An uphill climb at the end, Jaguars fall in game five (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team had a steep hill to climb in game five tonight at Sauk Centre high school. After holding leads of 4-3 and 5-4, the Jaguars appeared overwhelmed by an inspired and emotionally-charged Sauk Centre Mainstreeters team. I'll have to follow up, but from what I saw after the match, their head coach earned some type of coaching milestone tonight.

In game five tonight, Sauk Centre led 6-5 before they served into the net. The 6-6 tie was a quick memory after the Mainstreeters earned three straight kills that ultimately shifted the momentum firmly to their side. They continued scoring up to a 13-6 lead. That 7-0 run was the final dagger for the Jaguars. Final score: Sauk Centre 15, B-B-E 8. The Mainstreeters improve to 11-1 overall with the win.

On attacks, the Jaguars hit at a 12.3 percent clip and had three players in double figures for kills: Ava Mueller with 24, Paige Rupp with 11 and Brooklyn Fischer with 10.

Video is uploading. And before I forget, here's the game scores tonight: 25-17, 26-24, 19-25, 17-25, 8-15. It's time to call it a night for blogging and get back to my newspaper.

This weekend on Saturday, the Jaguars travel to Crosby-Ironton high school for a 16-team tournament. Teams included are Ada-Borup, Barnum, Aitkin, Deer River, East Central, Hermantown, Little Falls, Mille Lacs, Moose Lake/Willow River, Pillager, Pine River-Backus, Silver Bay, Upsala, Verndale and the host Rangers. The C-I high school was the venue for the 2019 boys' basketball Section 5A finals featuring our B-B-E Jaguars and the Cromwell-Wright Cardinals.

*Here's video from early in game one tonight; it started with the Jaguars holding a 5-0 lead before Sauk Centre earned a side out:


**Here's a video featuring the final points scored in game three tonight:


This was a tough match to lose. Sauk Centre is on that list of teams that I really, really enjoy beating! They have a fabulous head coach in Jim Klaphake. He's one of the best in rural Minnesota. Our Jaguars absolutely played their hearts out. I believe there was still some hangover/fatigue at play after they were in a real meat grinder of a tournament down in Marshall this past weekend. They had three days/nights of volleyball in three days. That's tough! Thursday, Friday and Saturday. However, on the upside, meat grinder-style schedules absolutely help prepare you for the postseason.

On a better note, I greatly enjoyed visiting with St. Cloud State University women's volleyball head coach Chad Braegelman, who's a Rocori high school and University of Minnesota-Morris graduate. I saw him during game two, and he stayed through the rest of the barn burner match. He has signed B-B-E's Emily Kern on a Division II scholarship. That is very exciting! Coach Braegelman's Huskies volleyball team is ranked No. 23 in the latest AVCA women's Division II coaches' poll.

More to come tomorrow. I may not post much more tonight, as I have a newspaper to get ready for the printing press early in the morning!