Volleyball: M-C and Chatfield Runners-Up Highlight Showcase Event

The Class A and AA Showcases at Burnsville’s Volleyball Warehouse again brought together most of the best small school teams in the state. Naturally, southeast Minnesota was represented. Double-A teams #5 Caledonia and #8 Chatfield competed, as did single-A teams #2 Mabel-Canton, #5 Fillmore Central, and Spring Grove. The two teams to fare the best were the Gophers and Cougars, though the Warriors were not far behind. All three went 3-0 in pool play. Chatfield beat W-E-M 2-0 (25-20, 25-22), Concordia Academy 2-0 (25-20, 25-22), and #5 Albany 2-0 (25-18, 25-20). Caledonia beat #6 Cannon Falls in a rematch of last year’s 1AA title match 2-0 (25-22, 25-18). The Bombers were minus their All-State hitter Madison Burr (knee). The Warriors also beat Mounds Park Academy 2-0 (25-18, 25-10) and #7 Rush City 2-1 (25-22, 22-25, 15-12). M-C beat MACCRAY 2-0 (25-19, 25-20), New Life Academy 2-1 (16-25, 25-21, 15-8), and Cleveland 2-0 (25-22, 25-19). M-C trailed 15-4 in game one of the latter match. Cal, Chat, and M-C each moved on to the top Gold Bracket. FC went 2-1 in pool play. The Falcons beat Nevis 2-0 (26-24, 25-22) and #9 Faribault B.A. 2-0 (25-20, 25-11) while losing to #4 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 0-2 (10-25, 15-25). They moved on to the Silver Bracket. Spring Grove went 1-2 in pool play, beating Ely 2-0 (25-23, 25-14) while losing to Kenyon-Wanamingo 1-2 (27-25, 18-25, 12-15) and #1 Minneota 0-2 (21-25, 10-25). They moved on to the Bronze Bracket. In Gold AA play, Chatfield topped Caledonia in the semis 2-1 (18-25, 25-22, 19-17) in a spirited match. It was the Warriors’ first loss (started 15-0). The Gophers then fell to #1 Pequot Lakes 0-2 (22-25, 17-25) in the title match. Kristi Rindels’ group finished as AA runner-up, their best finish at the Showcase. Jaelyn LaPlante and Cora Bicknese made All-Tourney team. Gopher tourney leaders were Bicknese (75 digs, 55-56 serving, 4 aces), LaPlante (42 kills, 34 digs), Harper Goldsmith (29 kills, 65 assists, 33 digs), Trindy Barkeim (25 kills, 18 digs), Hannah Tweten (44 assists, 20 digs), Lexi Hinckley (27 digs), and Evy Goldsmith (27 kills). It was Chatfield’s first AA Showcase since 2013. Scott Koepke’s group turned around and beat #2 Southwest Christian 2-1 (17-25, 25-18, 15-12) to take third place, also their best finish. They took 12th last year. The Warriors were not quite at full strength, down 6’0” middle Sienna Augedahl. Logan Koepke made All-Tourney. Warrior tourney leaders were Koepke (60 kills, 30 digs), Braelyn Lange (19 kills, 19 digs, 9 aces), Emma Rommes (124 assists, 20 digs, 7 aces), Liv Myhre (37 kills), Emme Kittleson (59 digs), and Aubrie Klug (28 digs). In Class A, M-C topped #3 Mayer Lutheran 2-0 (25-21, 25-23) in the Gold semis before losing to #1 Minneota 0-2 (14-25, 18-25) in the finals. It was the Cougars’ first loss after a 24-0 start. Lonnie Morken’s group posted their best-ever Showcase finish as runner-up. They took fifth as Silver Bracket champs last year. It was their 10th top eight finish the last 11 Showcase events. The top four Class A ranked teams made the Gold Bracket, placing their ranking. Sahara Morken and Kinley Soiney made the All-Tourney team. Morken (114 assists, 41 digs), Soiney (75 kills, 28 digs, 7 aces), Saijal Slafter (39 kills, 37 digs), and Lydia Vatland (39 digs) were M-C’s tourney leaders. Soiney went over 1,000 career kills as just a sophomore. In the Silver Bracket, FC fell to K-W 1-2 (25-20, 21-25, 10-15) and New Life Academy 1-2 (18-25, 25-21, 8-15). Travis Malley’s group took 8th place (of 16 teams). They took 10th last year. Kammry Broadwater made All-Tourney team. Falcon tourney leaders were Broadwater (43 kills, 25 digs), Kyla Hellickson (64 digs), Alyssa Britton (22 kills), and Katie Pickett (52 assists). Hellickson recorded her 1,000th career dig. In the Bronze Bracket, Spring Grove beat Nevis 2-0 (25-23, 25-21) before losing to Cleveland 0-2 (26-28, 17-25). Kelsey Morken’s Lions took 10th place. They took 9th last season. New rankings came out after the tourney. SEC-East leader M-C (7-0, 24-1) held firm at #2 in Class A. FC (5-1, 13-5) fell from #5 to #7. Caledonia (6-0, 16-1) moved up to #3, Chatfield (5-0, 12-2) up to #4. They are the TRC’s top two schools. Spring Grove (6-1, 11-4) is unranked. Fillmore Central is the only area team to finish higher than M-C and Chatfield at the Showcase. They were the 2013 champs.