The Jaguars volleyball team (27-4) fell in four games to sixth-ranked Mayer Lutheran (18-13). They will take on Northern Freeze (27-3-2) in the consolation semi-finals at 3:00 on Friday at the XCel Energy Center. The Northern Freeze fell to third-ranked Bethlehem Academy in another state quarterfinal match in a 3-0 loss.
After winning game one 25-18, the Jaguars fell in a cliffhanger in game two 25-23.
Games three and four went to Mayer Lutheran 25-19, 27-25. The Jaguars had a 23-19 lead in game four, hoping for a deciding fifth game, but could not hang in the end as they fell into the consolation bracket.
Truly not for cliches' sake, the Jaguars gave 110% and played great against a fellow Class A volleyball power. The Jaguars were digging and hitting as best as they've done all season long. They came into the tournament ranked #7 in the final AP poll, and they showed they deserved every bit of that ranking.
Right now Class AA teams are playing. Stewartville is about to face Delano in a Class AA quarterfinal. I spoke with the Stewartville head coach just a few minutes ago. I told him how Mayer was digging at everything we were pounding down their way, even finding a few of our power hitters' would-be kills to the back row. In a tourament earlier this season, Stewartville lost 2-1 to the Crusaders. He told me that they were digging at everything the Tigers hit their way as well.
(And yes, he vividly remembers us from 2005.)
An additional note...the B-B-E communities provided a larger crowd than any Class AA team I've seen so far today (Marshall, Hibbing, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Stewartville, Jordan, and Delano). Hats off to our B-B-E community!
Photos and a handful of statistics will be posted tonight.
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