An estimated crowd of 600 B-B-E fans watched the Jaguars team tonight at the Melrose High School, which has seating for 1,000 fans on each side.
The Jaguars volleyball team will play in their 7th straight sub-section championship match, when they take on the Bertha-Hewitt Bears on Thursday at 6:00 at the Brainerd High School. The Sub-Section 5A-South championship will be on the line for both teams.
The Bertha-Hewitt Bears moved to 23-6-1 overall this season with a 3-1 win over Osakis in the other semi-final match tonight. The Bears finished 5-1 in the rugged Park Region Conference, with their 5-1 league record putting them behind Sebeka, who won the title with a 6-0 record in the loop. Sebeka was knocked out of the North-5A playoffs tonight by Nevis.
The Jaguars are now 28-1. They have played in a sub-section title match every year since 2002. They also advanced to sub-section championship matches in 1994, 1997, and 2000. All that rich history doesn't mean much right now, though, as it's all about winning playoff hardware in 2008. I look for them to stay hungry and stay focused as they close in on setting more records for B-B-E volleyball.
Players to watch on the Bertha-Hewitt volleyball team, including parts of the game where they excel on the court: Morgan Kapphahn, back row player - Kendra Stokes, middle hitter - Jessica Finck, middle hitter - Corrina Tindal, setter - Alida Moenkedick, middle hitter... Finck was the 2007 Park Region Most Valuable Player, when she was just a sophomore.
Keep in mind... there are NO seniors on the Bears volleyball team. They are young and they are good and they play with no fear. They will be a very solid test for our Jaguars and it will be a very entertaining match.
In Sub-Section 5A-North action, Nevis (18-9) swept Sebeka (22-6 finish). Nevis was the #1-seed in the northwest "pod" of Section 5A, while Sebeka was the #2-seed.
In the other 5A-North semi-final, where #3-seed Barnum was facing #1-seed Onamia in the northeast "pod" final, Onamia came out on top 3-1 over the Bombers. The Onamia Panthers are the 20th-ranked Class A team in the latest A.P. coaches poll.
What we have in Section 5A is actually rare in high school playoffs... The Final Four includes all number-one seeds. Brainerd High School will have some excellent volleyball action on Thursday night.
In Sub-Section 6AA-North, Sauk Centre swept Melrose Area, with St.Cloud Cathedral sweeping Albany. Sauk Centre and St.Cloud Cathedral will face eachother for the second year in a row in the sub-section championship.
In Sub-Section 6AA-South, New London-Spicer won a barn-burner over Litchfield in a five-game match. Game five went to the Wildcats 15-13! It marks the first time since 2001 that the NL-S Wildcats will play in a sub-section championship match. (That happens to be the last year that the Jaguars did not make it to the sub-finals, and they in fact lost to NL-S that season in the semi-finals in a five-game match where game five went to the Wildcats by a 15-13 score)
Litchfield finishes 19-10. They were one of only three teams to beat our Jaguars back in the 2006 regular season. The Wildcats, who are coached by former Jaguars volleyball coach Mimi Knutson, are now 20-6-1. They will face Rocori (26-3) in the Sub-Section 6AA-South Championship at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School at 7:30 on Thursday night.
Rocori, out of the tough Central Lakes Conference, defeated Annandale 3-1 in their semi-final match. Annandale (13-11 finish) hails from the tough Wright County Conference, where the Cardinals went 3-5.
At 9:35...I just heard the incredible news that the 6th-seeded Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Fighting Saints knocked off the #2-seeded Lakeview Lakers in one of the Sub-Section 3A-North semi-finals, 3-2. Game five went to K-M-S by a 15-12 margin. It was K-M-S's second-straight five-game win in post-season action. Hats off to Shannon Schmidt's Fighting Saints, as they will need an extra "push" on Thursday night when they face top-seeded and #3 state-ranked Minneota (22-4) at the Southwest Minnesota State University campus at 7:30. Coach Schmidt is in her 8th season at K-M-S, and their 19-8-2 record is now the 2nd-best ever in volleyball at their school. In 2004, she led their team to a 3rd-place finish at the state tournament, when they finished 24-6-1.
Lakeview out of Cottonwood finishes their best-ever season in volleyball 20-8-2, however... that includes a 1-1 record in the playoffs. (Again, footnote material.. that's tough!) Lakeview was our Jaguars football team's first opponent in football last week.
Update at 10:07... I just heard out of Section 6A-South... Where State-ranked Parkers Prairie choked big time against Underwood and fell 3-1. The #1-seeded Parkers Prairie Panthers entered the playoffs with a 25-1 record and the school's first-ever Little Eight Conference Championship. They then went 1-1 in the playoffs, quickly becoming a footnote in the post-season action. Underwood, who was the 4th seed, is 21-8 and will face 3rd-seeded Brandon-Evansville in the Sub-Section 6A-South championship, as Underwood (22-6-1) pounded the 2nd-seeded Chokio-Alberta/Herman-Norcross Titans in a sweep. The Titans finish their season 20-3-4, with the 20 wins being the most earned by that pairing, which began in 2004.
The Parkers Prairie Panthers were defeated by our Jaguars in the 2007 Willmar tournament championship match. They had an outstanding regular season this year, but I heard that full-blown drama/in-fighting on the court tonight ended their season. It's too bad when that happens... a team has to have great chemistry, even in the tough times, in order to continue advancing in post-season action.
It was undoubtedly a very long, somber trip from the University of Minnesota-Morris fieldhouse back to the Parkers Prairie high school tonight. The Panthers were rated the #12 team in Class A, right behind Southwest Christian of Chaska. If you remember, back in September Southwest Christian gave our Jaguars their only loss of the year.
Section 3AA scores:
Jackson County Central 3, Worthington 0
Lac qui Parle Valley 3, Benson 1
Marshall 3, Pipestone Area 0
Yellow Medicine East 3, Montevideo 0
**In one of my "Oh, Boy" moments... Someone at the Belgrade V.F.W. was not thinking when they scheduled a Steak and Pork Chop feed on Saturday, November 1st. This is the night of the Section 5A championship match. I am hoping our Jaguars will win on Thursday over Bertha-Hewitt and be able to play for "State" on Saturday night. If they do play on Saturday, uhh...sorry, there won't be anyone in town on Saturday during the hours of this V.F.W. event! What a bone-head move! Sorry just calling it like I see it. Postponing this event 2 weeks, to November 15th... would erase any chance of it conflicting with a high school event.
Probably too late to do that, though, as it's being advertised in this week's local newspapers.
More coming on Wednesday night...stay tuned!
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