PREP VOLLEYBALL: Area volleyball teams wrap up Southwest Challenge
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MARSHALL - Tens of schools and five area volleyball teams all converged on the hardwood courts of Marshall High School and Southwest Minnesota State University over the weekend, with Marshall, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, Minneota, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton and Yellow Medicine East competing against some of the state's best.
Marshall
The Tigers kicked off their tournament play on Friday evening with a matchup against Andover. Marshall took the best 2 out of 3 series winning by scores of 25-15 and 27-25. They then advanced to face Northfield, with Marshall outlasting the Raiders 26-24, 25-21 to move on to the Championship bracket.
On Saturday, the Tigers squared off against Prior Lake. Despite taking the first set 25-20, Marshall couldn't get past the Lakers dropping the second set 25-13 and the final set 15-13.
Marshall coach Dan Westby said he was happy with how his players battled against Prior Lake, but added they fell behind early and just couldn't regain the momentum they had lost.
"Our kids battled hard versus Prior Lake, we were just guilty of falling behind early in each of the three sets. In all three sets we got off to a slow start," Westby said. "It's difficult to play from behind, especially against a good team like Prior Lake. They've got some major players on that team. You just can't afford to give points to a team like that."
Marshall then faced Wayzata, defeating them by scores of 25-20 and 25-17. Westby said they were able to play at a faster pace and utilize the mismatches.
"We really bounced back well in our match with Wayzata. They're a big, athletic team and our kids did a nice of job of finding ways to neutralizing that size disadvantage," Westby said. "Our kids played at a quicker pace and we did a nice job of showing balance at the net with our attack."
The Tigers then advanced to the fifth-place game against Minneota. Marshall won in a back-and-forth affair, earning scores of 25-21 in both sets to take fifth place.
Westby said they were able to get a lead late and outlast the Vikings in a tightly competed match.
"In our match with Minneota both teams really competed hard and play was even to fifteen points in each set," Westby said. "We were able to create a cushion late in both sets and were able to earn a hard-fought victory."
Erica Jones led in kills with 18 total while Kaylee Gossen had 17. Mia Schnaible led in digs with 27 total while Maddy Marks had 17. Logan Sherman led in set assists with 58.
Marshall will face Luverne on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.
Minneota
The Vikings began tournament play on Friday with a matchup against Elk River. Minneota won in three sets (25-19, 23-25, 15-10) to advance to face Waconia, where the Vikings won by scores of 27-25 and 25-23 to move on to the Championship bracket.
On Saturday, the Vikings took on Champlin Park, with the Vikings falling by scores of 25-15 and 25-16. Minneota's next matchup was against East Ridge, where it took a thrilling come-from-behind effort from the Vikings to earn the win. After falling in the first set 26-24, Minneota outlasted the Raptors in a second set marathon 32-30 before winning the third set 15-13 to advance to the fifth-place game against Marshall. The Vikings fell to the Tigers to take sixth place.
Minneota coach Hayley Fruin said she was pleased with her team's consistency during the tournament and their resiliency when their backs were against the wall.
"I think overall we were very consistent in all of our matches; we never folded and never gave in when the score was against us," Fruin said. "I think our back row we picked up a lot of balls were very scrappy and we held our own."
Fruin said their key on offense was the play of their middles, especially the effort from Morgan Kockelman.
"I think Morgan Kockelman was really connecting with her middles all these games," Fruin said. "That's something we've been kind of struggling with, but our middles really came alive in the second day."
Fruin added on defense, the back row showed a lot of hustle and didn't give up on plays.
"We were just picking up a lot of digs in the back row, and weren't letting any balls drop without giving any effort," Fruin said. "We played a lot of games against a lot of teams with a great offense, so a lot of times you're going up against one blocker and they were picking up balls left and right."
Lydia Sussner and Lizzy Gillingham led with 43 total kills each while Natalee Rolbiecki had 21. Abby Hennen led in digs with 90 total while Morgan Kockelman had 41 and Morgan Hennen had 39.
Sussner led in blocks with seven.
