Photo by Paul Trende
Caledonia volleyball put forth a strong week, going 6-0 with four wins coming against teams from larger classes. The Warriors (#5 in AA, 3-0) started by playing up a class, hosting fellow-ranked school Byron (#7 in AAA, 7-1). Scott Koepke’s group generally controlled play, but needed a late fourth set comeback to stave off a fifth game. Caledonia never trailed in game one in posting a 25-20 victory. Serving (3 aces), blocking (4 blocks), and serve receive were keys, as Byron had zero aces and one block. Set two saw Caledonia start up 8-0. Byron held only two leads, but they were 24-23 and 25-23. The Bears ended with back-to-back blocks to even the match 1-1. The Warriors then controlled game three. They built a 20-9 lead and went ahead 2-1 courtesy of a 25-15 win. The fourth set was then the tightest with 14 ties. Byron led 24-22 late. But a pair of Bear hitting errors helped Caledonia stave off two set points. Warrior senior server Annah Anderson then dealt an ace. Down 25-24, Byron went to their top hitter, 6’0” senior Alexis Nelson. Already with 19 kills, she was their best option, but 5’11” Warrior senior Braelyn Lange was there for the ace block. Scoring the games’ final four points, the Warriors grabbed a notable victory by 3-1 final (25-20, 23-25, 25-15, 26-24). Logan Koepke (16 kills, 17 digs, 6 aces, 4 total blks), Emma Rommes (37 assists, 3 aces), and Aubrie Klug (15 digs) led the way. Lange (8 kills), Liv Myhre (5 kills, 6 total blks), Sienna Augedahl (4 kills, 8 total blks), and Emme Kittleson (5 kills, 19 digs) helped. Nelson (19 kills, 10 digs), setter Kailani Schroeder (4 kills, 34 assists, 14 digs), and Lauren Fjerstad (9 kills, 15 digs, 22-23 serving, 3 aces) led Byron. The Warriors served 10 aces to Byron’s six while authoring 11 blocks to the Bears’ two. Team Cal then swept La Crescent/Hokah (25-22, 25-9, 25-22) in TRC action. Lange (11 kills) and Koepke (10 kills, 9 digs, 4 total blks) got to double-digit spikes. Myhre (8 kills, 4 total blks), Klug (5 kills, 7 digs), and Augedahl (4 kills, 9 total blks) helped. Kittleson had a team-high 11 digs, Rommes 36 assists. Anderson and Kennedy Hansen each added 6 digs. Caledonia then took on the Apple Valley “Aerie” Tourney. In pool play, the Warriors downed Class AAAA schools Hasti ngs 2-0 (25-13, 25-12) and Centennial 2-0 (25-14, 25-18) to make the championship bracket. They then downed Class AAA Stewartville 2-0 (26-24, 25-18) in the semis and Class AA Concordia Academy 2-1 (24-26, 25-17, 15-9) to claim the Aerie title. Warrior tourney leaders were Koepke (43 kills, 19 digs), Rommes (98 assists, 16 digs, 48-50 serving, 15 aces), Kittleson (33 digs), Klug (11 kills, 22 digs), Augedahl (16 kills), Lange (14 kills), and Myhre (12 kills). The 6-0 week kept the #5 Warriors perfect on the season (3-0 in the TRC, 9-0 overall).