Step I: volleyball opens strong for subsections

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team prevailed by a 3-0 sweep tonight over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in their Sub-Section 5A-South playoff quarterfinal match. Game scores were 25-17, 25-9, 25-15.

A-C-GC finishes the season 3-22 overall with a 1-1 showing in the playoffs. They are led by first-year co-head coaches Jamie Tanner and Quincy McNeil. I had a nice, brief visit with Coach Tanner as the Falcons were heading to the player bus. They lose seven seniors, but the program is under going a big overhaul that will pay dividends in future seasons. A-C-GC brought a great deal of spark and hustle to the court tonight. They were a very worthy opponent for the quarterfinal-round match, and I congratulated Coach Tanner on her team's efforts.

Next: the Jaguars (20-7-1) travel to Long Prairie on Tuesday, October 29 for the sub-section semifinals. Their match at LP-GE high school begins at 6 p.m. The match will not be aired on the radio.

I don't have a final score yet from the Osakis vs. Upsala playoff match. The Jaguars get the winner of that one on Tuesday night.

**Update: it's Osakis! The Silverstreaks won in a 3-2 match over Upsala tonight. I don't have game scores yet.

Osakis is now 11-16 overall. They finished 7-1 in the Prairie North Conference standings to claim the title outright.

Upsala closes out their season 8-19 overall; they went 5-3 in the Prairie South Conference, good for second place and one game out of first, a spot occupied by Browerville as sole champions.

Tonight in another Sub-Section 5A-South match, Browerville (14-10) dispatched visiting Long Prairie-Grey Eagle (6-22) in a rare border battle quarterfinal round match via a 3-0 sweep. Game scores were 25-20, 25-19, 25-17.

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg defeated neighboring Benson 3-1 in a sub-section quarterfinal border battle tonight at Kerkhoven. Game scores were 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 25-20. The Fighting Saints improve to 16-11 overall, while the Braves finish the season 9-16.

K-M-S and Browerville will meet in the semifinals in the late match at LP-GE high school next Tuesday.

...and so goes the playoff march...it's safe to say that all teams at this point are going 'one night at a time'!!!

Venturing northward, in Sub-Section 5A-North...
Pine River-Backus won their playoff opener tonight by a 3-1 score over No. 5-seeded Bertha-Hewitt. The Bears set the Tigers back on their heels after winning game one 25-18. PR-B (27-1-2) proceeded to win the next three games 25-17, 25-22, 25-13. Bertha-Hewitt closes out the 2019 season with a fine 17-11 overall record (2-5 Park Region Conference). They were ranked No. 88 in the latest QRF ranking for Class 1A.

The PR-B Tigers advance to face Onamia next Tuesday in their semifinal round of subsections. That match will start at approximately 7:30 p.m. at Aitkin. The Panthers are 19-9 overall and have a 2-0 record so far in the playoffs. They went 8-2 (third place) in the Great River Conference, and the latest QRF rankings put them at No. 59 in Class 1A.

The Great River Conference title was shared this year by Pine City and Rush City, who both finished 9-1. Our B-B-E Jaguars played Rush City a couple weeks ago at SCSU and won 3-0.

PR-B is ranked No. 9 in the QRF scale. B-B-E is ranked No. 25. Minnesota's Class 1A includes 188 volleyball teams.

*Here's a short video clip featuring the player introductions for the team tonight:


*Here's video from the end of game one tonight:



Other updates will follow later tonight. Much to work with including photos, player interviews and match statistics. Plus random checks of the area scoreboard!

Down in the ultra-competitive Section 3A playoffs...
Minneota won 25-12, 25-13, 25-9 over Lac qui Parle Valley. Lakeview swept Yellow Medicine East 26-24, 25-8, 25-9 in a border battle match up. Canby swept Central MN Christian 25-14, 25-16, 25-22. Finally, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton swept Camden Conference North champion MACCRAY 25-16, 25-20, 25-18.

##ConquerEveryDay