The Spring Grove girls, with the No. 4 seed, advanced to the Section 1A Volleyball semi-finals with playoff wins over No. 13 Kingsland and No. 5 Fillmore Central. The 3-0 home win over the Knights on Thursday night (Oct. 28) preceded a midday Saturday 3-1 victory over the Falcons In Rochester. It was the second straight-set win of the season against conference rival Kingsland. The Lions avenged their most recent playoff setback, facing the Falcons for the first time since the 2019 sub-section tourney – also a four versus five matchup – when No. 4 seed Fillmore Central defeated No. 5 Spring Grove. This was the first time that the 20-team section was organized into one large section bracket instead of the traditional two sub-section format.
The Lions’ 20th triumph of the season was accompanied by a pair of career milestones at the Mayo Civic Center with junior libero Maggie Lile logging her 1,000th career dig and senior setter Rachel Normann lofting her 1,000th career assist.
Spring Grove (20-9) next faces No. 1 seed Bethlehem Academy (18-11) on Nov. 4 with the other semi-final featuring No. 3 Kenyon-Wanamingo and No. 2 Mabel-Canton.
Spring Grove 3, Kingsland 0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-14)
Spring Grove put together decisive scoring runs in each set. In the first and third sets, the Knights were holding their own until late Lion surges. In the opener, Kingsland led 16-15 before the Grove girls closed with a 10-to-4 run.
Similarly in set three, Spring Grove led only 14-13 before taking 11 of the final 12 points. In that extraordinarily-efficient, error-free scoring streak, there were only 10 attacks while scoring with seven kills– four from Kenadee Gerard, two by Lydia Solum and one from Brielle Neeley.
In between in set two, the Lions had taken control earlier. Kingsland held its greatest lead of the night at 6-1 and was still ahead, 8-4, before Spring Grove roared away with a 17-to-2 scoring run for a 21-10 lead.
Addyson McHugh scored with 13 kills and 3 ace serves while defending with 14 digs. Gerard put away another 13 kills and Solum 6. Lile led the defense with 18 digs while Normann had 11 saves and Julia Halverson 10. Normann orchestrated the attack with 30 set assists and served 12 for 12 with 2 aces.
The Lions served extremely well, putting 72 of 73 in play (99%, 1 error) with 6 aces. The Knights served with 90% accuracy with 4 aces and 5 errors. Other statistics were incomplete with no individual numbers available for Kingsland, which closed with a 13-14 record.
Spring Grove 3, Fillmore Central 1 (25-16, 28 -30, 25-20, 25-16)
Most memorable was the drawn-out drama during set two, but the critical momentum swing came in set three with Spring Grove erasing an 18-17 Falcon lead with an 8-to-2 closing run to lead, 2 sets to 1. Then in set four, the Lions used 6-point and 5-point scoring spurts to close the match with 9-point win.
Spring Grove had begun the contest with a seemingly comfortable 25-16 win in set one. But the set two was a marathon with Fillmore Central finally able to even the match with a 30-28 win. That second stanza was tied 14 times, and the Falcons had to save four set points to stay alive; Grove saved two set points before Fillmore Central won with a block from Kammry Broadwater and a closing kill by Abby Bothun.
Overall, the Lions were the most efficient at both the net and the service line. Up front, they outscored the Falcons with 10 more kills (51-41) and two more blocks (6-4). Grove hit with 17% efficiency and Fillmore Central with 7%. Hitters were often denied by diving diggers.
The Lions served 95% but broke even with 5 aces and 5 errors. The Falcons (88%) scored with six aces but gave away 10 points with errant serves.
For Spring Grove, Gerard was a force at the net with 27% efficiency while pouring in 21 kills along with 2 solo scoring blocks and a block assist. Neeley (33%) scored 4 kills on only nine swings. McHugh (22%) put away 15 kills and had a team-high 20 digs. Solum added 5 kills, contributed to 3 scoring blocks and served 22 for 22 with 2 aces. Julia Halverson served 21 for 21 with an ace and dug 15 times. Normann reached her milestone with 36 assists on offense and 17 digs on defense. From the back row, Lile aired up 7 set assists and scored with one kill while defending with a dozen digs.
For the Falcons, Broadwater had 16 kills and Bothun 8 along with a team-high 18 digs. Lauren Mensink added 5 kills while directing the attack with 29 set assists and coming up with 12 digs. Madison Simon added 4 kills, and Libero Kyla Hellickson dug 14 times. Fillmore Central finished the season at 16-13.
