Vikings take care of business with 3-0 win over CMCS
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MINNEOTA -- Fresh off a five-sweep run this past weekend to take first place at the Class A Showcase, the host Minneota volleyball team brought its broom again on Tuesday night against Central Minnesota Christian.
Behind opposite hitter Elvia Faris's season-high 16 kills, Minneota bullied the Bluejays in straight sets, 25-17, 25-15, 25-18, as the top-ranked Vikings logged their seventh straight sweep to run the club's winning streak to 10 matches.
Faris slammed a half-dozen kills in each of the opening sets. The 5-foot-8 junior soared high to meet nicely teed-up balls with well-timed blasts.
"Elvia's one of the most competitive kids on the court," said Vikings head coach Hayley Fruin, whose team improved to 15-2. "When she gets in there we're going to usually go on runs with her. We feed her the ball because she finds a way to put it away."
Naveah Hennen had a game-high 19 assists while Faith Myhre added 15 for Minneota. Vikings libero Lyzah Sussner kept up her standout play on defense, notching 19 digs to lead all scorers.
As dominant as Minneota was when attacking, the Vikings also used crisp, mobile defense to frustrate CMC.
"I thought, defensively, we did a really good job of just being disciplined," Fruin said. "We knew they were going to throw a lot of speed at us, and we had to actually transition. Our back row did a great job."
"Lyzah Sussner stepped up for us big. She takes a lot of the court, and we're okay with that."
A well-oiled Vikings offense showed no signs of wear after a weekend's worth of similar fireworks. Minneota played mostly error-free ball as it barreled through the first two sets. CMC was able to mount a gutsy stand late, taking a 14-11 lead in the last frame. But the Bluejays' hopes were soon buried under a Vikings' barrage led by Faris, whose 15th and 16th kills put Minneota back in the driver's seat.
Sussner served out the game as the Vikings tacked on their final four points.
Abby Rolbiecki and Dakoda Hennen each had three service aces, while Neveah Hennen, Sussner, Faith Myhre and Ella Johnson had an ace apiece for Minneota.
"The last few games we've served well and we've passed really well," Fruin said. "We want to be aggressive servers and aggressive passers. And we also take pride in our defense. There were a lot of long volleys tonight, and CMC did a great job of keeping balls alive. On our side, we were disciplined and made great reads."
Added Fruin: "We've got a lot of areas that we can still work on and improve. It's still really early in the season. As well as we played, we're still in a tough section and we need to just continue getting better."
Johnson finished with eight kills and two blocks. Eden Meagher and Kenadi Arndt had four kills each for the Vikings.
Minneota travels to face fifth-ranked Canby on Thursday at 7:15.