Minneota will face MACCRAY on Tuesday before having their first home game of the season with a matchup against TMB on Thursday. Fruin said their biggest takeaway is if they can continue to play gritty volleyball, they'll be fine.
"Finally we get a home game," Fruin said. "This week is going to be tough; we get MACCRAY and then TMB who are two very solid teams in the conference. I think overall if we just keep being scrappy, digging balls and swinging hard, we should be good."
RTR
The Knights started their tournament play Friday with a matchup against Lakeville North. RTR dropped both sets to the Panthers by scores of 25-17 and 25-9, before squaring off against Totino Grace. The Knights won by scores of 25-16 and 25-17 to advance to the 17th-24th place bracket.
On Saturday, RTR faced Sioux Falls Roosevelt, winning by scores of 25-17 and 25-18 before falling to New Prague 17-25, 25-20, 15-12 to drop to the 19th place game against Andover. The Knights took it to three sets, but fell by scores of 25-22, 16-25, 15-5 to take 20th place.
Tina Haroldson led in kills on Day One with 22 while Lexi Wendland had 12. Haroldson also led in digs with 29 while Maddy Muenchow had 17. Mya Christensen led in set assists with 30 and blocks with three.
RTR coach Daynica Brown said their key on offense was the play of their setter Christensen and her ability to spread her passes to multiple hitters.
"Offensively, our setter Mya Christensen did a fantastic job of pushing the ball and making it hard for the blockers to read where she was going," Brown said. "When we play 3A schools, a lot of them are over six feet tall and it's a big block up there. We have a few shorter players who are hitters so she really spread out the offense and had a high tempo, allowing the girls to swing hard."
Brown added on defense she liked their scrappiness, but felt they needed to be more consistent throughout their games.
"We had our moments defensively. At times, we're scrappy, but we need to keep it up throughout the whole match. Even when you're tired, that's when the mental toughness needs to come in because defense is what ultimately sets up the offense," Brown said. "We really need to work on that precision and not be looking at players, but in general I think the girls had a lot of digs and played really hard and there were a lot of great hitters and teams in this tournament."
RTR will face TMB on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Brown said their biggest takeaway will be to fight hard and play a well-rounded game against a tough Panthers squad.
"I think one of the biggest is just to play all the way through. We have Lanoue and TMB on Tuesday and they're a very talented squad, so we need to come out and fight hard and give it our best," Brown said. "Win or lose, if you played hard, at least you know you gave it your all and you can walk off that court happy with that situation."
TMB
The Panthers kicked off their tournament play on Friday with a matchup against New Prague, winning by scores of 25-17 and 25-13 before falling to Champlin Park 25-10 and 25-16 to advance to the 9th-16th place bracket.
On Saturday, the Panthers battled Waconia, winning by scores of 25-16, 26-28, 15-4 before beating Kasson Mantorville 29-27 and 25-19 to advance to the ninth-place game. TMB then squared off against Northfield, who held off the Panthers 28-26 and 25-21 to give TMB 10th place in the tournament.
Syd Lanoue led the way in kills with 62 total while Evy Dolan had 33. Kaylee Kirk led the way defensively with 64 total digs while Lanoue had 43, Dolan had 34 and Cassidy Smith had 29. Lanoue led in blocks with five while Dolan had four while Smith led in set assists with 142 total.
TMB will face RTR on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
YME
The Sting started tournament play with a matchup against Prior Lake. The Lakers defeated YME by scores of 25-19 and 25-11 before the Sting took on Hutchinson, with YME dropping in three sets by scores of 22-25, 25-22, 15-11 to advance to the 25th-32nd place bracket.
On Saturday, the Sting fell to Perham 25-22 and 25-16 before dropping to Heron Lake-Okabena in three sets by scores of 25-23, 18-25, 15-8. The Sting then fell to Owatonna in three sets by scores of 25-17, 13-25, 15-13 to take 32nd place.
Anna McCosh led in kills with 23 total while Meeghen Dahlager had 22. Mackenzie Dyrdahl led in digs with 37 total while Madison Hinz had 28 and Kaitlyn Mortenson had 25. Hinz led in set assists with 82.
YME will face Dawson-Boyd on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.