Pine River-Backus vs. Rush City

Here's a recap from last night's Sub-Section 5A-North volleyball championship match...defending section champion Pine River-Backus entered as the odds-on favorite, but Rush City brought in an impressive resume as well with a very tough, seasoned lineup. Rush City's top player is senior and 6'2" middle hitter Jamie Guptill, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Division II powerhouse Concordia-St. Paul as a college athlete. Coming into last night's match, she had an incredible 37.6 hitting percentage this season!

Game one:
PR-B hammered Rush City in every facet of the game. They shot out to an early 9-2 lead, then 16-9, 19-10, 22-12 before winning game one 25-13. One key to the big set win was PR-B earning four ace serves. Their kills were thundering down on Rush City, and it appeared they had no answer.

Game two:
Rush City came out with completely different composure and surged ahead to a 15-10 lead after PR-B led 3-0 and 9-7 in the early stages. After trailing by five points, PR-B then went on a 7-1 run to regain the lead, and it was a wild, neck-and-neck affair after that. PR-B build their lead to 19-16 and was poised to gain a 2-0 lead in sets. Then came a service error and two hitting errors to tie the game at 19-19. PR-B then led 23-22 going into a Rush City timeout. By that point, game two had five ties and three lead changes. Jamie Guptill had an ace attack on a tip to tie it up. PR-B senior outside hitter Gabby Rainwater hit into the net, putting Rush City ahead 24-23. PR-B then had a net violation, ending the game and tying the match at one set apiece. It was a rather stunning turn of events after PR-B hammered Rush City in game one.

Game three:
In a pivotal game three, Rush City built a small 6-4 lead. PR-B tied the game at 6-6 on an ace serve and then took a 7-6 lead. Rush City took a 9-8 lead, then PR-B went in front 10-9. Rush City sophomore outside hitter Ellie White had a kill to tie it at 10-10, the eighth tie of game three! Guptill hit long to put PR-B up 11-10. Then PR-B hit long for an 11-11 tie. PR-B senior middle hitter Alyssa Semmler earned her third kill of the set to make it 12-11 PR-B. A two-hit call on Rush City made it 13-11. In what was perhaps the key succession of events in game three, PR-B junior libero Emma Barchus had two ace serves to make it a 15-11 score. Rush City called a timeout, and out of that, Rainwater had a kill to stretch it to 16-11; a kill by Semmler gave PR-B the biggest lead of the set at 18-11. PR-B then had a few errors to narrow the lead to 18-15, forcing their squad into a timeout. Coming out of that, Semmler's kill made it 19-15. A Rush City kill and a PR-B hitting error cut that to 19-17. Rush City then served long for a 20-17 score. PR-B then committed their fifth service error of the game to make it 20-18. Rush City hit into the net, and PR-B senior middle hitter Bailey Wynn had a kill to make it 22-18. Senior middle hitter Shawna Mell, Rush City's second-best hitter, got an ace block for a side out. It was Rush City's seventh ace block of the match. Guptill then had a hitting error to hand the game to PR-B by a 25-19 score.

By this point, here's a noteworthy set of numbers: game one had two ties and two lead changes and was all PR-B; game two had six ties and three lead changes and was dominated mostly by Rush City; game three had nine ties and five lead changes and was a toss-up most of the way.

Game four:
PR-B came out on a mission early in game four, building a quick 6-1 lead, thanks in large part to tremendous serving from libero Barchus. The Pine River radio announcer commented that her serving has been able to cause tremendous headaches for opposing teams this season. Her serving early in game four helped soothe the trouble PR-B was experiencing by other players at the service line.

Barchus then served long for a side out and a 6-2 score. Rush City returned the favor with a serve into the net. Ironically, PR-B then served into the net. Semmler then earned her 13th kill of the night for an 8-3 lead. PR-B service and hitting errors made it 8-5. Wynn's kill made it 9-5. Rush City's Mell had a kill for a 9-6 score, with Guptill in the back row. Mell had another kill for a 10-7 score, but Guptill then rotated back to the front row.
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...here's some football updates from today's playoff action:
In the Section 4A championship game, Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity is taking it to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. With 8:29 left in the game, they scored on a 30-yard pass play to lead 27-6. LP/HT shot out to a 20-0 lead in the first half, and K-M-S scored just before halftime to make it 20-6.

Late in the third quarter in the Section 6AAA championship game, Pierz has a 44-6 lead over New London-Spicer. Over in Section 5A, BOLD rolled over Minneota 49-7.