Step VI: running out of steam

After a tremendous start and a 25-23 win in game one against Medford today, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team ran out of steam down the home stretch and fell in the next three games to drop into the loser's bracket of the Class 1A state tournament. The scores of the final three sets were 25-19, 25-21, 25-16 in the Class 1A state semifinal match.

I have a mountain of photos and also video of the post-match press conference with Coach Weller, Brittany Berge and Emily Knight. I highly doubt I'll get to any of that until I get back to the comforts and advantages of working from my home office or downtown office.

After the loss, I told a handful of players how proud I was of them and how it was still fun to see them in action out there, minus the moments where we were falling behind. They continued playing with energy, passion and determination right up to the Tigers earning match point. They hung tough, they hung together - the loss was a team loss. That is sports. You win as a team and you lose as a team.

THE JAGUARS WILL RISE AGAIN! THEY WILL BOUNCE BACK!!!

Up next for B-B-E: they will play Ada-Borup for third place at 11 a.m. on Saturday back on Court 1 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. It will be a rematch of the 2008 third-place match, which was won by the Cougars by a 3-0 set score. Ada-Borup lost 3-1 in their semifinal match today to Minneota (23-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-14). The Cougars are 31-2 overall and won the Pine to Prairie Conference title with a perfect 9-0 mark.

Let's go, Jaguar fans! Come out and cheer them on one last time!

Ada-Borup has carried somewhat of a chip on their shoulders all season after getting to state last year and falling 3-2 in the consolation semifinals. Their game five score in the loss to Cook County was 15-13. They got to game five after winning game four 29-27. Earlier in that match, Ada-Borup won game one 28-26 before dropping sets two and three.

Also noteworthy: the Cougars out of Section 8A had to beat two favored teams in the 2017 Sub-Section 8A-West tournament before sweeping a very good Lake of the Woods team in the section finals. In the regular season, Ada-Borup finished in third place in their conference behind champion Fosston and runner-up Fertile-Beltrami. Ada-Borup beat Fertile-Beltrami 3-1 in the playoff opener played in Fertile; they later swept Fosston at Bagley high school in the sub-section finals.

Regular season scores against those two teams in 2017? Well, interestingly enough, Ada-Borup lost both of those matches by 3-0 scores while heading to a third-place Pine to Prairie Conference finish. Ada-Borup finished 21-12 overall in 2017 with an 0-2 mark at state.

Against Fosston in Fosston, Ada-Borup lost 25-18, 25-21, 25-12 on September 28, 2017. Then a week later in Fertile, Ada-Borup lost 25-23, 25-20, 25-21 to Fertile-Beltrami. Just two days after the loss in Fertile, Ada-Borup traveled to the Alexandria tournament where they went 1-3. In the final pool play match that day, Ada-Borup lost 2-1 to our B-B-E Jaguars. Game scores between Ada-Borup and B-B-E on October 7, 2017 were 13-25, 25-17, 15-9, as the Jaguars responded with gusto after getting lit up in game one.

*Note: Saturday's third-place match will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood.

Moving on to the title match are top-seeded Minneota (35-1) and unseeded Medford (29-5).

In the consolation semifinals of Class 1A, Mayer Lutheran responded to their stunning quarterfinal loss to Medford by taking out New Life Academy 25-13, 25-19, 25-17. Carlton ended the season of New York Mills in quick fashion by scores of 25-16, 25-13, 25-19 to advance to the consolation championship.

Mayer Lutheran and Carlton face one another at 9 a.m. on Court 2 at Xcel Energy Center to open up action on Saturday.

In Class 2A, top-seeded Kasson-Mantorville (31-3) was upset by fourth-seeded North Branch (28-4) in a 3-2 loss in the semis; K-M lost 15-13 in game five.

In other news...huge, huge upset in Division III college volleyball! My University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars shocked top-seeded and Gustavus Adolphus in a 3-0 sweep tonight in the opening round of the Central Region tournament. The Cougars (23-11) advance to the Round of 32 in the NCAAs to face St. Ben's on Saturday at 4 p.m. back in St. Peter. UMM's powerful game limited the attack by the Gusties to just a .127 hitting percentage. Gustavus had 22 attack errors on the night.

You can read more on the region tournament website: https://athletics.blog.gustavus.edu/2018/11/09/volleyball-stunned-by-um-morris-in-three-sets. Featured in the web article is a post-match interview of three Gustavus Adolphus players.

I predicted UMM would pull off the win. I just had that feeling. They have been getting better and better since their heartbreaking five-set loss to University of Northwestern on October 10. They now face a team who will have some revenge on their minds, as St. Ben's lost to UMM earlier this season. UMM was 8-8 in that earlier-season meeting on September 25 in St. Joseph, while the Blazers were 13-4. The Cougars won 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23 to inch above .500. They've lost just three matches since then.

St. Ben's looks to go deep in the NCAAs after losing in the opening round in 2017. Their last Sweet 16 appearance was in 2012.

Below, here's the post-match press conference in St. Peter tonight, courtesy of the Gustavus Adolphus athletics department, featuring UMM head volleyball coach Joe Sussenguth, junior setter Layne Herrmann and senior middle Rachel Mathias:


Other updates, posts, etc. won't happen until Saturday night.

##ConquerEveryDay