Photo by Paul Trende
At the beginning of the year, it was a matchup of potential huge impact on the TRC race. But because Chatfield beat both, it came down to two good teams fighting for second/third. Caledonia (#5 in Class AA, 8-1, 22-5) took on Fillmore Central (#7 in Class A, 8-1, 17-5) in a battle of TRC heavyweights. The first set saw a huge turn-around. Caledonia jumped out 8-2 but FC out-scored them 23-12 the rest of the way for a 25-20 win. The Warriors then jumped out early in both sets two and three. Cal led game two 7-2 only for FC to tie at 8-8. Emme Kittleson then served four straight points to put the Warriors ahead 13-8. Their lead grew to 20-13, FC closed to down 20-17, but Caledonia won 25-19. In game three, Cal jumped out 14-6. Kittleson had a six-point spurt. Scott Koepke’s group coasted to a 25-14 win and a 2-1 lead. Game four was the most competitive. Each team notched match highs in kills and digs. The set had 13 ties, the last at 16-16. But Caledonia then scored three straight to lead 19-16 and closed it out for the 25-19 win, the 3-1 match victory (20-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-19). The senior pass-set-kill combo of Kittleson (21 digs, 21-22 serving, 3 aces), Emma Rommes (43 assists, 11 digs), and Logan Koepke (17 kills, 14 digs) led the way. Liv Myhre (9 kills), Aubrie Klug (8 kills, 8 digs), Braelyn Lange (7 kills), and Sienna Augedahl (6 kills, 5 total blks) gave the Warriors five with 6-plus spikes. The Warriors out-aced the Falcons 13 to 8. Kennedy Hansen led the way in that department (8 digs, 5 aces). Kammry Broadwater (12 kills, 8 digs) led FC offensively, but was a focal point of the Warriors defense. Aubrey Daniels (12 assists, 13 digs), Katie Pickett (13 assists, 11 digs), and Kyla Hellickson (6 assists, 14 digs, 3 aces) were also busy. Alyssa Britton (8 kills), Annika Mensink (6 kills), and Izzy Nagel (5 kills) gave FC four girls with 5-plus kills. Lily Miller chipped in 8 (digs) and 3 (aces). Cal out-killed FC 49 to 38. The Warriors (9-1, 23-5) take second in the TRC and FC third (8-2, 20-7) behind Chatfield (10-0, 24-2). The Falcons then went 3-1 at the Chaska Tourney (See “Non-Conference Volleyball”). They posted their 20th win. It is their first 20-win season since 2017. Caledonia is 1AA’s 2-seed and will host 15-seed Rochester-Lourdes (4-16). FC is 1A’s 3-seed, will host 14-seed W-K (5-20) or 19-seed L/P (5-21).