The State of Volleyball

By the time this article comes out, the fall sports regular season will be finishing up.  The play-offs will just about be underway.  Here is the state of volleyball for the county heading to the post-season.  Four of seven FCJ covered teams are above five hundred.  Leading the way is #5 in Class A Mabel-Canton.   The Cougars won their only SEC match of the week, beating Houston in straight sets (25-16, 25-9, 25-12).  It secured M-C their 21st SEC East and/or outright league title.  Maddy Michels (11 kills), Payton Danielson (7 kills, 4 aces, 14 digs), Sarina Stortz (7 kills), Lexi Thorson (13 digs), and Kenidi McCabe (32 assists, 13 digs) led M-C.  Jenny Albrecht (6 kills, 7 digs), Gretchen Hill (11 digs), Alyssa Rostad (10 digs), and Ariel Scanlan (6 assists, 7 digs) led Houston.  The Cougars (13-0, 25-5) seem the likely top seed in 1A East.  They are the highest state ranked team.  They have the most wins (25), the most section wins (18), the top QRF (14, as of 10/14), and own three victories over Spring Grove (11-2, 23-3).  The Lions and TRC-leading W-K (10-0, 18-7) are the looking at the 2-3 seeds.  The Falcons-North felled top-tier TRC teams FC and #10 in A Caledonia.  W-K (17) is ranked higher in the QRF than SG (18).  FC won its two matches on the week.  They beat Chatfield 3-0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-15), led by Madison Scheevel (25 assists, 16 digs), Paige Donlinger (12 kills, 16 digs), Stella Schrüfer (9 kills), K.J. Corson (13 digs), and Hadley Yoder (4 kills, 3 ½ blocks).  Chatfield was led by Paige Erickson (4 kills), and Teagan Allen (6 assists).  Dover-Eyota then also fell 3-0 (26-24, 25-12, 25-23).  Scheevel (36 assists, 12 digs), Donlinger (8 kills, 15 digs), Corson (19 digs), Kandace Sikkink (10 kills), Yoder (8 kills), Madison Krage (8 kills), and Katrina Bergey (10 digs) did work.  It was the first time this year FC had four girls with 8-plus kills.  Second-leading hitter Stella Schrüfer did not play (injury).  FC (9-1, 14-7) and Caledonia (8-2, 16-11) are the likely 4-5 seeds.  The Falcons beat the Warriors in TRC play, but lost to Caledonia in tourney play.  L-A (7-3, 20-8) is the likely 6-seed.  Via the QRF (10/14), it is FC (33), L-A (42), and then Caledonia (44).  Caledonia and FC both beat the Cardinals.  FCJ-covered teams R-P (5-5, 13-12) and Houston (8-5, 11-8) are the likely 7-8 seeds (QRF 58 and 83).  The Trojans won a regular season match-up.  Kingsland (7-6, 11-13) is the likely 9-seed (90 QRF).  The Knights and Hurricanes split their season series.  Schaeffer Academy (3-10, 5-14) and Lanesboro (2-11, 6-23) are the 10-11 seeds (146 and 148 QRF).  Seeding is out in 1AA East; #1 Lake City (16-11) will host #8 La Crescent (1-19), #4 Red Wing (8-17) will host #5 D-E (7-14), #2 St. Charles (12-9) will host #7 PEM (2-21), and #3 Cotter (14-10) will host #6 Chatfield (5-20).