It was probably the best volleyball match of the year so far (as it pertains to ‘Journal 10’ squads). History was almost made. The streak continues. But Lanesboro (8-1) volleyball took a shot as good as any in a long time. They took Mabel-Canton (9-0) to five sets, getting close to ending the Cougars’ decade-plus long SEC win streak. One could’ve expected a battle. In the team’s first meeting, the Burros only loss, M-C got a sweep, but games two (25-21) and three (25-22) were extremely hard fought. The Burros were hungry to topple their East counterparts, and it showed in the re-match. Game one had 14 ties including 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20! Lanesboro then scored three straight to do what few do, and led the Cougars late 23-20. But three straight Kenidi McCabe kills produced the match’s 13th tie at 23. A McCabe tip-kill produced tie #14 at 24-24. But Lanesboro has firepower, and 6’0” sophomore middle Kaci Ruen has emerged as maybe their best hitter. She powered down two kills and the earth didn’t necessarily stop, but it slowed some in its revolving. Lanesboro won the set 26-24 to lead M-C 1-0! The Cougars had eight service errors in the game and lost despite out-killing the Burros 16 to 8. McCabe alone had 8 kills. M-C then took control for two sets. The earth spun its normal speed. The Cougars never trailed in set two and prevailed 25-17. M-C only briefly trailed early in game three, taking it 25-17 also. But Lanesboro dug down in game four, a set with nine ties. M-C led 10-5, only for Lanesboro to tie at 11-11 and lead at 17-14, only for M-C to tie at 17-17! Ruen took over late. She broke a 19-19 tie with a kill, the first of five straight points for the sophomore (four kills, one block). She had seven total kills and Malia Tessum 12 digs in the set. The SEC-volleyball earth slowed even more as Lanesboro won the set 25-19, evening the match at 2-2. M-C’s epic streak of wins in SEC-league play was in serious jeopardy. The Cougars were going to a game five versus a league foe, something that happened only once the entire 2010 decade (2017 versus Spring Grove)! But the earth likes to spin normally when it comes to volleyball in the SEC. Lonnie Morken isn’t a Hall-of-Fame coach with 700-plus wins because his teams don’t win. They dominated game five. Jordyn Newgard’s serving session took a 3-2 lead and turned it into an 8-3 lead. M-C jumped out 12-3 total and prevailed with no fifth set drama. They got the 3-2 win (24-26, 25-17, 25-17, 19-25, 15-6). They moved their SEC league-game win streak to 155 matches! Their last SEC loss was their first SEC game to start the 2009 season (LeRoy-Ostrander)! M-C’s senior leader McCabe was fabulous everywhere with a huge triple-double; season-high 25 kills (.423 hitting), season-high 19 assists, season-high 26 digs, 21-22 serving with 4 aces. She had 8 kills, 6 assists, and five digs in game one, 12 digs in game two, five kills and three aces in game three. Sophie Morken (9 kills, season-high 25 assists, 15 digs, 3 aces) and Molly Lee (12 kills, 14 digs) added double-doubles. Newgard (8 kills, 14 digs), Emily Carolan (6 kills, 14 digs, 22-23 serving, 3 aces), and Lauren Wyffels (8 assists, 11 digs) also did work. After eight service errors in game one, M-C had eight service errors the rest of the match. Ruen (season-high 21 kills, 12 digs) was huge for the Burros. She had 12 kills in the two sets Lanesboro won. Classmate Jessie Schreiber (12 kills, 13 digs) also had a double-double. Tessum (35 digs, 17-18 serving), Ella Cambern (34 assists, 23 digs, 18-18 serving), and Sydney Taylor (6 kills, 29 digs) combined for 87 digs! Each had a season-high. Lanesboro had 126 digs, M-C 100. Cambern had at least five assists in every set including 12 in game four. She added nine digs in game two. Julie Schreiber’s group more than doubled their digs total from the first match with M-C (48). M-C had 62 kills hitting .226, Lanesboro 41 kills hitting .121. The Cougars then didn’t struggle with neighbor Spring Grove, beating the Lions 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-20) at some Saturday volleyball. Only game three was competitive (tied at 18). McCabe (14 kills, 18 assists, 10 digs, 12-13 serving, 3 aces), Newgard (10 kills, 8 digs), Morken (7 kills, 14 assists, 5 aces), Lee (6 kills, 10 digs), Wyffels (7 assists, 5 digs, 3 aces), and Carolan (8 digs) led M-C. It was K-Mc’s fifth triple double of the season. Addyson McHugh (11 kills, 6 digs, 3 blks) had a majority of SG’s 18 kills. Maggie Lile (14 digs), Julia Halverson (8 digs, 14-14 serving, 5 aces), and Rachel Normann (17 assists) led the Lion cause. M-C, ranked #4 in Class A, improved to 11-0 (overall/SEC), extending its lead in the East to two games over second place Lanesboro (9-2). Third place SG fell to 6-4 (overall/SEC).
About Paul Trende
Sports Reporter
sports@fillmorecountyjournal.com
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