Eastview) had 3 digs for Furman.

MCAC TOURNAMENT
Rochester edged out Ridgewater in five with a margin of 4 points. Ridgewater will host the Region 13 tournament next weekend. From the West Central Tribune.

Next up: later today with later news

Weekly Review: #10: Appetizers

#6 posting 10.26.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

WEEKLY REVIEW #10: Appetizers
This was another short week for viewing teams. I will be able to see more contests this week with my team out of action. The Henry Patriots ended their season with Fridley sweeping. The Henry season really didn't end until Saturday when the freshman team finished their tournament schedule by finishing third in the Minneapolis city tournament. This was an improvement over the start of the season. At the start of the year against Mpls. Southwest in the two sets Henry scored 3 points total. On Saturday vs SW in the first set Henry's freshmen got 6 of 8 FBSO's in one sequence.

As far as the tournaments leading up to the main event---the state tournament---most of the action centered around appetizers. The real meat and potatoes get underway on Tuesday. The matches I saw this week were lopsided affairs with the trends pointing to an early night.

There are no contests tomorrow that have been listed. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are going to be chock full of meaningful match ups. More on that as the days approach.

NUMBERS THAT MATTER
What is more important? Going on the attack or not making mistakes?
In the last month the teams that I have charted that have earned 14 or more points (aces-blocks-kills) the record is 14-3 with a % of .824.
On defense, if a team allows 7.5 points (missed serves, miss hits, ball handling/violations) or less the record is 13-4 with a % of .765.
If a team manages to score 12 points or less the overall record is 0-12 .000.
If a team gives away 10 points or more the record is 0-4 .000.

TEAM OF THE WEEK
Prior Lake took down Buffalo on Tuesday and then beat #10 Eden Prairie on Friday. The Lakers slammed the door on the Bison with only one run of 3 or more points and a FBSO % of .741. Each set ended up as double digit wins. Only one rotation didn't crack the .600 mark. Five players had 7 or more points showing the diversity of their attack. And the Lakers use only one senior. Next on the menu for the Lakers is #1 and defending state champ Shakopee. PL has already faced the Sabers in the Missota conference and were swept by the Sabers on September 18. The Lakers record is 20-8. Oddly enough one of the losses for PL this year was to Stillwater, the other team I saw this week, in the Coon Rapids tournament.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Taylor Stippel of Stillwater gets the nod. The Pony senior had 15.5 points in the win over North St. Paul in the 4AAA quarterfinals. Stippel scored on all facets with good jumping ability for blocks, a solid serve, and quicks and slides for kills. Stippel is listed at 5-11 but jumps better than that.

The rest of the team:
RH Sami Kemper, Prior Lake
S Kayla Zeno, Stillwater
MH Taylor Stippel, Stillwater
MH Emily Holte, Prior Lake
OH Emily McDonough, Stillwater
OH Brittany Thompson, Prior Lake
L Katelyn Berens, Prior Lake

The fact is the matches I saw this week were pretty one sided. I am working off the top 50 list, and have 3 teams to see in the top 25 and 14 to go in the top 50. I won't get to all of them due to the schedules loading up on certain days.

Next up: tomorrow.