Pre-match scenes...
In a 3-1 loss to Mayer Lutheran, the Jaguars volleyball team's state championship dreams ended in the state quarterfinal round at the XCel Energy Center in St.Paul on Thursday afternoon. Game scores were 25-27, 25-17, 22-25, 24-26.
They play in the consolation semi-finals tomorrow (Friday) at 3pm against Cherry. Cherry (22-3) lost to Wabasha-Kellogg 25-14, 25-16, 25-4 in the other quarterfinal match at 3pm. Their school is located in Iron, Minnesota - directly between Hibbing and Eveleth, Minnesota. This is their first ever trip to state in volleyball.
My two cents - the Jaguars certainly did not play poorly. They played very well at times, with lots of hustle and teamwork. In the end, though, they didn't have the desire or firepower that was a trademark of their Section 5A championship run.
They'll come out firing tomorrow!
About the Cherry Tigers...Cherry, who hails from Section 7A in northeastern Minnesota, is a senior-dominated team with four seniors in the starting six. The top three players off of the bench are juniors. They have two junior hitters in the starting lineup, then three senior hitters and a senior setter - running a 5-1 offense.
Cherry head coach Pam Pioske's comments about her team: "Important factors in the success of our team this season are team unity and bonding, believing in ourselves as a team. We were Arrowhead Conference Champions at 9-0 and St.Louis County Champions at 6-0."
More will follow into the evening.
You can view photos from the match at the Sauk Centre Herald website online gallery: http://saukherald.mycapture.com (They won't all be uploaded until mid-morning tomorrow, I've got about 100 up tonight)
The Jaguars are introduced prior to the start of today's match.
The state tournament quarterfinal match gets underway...
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