Jaguars win a thriller!

WINNING!

The Jaguars volleyball team won an intense four-game match over Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta under extremely hot and humid conditions tonight. Game scores were 26-28, 25-15, 26-24, 25-19. (Above) Five of the six players on the floor react to the win after MA/CA committed a hitting error to end the match.

The match was not for the faint of heart, and luckily for Jaguar fans, their team delivered when it had to in key moments of games three and four when the Tigers were threatening to gain control. The Jaguars fell behind 20-12 in game three but came through to eventually win in four.

Game one saw the Tigers go up 4-2 early before the Jaguars took a small 7-6 lead. That was short-lived, though, as MA/CA held 2 to 3-point leads until late in the game when the Jaguars got up 20-18. The Jaguars led 23-22 but then trailed 24-22. They battled and battled, getting even at 26-26 before the Tigers scored the last two points to win 28-26.

The Jaguars completely caught fire in game two and used a 7-0 run to take control early. They kept putting the screws to MA/CA and earned a pile of service points by Karlee Kern, stretching a 9-4 lead to 18-4. MA/CA got salty towards the end, but it was not enough as B-B-E evened the match with a 25-15 win.

The most exciting stretch of the night happened near the end of game four, when the Jaguars fought past an 18-18 tie with a kill by Kinlee Swanson into a block and then four straight ace serves by Randi Gafkjen. She practically put her team on her shoulders and delivered the knock out punch they needed to erase MA/CA's hopes of an upset. Two hitting errors by the Tigers ended the match that lasted almost 100 minutes.

The B-B-E student section reacts with great emotion after the match ended tonight in the favor of their beloved Jaguars volleyball team. BEST FANS IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA!

I can't say enough about our student section tonight! They were fantastic! Just like the team did, they delivered when they had to and gave the Jaguars a much-needed boost under difficult playing conditions. Way to go!

These guys came ready to cheer!

Up next: a trip to Falcon Country to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school tomorrow night.

The water pressure will be challenged across B-B-E (at least in the towns) as everyone flocks to the showers...we cheered and the girls played under sauna-like conditions. Tomorrow won't be any better, according to the forecast.

I'd have video clips for you to watch by now, but Youtube is being a pain! Stay tuned. (A half hour later no progress...Youtube has crashed for the time being.)