Jaguars Girls Tennis Sweeps St.John's Prep 7-0 -- Volleyball Buries Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 3-0 -- Jaguars Cross Country Invite at Prairie View

The Jaguars Cross Country Invite was held tonight at Prairie View Golf Course. Linda Keller of Paynesville won the girls varsity race in an exceptional early-season time of 14:16.51. She finished over a minute ahead of second-place Halle Christianson of Minnewaska (15:23). Over 250 runners were at this event, which had a Junior High, Varsity, and Junior Varsity race. A total of 17 schools participated. It was a great event, with the weather cooperating even as dark clouds gathered to the north. (Rain never materialized, though.) For the Jaguars, we had two runners in the boys varsity race, and one runner in the junior varsity girls race.

It was a great night for both the Jaguars girls tennis and volleyball teams, as they won all sets on their way to sweeps on the tennis and volleyball courts. The tennis team won in straight sets in all but one of their matches, and the volleyball team gave a big statement to the rest of the CMC that there will be no let down in their attempt at a second straight undefeated conference championship. They won 25-11, 25-14, 25-10 at the Lakers' new high school gymnasium. HL-W-W is 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the CMC.

Area volleyball scores:
K-M-S 3, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 0
Renville County West 3, Maccray 1
St.Cloud Cathedral 3, New London-Spicer 1
Sauk Centre 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 1 (Sauk's 1st win, achieved at home tonight)
Yellow Medicine East 3, Montevideo 0
Minnewaska 3, BOLD 2
Lac qui Parle Valley 3, Benson 2 (Benson lost game 5 by a 15-13 score, Ouch!)
Morris Area 3, Paynesville Area 0


In Central Minnesota Conference play...Eden Valley-Watkins moved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the CMC after defeating Holdingford tonight in a five-game match. Game five went down to the wire, with a 15-12 result in the Huskers' gym. Pierz, who hopes to be in the CMC race this year as they have been this whole decade, got a scare from Kimball but managed to eke out a 3-2 win on the Cubs' home court. Game five was 15-12, crazy to have that score in two game fives in the CMC on the same night, with the visitors winning no less... balance in the league, perhaps? The Pioneers have eight seniors on their squad, six of whom are hitters. The Jaguars face the Pioneers at Pierz on September 25th, and I predict that will decide the 2008 CMC championship.

Maple Lake swept visiting Rockford tonight 25-14, 25-11, 25-17. The Irish are breaking in a freshmen setter, looking to rebuild after graduation hit their varsity team with a vengeance this past spring. They have had powerful teams since 2004, taking the CMC that year as well as 2005 with 7-0 records. They were Co-Champions in the CMC with our Jaguars in 2006. I expect them to give every team a battle, including our Jaguars, as Coach Marty Kiebel's got a great program going there in Maple Lake. They have 3 seniors on the roster, with six talented juniors being the bulk of their varsity squad.

The Jaguars volleyball team plays in the annual Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Tournament on Saturday, beginning at 9:00am. Other teams participating include Melrose Area, Eden Valley-Watkins, Norwood-Young America, Glencoe-Silver Lake, Cedar Mountain/Comfrey, and Isle. The tournament will be held at the H.H.H. Humphrey Auditorium at the HL-W-W Middle School in Howard Lake. This is the former HL-W-W high school, the gym we've been accustomed to playing in. I'm happy to see after tonigh's convincing win over HL-W-W that the Jaguars are not letting up in their intensity on the hardwood in every match they play. They cannot afford to look down at anyone they play, regardless of that opponent's record. It takes a great deal of stamina and tenacity to give 110% every time an athlete competes. That's what we get with our Jaguars volleyball team. It's great for our communities to be able to follow and support a team like theirs.

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