Volleyball: Regular Season Concludes

The last week of the regular season of volleyball was just two nights of action per the typical late October Thursday-Friday break. Caledonia volleyball won the TRC title. Good teams Lanesboro and Grand Meadow played a five-set match. Mabel-Canton got to 30 wins. R-P got to 20 wins.

Warriors Down Falcons, Sweep to TRC Title

It’s always great when the scheduling works out where the last regular season game is a big one. Fillmore Central volleyball (8-1, 18-9) trekked to Caledonia for a showdown with Warriors (9-0, 15-12). A Warrior win meant team Cal’s second straight TRC title. A Falcon win meant a tri-share between the Warriors, Falcons, and Chatfield (9-1, 24-2). For one set, the Falcons were game. FC used a mid-set 10-4 to run to lead 22-16. Caledonia then scored six straight to knot the match 22-22. After ties at 23, 24, and 25, FC got a combo block from Alyssa Britton and Abby Bothun, then a Bothun kill, and game one went the visitor’s way, 27-25. It took the Falcons until their third set point to achieve victory. They were pumped. But the rest of the match, the Warriors rarely trailed. Cal blasted to victory in game two 25-10. Game three was tied 9-9 before Warrior frosh Aubrie Klug posted a five-point serving session for a 14-9 lead. They later led 23-15. FC made it closer, but fell 25-20. And game four saw Warrior senior Ava Privet serve 13 straight points for a 13-2 lead. Caledonia cruised to the 25-15 win, the 3-1 victory (25-27, 25-10, 25-20, 25-15). They swept through their TRC schedule for a second straight year. Probably the TRC’s top hitter, junior OH Logan Koepke, led the way (23 kills, .444 hitting, 7 digs). She helped Cal out-hit FC .313 to .187. Paige Klug (13 kills) and Braelyn Lange (11 kills, 3 total blks) gave the Warriors three with at least 10 spikes. Liv Myhre (7 kills, 4 total blks) and Sienna Augedahl (4 kills, 3 total blks) helped. Jovial King had a season-high assist total (49 assists, 9 digs). A-Klug (14 digs) led the backline with help from Emme Kittleson (8 digs) and Kennedy Hansen (6 digs, 14-15 serving, 3 aces). The Warriors had 10 aces to FC’s 4. Caledonia’s length was a factor too. The Falcons were led by Kammry Broadwater (11 kills, 7 digs), Bothun (9 kills, 4 total blks), and Britton (7 kills) offensively. Aubrey Daniels (4 kills, 30 assists, 10 digs) did the setting. Regan Hanson (4 kills, 14 digs) and Kyla Hellickson (14 digs) led the defensive effort. Madison Simon added 5 kills. And thus, the Warriors (10-0, 16-12) take the TRC over second-place Chatfield (9-1, 24-2) and third-place FC (8-2, 18-10). Caledonia is 1AA’s 4-seed and will host 13-seed Rochester-Lourdes (7-15). FC is 1A’s 5-seed and will host 12-seed Wabasha-Kellogg (6-20).

Single Game Records Fall as Burros Topple Larks in Five Sets

Lanesboro volleyball entered its season finale versus Grand Meadow devoid of a marquee win. The Burros, with two good seasoned senior hitters (Kaci Ruen, Jessie Schreiber), have had middling season as they figured things out under a new coach Frankie Kohn (and after graduating a good

