Tonight I'll be adding more info on the 8-team field of the Class A state volleyball tournament.
Here's the remaining schedule of the "Meet the Jaguars" segment on KMGC "Magic 107 FM" in Glenwood (107.1 FM)...
Thursday, November 6th:
* 7:35 AM-Rachel Anderson
* 8:35 AM-Kelsey Kampsen (Student-manager)
* 4:35 PM (or after BBE State Tournament Volleyball, whichever is later)-Jayde Turner (Student-manager)
* 5:35 PM-Maggie Gruber
* 6:35 PM-Kelly Borgerding
Friday, November 7th:
* 7:35 AM-Lauren Anderson
* 8:35 AM-Rae Ann Sorenson
Super sophomores lead MCW past JWP
Mavericks advance to Section 2A, South Subsection title match
By Chad Courrier
Mankato Free Press Staff Writer
ST. JAMES — When the season began, Martin County West volleyball coach Travis Anderson said he wasn’t sure what he’d get from a team that was starting five sophomores, but with a couple of postseason victories, he’s got a team playing for the subsection championship.
“I knew we’d be athletic,” he said. “I knew we had the possibility to do well. The key has been that the girls really want this, but I couldn’t have predicted we’d win the conference and get the No. 1 seed (in the subsection).”
The Mavericks (22-6-1) defeated Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 25-10, 25-13, 25-15 in the semifinals of the Section 2A, South Subsection playoffs Tuesday. Martin County West trailed only briefly in two of the three sets, serving 19 aces to earn a chance to defend the subsection championship.
“A lot of us were on the team last year, and we got used to the environment,” sophomore Alyssa Taylor said. “Now, we’re just having fun.”
Tessa Bergemann served nine straight points, three on aces, as Martin County West went up 9-1. The Mavericks kept building the lead, and sophomore Madison Bloomquist’s kill made it 21-6. Sophomore Paige Breneman had two kills to finish the set.
“Some games, we’ve started really well,” Taylor said. “Tonight, we were good.”
The second set was tied at 8 before Martin County West went on a 12-1 run, splitting service points between Bergemann and Breneman.
After Allex Jahner’s ace serve pulled JWP within 21-13, the Mavericks finished the set, with sophomore Maggie Prunty making the final two kills.
The third set went much the same way, with Martin County West scoring the first four points and never trailing. Taylor had two kills late as the Mavericks closed the set at 25-15.
Taylor finished with 10 kills and four blocks, with Prunty making nine kills and 12 digs and Breneman added seven kills and a block. Sophomore Taylor Saxen had 32 assists and eight digs. Sam Breneman added 10 digs.
Kelsey Witt led the Bulldogs with seven kills, while Meghan Jewison, Nakita Coonrod and Bailey Zimprich each had four.
Martin County West plays St. Clair for the subsection championship at 7:45 p.m. Thursday at Martin Luther College.
Other teams in the state tournament field...
The top-seeded team is Faribault Bethlehem Academy. They won last year's state title in a 3-1 win over Windom, who is the #2-seed in this year's field.
Windom comes out of the rugged Southwest Conference, where they finished in a three-way tie for 2nd place with Worthington and Jackson County Central.
The Class A tournament gets under way Thursday, Nov. 6, 1:00 p.m., with two quarterfinal matches: No. 1 seed Bethlehem Academy of Faribault (22-9)) facing Deer River (26-5) and No. 4 seed Ada-Borup (30-1) facing Southwest Christian School of Chaska (24-7). The second set of quarterfinals is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.: No. 2 seed Windom Area (31-3) versus Lake of the Woods, Baudette (20-7) and No. 3 seed Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (30-1) versus Martin County West of Sherburn (24-6-1).