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Match Totals
Earned Points: SG 62 (51K, 6B, 5A); FC 51 (41K, 4B, 6A)
Total Errors: SG 35, FC 47
Attacks: SG 159, FC 161
Kills/Errors: SG 51/24, FC 41/29
Hitting Efficiency: SG 17%, FC 7%
Ace Blocks: SG 6, FC 4
Serving: SG 95% (98-103), FC 88% (72-82)
Aces/Errors: SG 5/5, FC 6/10
Digs: SG 86, FC 76
>>>Lion INDIVIDUALS
Digs 86: Addyson McHugh 20, Rachel Normann 17; Julia Halverson 15, Maggie Lile 12, Lydia Solum 8, McKenzie Fisch 6 Kenadee Gerard 5, Katelyn Kraus 2, Sydney Holland 1
Set Assists 46: Rachel Normann 36, Maggie Lile 7, Addyson McHugh 2, Julia Halverson 1
Kills 51: Kenadee Gerard 21, Addyson McHugh 15, Lydia Solum 5, Rachel Normann 5, Brielle Neeley 4, Maggie Lile 1
Hitting efficiency (K-E/att) Leaders: Brielle Neeley33% (4-1/9); Kenadee Gerard 27% (21-7/51); Addyson McHugh 22% (15-5/45); Rachel Normann 6% (5-4/17); Lydia Solum 4% (5-4/25)
Ace Blocks 6: Kenadee Gerard 2.5 (2 solo, 1 assist); Lydia Solum 2.0 (1 solo, 2 assists); Brielle Neeley 0.5 (1 assist); Addyson McHugh 0.5 (1 assist); Julia Halverson 0.5 (1 assist)
Service Aces 5: Lydia Solum 2, Rachel Normann 1, Addyson McHugh 1, Julia Halverson 1
Serving 95%: Lydia Solum 100% (22-22); Julia Halverson 100% (21-21); Addyson McHugh 95% (21-22); Rachel Normann 90% (9-10); Kenadee Gerard 89% (17-19); Maggie Lile 89% (8-9)
Scoring 62: Kenadee Gerard 23.5 (21K, 2.5B); Addyson McHugh 16.5 (15K, 05B, 1A); Lydia Solum 9.0 (5K, 2B, 2A); Rachel Normann 6.0 (5K, 1A); Brielle Neeley 4.5 (4K, 0.5B; Julia Halverson 1.5 (0.5B, 1A); Maggie Lile 1.0 (1K)
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Spring Grove Volleyball 2021 (20-9,12-2 SEC)
W vs. Southland 3-0
W at Lyle/Pacelli 3-0
W at Schaeffer Academy 3-0
Thur. Sept. 9 Lanesboro, postponed until Oct. 11
Tues. Sept. 14 at Houston, postponed until Oct. 6
W vs. Glenville-Emmons 3-0
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at Waukon Tournament
W vs. Central Elkader 2-0
W vs. Postville 2-0
L vs. Waukon 0-2
W vs. Crestwood 2-0
L vs. Waukon 10-2
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L at Mabel-Canton 0-3
W at Grand Meadow 3-0
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at Dassel-Cokato Tournament
L vs. Melrose 0-2
L vs. Eden Valley-Watkins 0-2
L vs. Dassel-Cokato 0-2
W vs. Kimball 2-0
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W vs. Schaeffer Academy 3-0
W at Lanesboro 3-0
W at Houston 3-0
W vs. Kingsland 3-0
W vs. Lanesboro 3-0
W vs. Houston 3-0
L vs. Mabel-Canton 2-3
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at Goodhue Tournament
L vs. Medford 0-2
L vs. Lake City 0-23
W vs. Hayfield 2-1
W vs. Alden-Conger 2-1
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W at LeRoy-Ostrander 3-0
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Section 1A Tournament #4 seed
W vs. #13 Kingsland 3-0
W vs. #5 Fillmore Central 3-1
B-team Volleyball 2021
15-2 (12-1 SEC)
W vs Southland 2-0 (25-5, 25-13)
W at Lyle/Pacelli 2-0 (25-4, 25-8)
W at Schaefer Academy 2-0 (25-7, 25-8)
W vs. Glenville-Emmons 2-0
L at Mabel-Canton 0-2 (24-26, 22-25)
W at Grand Meadow 2-0 (25-23, 25-12
W vs. Melrose 2-0 (25-18, 25-21)
L vs. Dassel-Cokato 1-2 (25-7, 20-25, 13-15)
W vs. Eden Valley-Watkins 2-0 (25-17, 25-10)
W vs. Rockford 2-0 (25-16, 25-20)
W vs. Schaeffer Academy 2-0 (25-12, 25-4)
W at Lanesboro 2-0 (25-22, 25-14)
W vs. Kingsland 2-0 (25-15, 25-13)
W vs. Lanesboro 2-0 (25-10, 25-14)
W vs. Houston 2-0 (25-5, 25-11)
W vs. Mabel-Canton 2-1 (19-25, 25-22, 18-16)
W at LeRoy-Ostrander 2-0 (25-14, 25-13)
C-team Volleyball 2021
10-1 (8-0 SEC)
W vs. Southland 2-0 (25-5, 25-13
W vs. Caledonia 2-1
W vs. Grand Meadow 3-0
L vs. Fillmore Central 1-2
W at Mabel-Canton 2-0 (26-24, 25-23)
W at Grand Meadow 2-0 (25-11, 25-22
W at Lanesboro 2-0 (25-9, 25-11)
W vs. Kingsland 2-0 (25-13, 25-17)
W vs. Lanesboro 2-0 (25-8, 25-12)
W vs. Houston 2-0 (25-9, 25-6)
W vs. Mabel-Canton 2-0 (25-7, 25-8)
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