Further below in this post is part of an article from the Walker Pilot-Independent newspaper written by Dean Morrill and posted online on Friday morning.
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley delivered a performance for the ages with an aggressive mindset against a supremely talented and upstart Pine River-Backus team. Three WHA players were error-free on serving, and a fourth player missed just one serve. WHA's offense was really humming with 51 set assists compared to 34 by PR-B. The Wolves had 86 digs compared to 64 by the Tigers. Megan Benjamin (20 kills), Katie Sagen (13 kills) and Aleah Tabbert (nine kills) were their top hitters against PR-B.
Senior middle hitter Megan Benjamin (No. 12) is identified as WHA's top hitter in other media articles. In WHA's win over PR-B, Katie Sagen's 13 kills was a huge key in the win, most likely giving the Wolves an extra push that they needed to defeat a team that had 28 wins to their credit plus the last two sub-section titles.
*Below is footage from the final moments of game three in the Sub-Section 5A-North championship match on Thursday night in Little Falls. Pine River-Backus avoided losing by sweep with a 25-18 win.
And on to that newspaper story...
Coach Bonnie Sea said the Wolves continued their unselfish play and responded with their best performance of the season, using a five-set loss just a couple of weeks ago to motivate them.
“The girls knew what we had to do to beat them. The girls executed everything we worked on. They blocked where they needed to block, read the hitters when we pulled our defense back, and when they tipped we picked all of them up,” Sea said. “The performance was unbelievable. It was like watching a drawing board. The girls were all exactly where they needed to be.”
Sea the biggest turnaround from the loss Oct. 14, was the girls’ aggressive play, because they know when they play well they’re playing aggressive..
In the third set, with WHA trailing by a lot, Sea told them during a time out that if they continue being intimidated, they will lose. “Why don’t we at least lose being aggressive. It’s OK to lose, but you have to play aggressive. They’re not going to give it to you. You have to work for it,” the coach said. “So we went out and we changed the score. Results happen.”
The Wolves dominated nearly every stat. They served at 93 percent compared to 86 percent. WHA also had 86 digs to 64, only 34 errors to Pine River’s 39, and 51 assists to 34.
Megan Benjamin recorded 20 kills, Katie Sagen put down 13, Aleah Tabbert had nine, Bri Raddatz four, and Kali Oelschlager and Abi Strandlie both had three. Raddatz finished with 40 assists.
Those perfect on serve were Benjamin (17 attempts), Rachel Pitt (15) and Ally Sea (12), while Oelschlager (12) only missed one. Raddatz had four ace serves and Benjamin three.
Benjamin also had one solo block and three assists, while Tabbert had one solo. Oelschlager and Raddatz each assisted on two blocks.
Leading the team in digs were Sea with 24, Raddatz had 17, Lizzie Naugle 14 and Benjamin 13.
*Below is video from the end of the WHA vs. PR-B match on Thursday:
Time to start getting ready for the road trip to Little Falls!