passer and setter). Lanesboro ended its season with a memorable win. For two sets, GM’s basic volleyball skills were better, particularly their passing. Game won had 12 ties. The Burros came back from down 12-7 and then down 22-18 to get even. Trailing = 24-22, they staved off three set points. Schreiber and Ruen supplied enough power to keep the Burros close. But GM got a pair of Kendyl Queensland kills to end the game, 26-24. They then started game two 10-5 and controlled it for a 25-19 victory and a 2-0 lead. But Schreiber, Ruen, and setter frosh setter Jensyn Storhoff played away. Lanesboro didn’t go away. Schreiber was particularly strong in game three, pounding down nine kills. Ruen quietly had eight. The Burros controlled the set, winning 25-18. Game four followed that same pattern. Everything Schreiber hit fell for a kill. She had six kills in Lanesboro’s first 12 points. The Burros built a 21-9 lead. GM made a push late in a Queensland 10-point serving session, pulling the Larks to down 22-21. A Julia Keasling kill ended the spurt. Ruen then scored with a back-row smash (24-21). Schreiber finished things off with a kill. Lanesboro forced a fifth game, 25-22. Said game was tied five times up to 7-7. But Lanesboro scored five straight. GM errors helped the cause. And the Burros won 15-8, posting their best league win of the year (over the SEC-West champion Larks). Coming back from down 0-2, the final was 3-2 (24-26, 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-8). Schreiber set the Burro single-game record in kills (30 kills, 15 digs, 4 blks). Ruen (21 kills, 20 digs, 3 aces) wasn’t too far behind. Storhoff (5 kills, 51 assists, 15 digs) set the Burro single-game assist record. Ellie Howard (17 digs), Skyler Check (14 digs), and Ellie Anderson (5 kills) helped. GM was led by K-Queensland (17 kills, 19 digs, 27-27 serving, 2 aces, 4 total blks), Lauren Queensland (12 kills, 15 digs), Isabelle Fretty (3 kills, 35 assists, 17 digs, 18-19 serving, 3 aces), and Sydney Cotten (23 digs). Lexy Foster (6 kills) and Heidi Weiss (5 kills) helped. Last year’s season finale saw GM beat Lanesboro 3-2. The Burros (10-4, 15-12-1) are 1A’s 11-seed, will play at 6-seed Hayfield (19-9).

Cougars Complete Perfect-Perfect SEC Schedule, Get to 30 Wins

Mabel-Canton completed a perfect-perfect SEC schedule. The Cougars first downed Glenville-Emmons 3-0 (25-10, 25-10, 25-7) to sweep their 14-game regular season SEC schedule. Kinley Soiney (11 kills, 4 total blks) had the best offense and Sahara Morken (3 kills, 29 assists, 7 digs, 27-

27 serving, 5 aces) continued to rack up stats. Kailey Ingvalson (6 kills, 7 digs), Sophie Morken (6 kills, 7 digs), Saijal Slafter (5 kills, 3 aces), MaKenzie Kelly (7 digs) and Hope Erickson (5 kills) made it a team effort. M-C then trekked to GM for the SEC East-West Showcase game. The Larks pulled a big upset, downing M-C in five games last year. A repeat didn’t happen. M-C found their groove and swept GM 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-7). Slafter (10 kills), Soiney (8 kills), Ingvalson (8 kills, 10 digs), and So. Morken (8 kills, 14 digs) combined for 34 kills. Sah. Morken (3 kills, 33 assists, 11 digs), just a sophomore, went over 2,000 career assists. Kelly (17 digs) led the backline. A mostly defensive GM-effort was led by Isabelle Fretty (17 assists, 10 digs), Sydney Cotten (19 digs), Kendyl Queensland (6 kills, 19 digs), and Lauren Queensland (3 kills, 14 digs). Lexy Foster had a team-best 7 kills. M-C picked up its 30th win. The #5 in Class A Cougars (14-0, 30-2) have won nine straight. They are 1A’s 2-seed and will host either 15-seed G-E (6-13) or 18-seed Schaeffer Academy (2-15). GM (11-3, 17-11-2) is the 10-seed, will play at 7-seed Alden-Conger (20-9).

Trojans Get to 20 Wins

Southeast Minnesota has long been a volleyball hot-bed. This year is no different. From the “Journal 11” squads, there is the TRC champ Caledonia (16-12), runner-up Chatfield (24-2), and third place team FC (18-10), the SEC-East champ Mabel-Canton (30-2), the SEC-West champ Grand Meadow (17-11-2), plus state-ranked East runner-up Spring Grove (26-4). It is tough to get publicity when you’re just a 20-win team. Hello Rushford-Peterson. The Trojans ended their regular season beating PEM 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 26-24). Nikki Schultz’s group got work from seniors Kaylee Ruberg (11 kills, 13 digs) and Isabelle Kahoun (20 assists, 9 digs). Tayler Helgemoe (10 kills), Torryn Schneider (12 digs), Lindsey Hoiness (8 digs, 20-20 serving, 4 aces), and Emma Olson (4 kills) helped. The win got R-P (5-5, 20-7) to 20 wins. They’ve quietly gone 16-3 after a 4-4 start. The three losses were to Caledonia (four sets), FC (five sets), and versus Alden-Conger (Goodhue Tourney). R-P is 1A’s 8-seed and will host 9-seed Randolph (13-11).