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MINNEOTA -- The Minneota volleyball team continued its strong season Monday, earning a three-set sweep over Lakeview at home to improve to 23-4 overall and 10-0 in conference play.
The Vikings won the opening set 27-25 before taking a 25-23 decision in the second. Minneota then pulled away in the third set, winning 25-12 to complete the sweep.
Despite the straight-set victory, Minneota head coach Kaley Buysse said her team had to work through stretches of unforced errors and find ways to execute in the tight opening sets.
"We knew that they were definitely going to put up a fight," Buysse said. "We needed to execute on some things where we were making a lot of errors. I think if we tallied up our errors that we forced on our own, I think we really beat ourselves a little bit there."
The Vikings received a balanced offensive effort, with Jaylyn Coequyt and Brek Fier leading the way with nine kills apiece. Leah Coequyt added eight kills, while Eden Meagher finished with six.
Buysse said Jaylyn Coequyt continued to provide a reliable offensive presence while the Vikings worked to involve more players in their attack.
"Jaylyn usually shows up and puts the ball away for us," Buysse said. "It’s great when we can move the ball around a little more, and we have some other girls that are putting the ball away, but Jaylyn is always willing to take that ball and make sure that she finds the floor."
Minneota also found success at the net defensively. Leah Coequyt recorded three blocks, while Fier added two. Ava Rost and Jaylyn Coequyt each contributed one block.
The Vikings’ setting duties were shared by Libby Sussner and Sophie Gillund. Sussner finished with 20 assists, while Gillund added 18 as Minneota spread the ball around to its attacking options.
Minneota also applied pressure from the service line, collecting nine aces. Meagher and Brynn Rost led the team with three apiece, while Gillund, Fier, Sussner and Autum Anderson each recorded one.
However, Buysse said the Vikings still have areas to clean up, particularly with missed serves and maintaining their offensive rhythm.
"I thought we did a good job moving the ball around for the most part, had a lot of aces, still had a handful of misses, just some areas that we just need to clean up," Buysse said.
Defensively, Anderson led the Vikings with 19 digs. Meagher and Brynn Rost each added six digs to help Minneota maintain its advantage throughout the match.
Lakeview was led offensively by Taylor Hinz, who finished with nine kills. Avery Hinz and Laia Javens added six kills apiece, while Jaela Schmidt contributed five. Khya Gawarecki led the Lakers with 12 assists, while Nicole Schwartz added 10.
Hinz also led Lakeview defensively with eight digs. Aubrey Pederson and Gawarecki each recorded seven digs, while Schwartz added six. Allison Isaacs finished with two blocks, while Avery Hinz added one.
Gawarecki led Lakeview with two service aces, while Hinz and Adison Hinz each contributed one.
The loss dropped Lakeview to 15-8-1 overall. The Lakers will close out their regular season Thursday at home against Renville County West, with first serve scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
Although the Vikings won the first two sets by narrow margins, Buysse said she wants her team to bring the same urgency it showed late in those sets from the opening serve.
"We need to come out strong right away and we need to not assume that the games are gonna be easy for us," Buysse said. "We’re gonna have to work hard for every single point."
Buysse added that Minneota needs to avoid digging itself into holes early and maintain its energy and determination throughout each set.
The Vikings will look to continue their momentum Tuesday, Oct. 20, when they host Yellow Medicine East. First serve is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.
With Tuesday’s match closing out the regular season, Buysse said she hopes the team can continue spreading the ball around offensively and keep more players involved in the attack.
"Hopefully tomorrow night we can just move the ball around a little bit more," Buysse said. "Hopefully just keep ourselves in system so that we can keep everybody as part of the game plan and putting the ball away."