Step VI: Jaguars swept in state semis (VIDEOS)

What can be said besides: that was a very rough third set.

The 11th-ranked and No. 5-seeded B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team went into today's state semifinal match against No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seeded Minneota with the full confidence they had a shot at winning. After playing timid at times in game one, the Jaguars fired away and battled to the end in the first two sets that each ended as tight losses.

*Here's a video from game one today:


In that clip, the Vikings held a 9-7 lead after B-B-E got a kill. The Jaguars rallied to close that to a 12-11 deficit by the end of the video.

*Here's a clip featuring points scored down the stretch in game one:


That video clip ends with Minneota holding a 24-21 lead.

Game three was a difficult set to take in, and the Vikings showed why they are favored to win the tournament as they ended B-B-E's dreams of winning a state title with a 25-13 win. The Jaguars (26-7) got down 6-1 out of the gate, clawed back to an 8-5 deficit thanks in large part to two kills by Ava Mueller, but then gave up three straight points and soon found themselves in a 14-6 deficit.

SPREAD THE WORD! The Jaguars play for third place tomorrow (Saturday) at 12:30 p.m. back at Xcel Energy Center!! B-B-E will take on No. 3-seeded Mabel-Canton, who was Section 1A champions from the far southeast corner of Minnesota.

The No. 5-ranked Mabel-Canton Cougars are 35-3 overall after taking a 3-1 loss in today's semifinal round to No. 2-seeded Mayer Lutheran. The Cougars lit up the Crusaders with a 25-15 win in the first set, but Mayer Lutheran dominated from there with wins of 25-14, 25-17, 25-13. Kinley Soiney had 14 kills, and Saijal Slafter had 13 kills to lead M-C's attack.

You can click on the following link and watch a short video featuring one of Mabel-Canton's players who was recently "Player of the Week" for KTTC TV in Rochester: https://bit.ly/3Ab6vb7. The player is Sarah Morken, who is the team's setter and also the daughter of head coach Lonnie Morken. The Cougars are currently playing in their first state tournament since 2001. Sarah Morken, a sophomore, is 5'4" tall but has an incredible 27 1/2 inch vertical. Also, I read that Coach Morken is a member of the Minnesota Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Mabel-Canton has a roster featuring just two seniors and no juniors. Freshman hitter Kinley Soiney is their tallest player at 5'10". She recorded 38 kills in their section championship 3-1 win over Bethlehem Academy of Faribault. That set the new single-match record for kills in M-C history.

More to come. We just got home a little after 6 p.m. Traffic was not terrible but it wasn't that fun either on the way out of the Cities. And tonight I'm enjoying scratch cooking with some freshly-dug potatoes out of the family garden! The ground is freezing up this weekend.

In today's consolation bracket, Pine River-Backus lost 3-1 to Ely to fall out of contention for hardware.

In college volleyball news...
B-B-E Class of 2022 graduate Emily Kern had 3 digs and one ace serve for her St. Cloud State University team tonight. The Huskies (24-5 overall) pulled off a 3-0 win over No. 7-ranked Southwest Minnesota State University in their conference tournament opener. SCSU, ranked No. 9 in the nation and seeded No. 5 in the tournament, advances to take on No. 1-seeded Wayne State University tomorrow night in St. Paul.

Kern, a freshman who played in all 3 sets tonight, is B-B-E's all-time dig leader. She is one of a small group of B-B-E student-athletes to play in back-to-back team state tournaments.  

B-B-E Class of 2019 graduate Emily Knight is playing in her team's conference semifinals tonight for Boulder's Division II Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers are ranked No. 22 in the nation and are taking on top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Metropolitican State University-Denver (26-1). Knight is one of her team's top hitters (second-most season kills thus far) and was part of last year's conference tournament champion that advanced to the NCAA Division II national tournament after beating MSU-Denver 3-2 in the conference tournament finals. *UPDATE: Knight's Orediggers won the first set 25-21! That is exciting news. The Roadrunners then evened the match with a 25-17 win in game two. Knight has one kill and 2 digs through the first two sets. UPDATE: MSU-Denver knocked Knight's Orediggers out of the conference tournament with 25-17 and 25-22 wins to close out the 3-1 set outcome. The Orediggers (21-7 overall) were right in that fourth game but fell just short of extending it to a fifth. They now await a potential at-large bid to the NCAA national tournament.

In football news...
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg led 6-0 early in tonight's state quarterfinal game against Springfield in St. Bonafacious, but the Tigers proceeded to score 28 straight points and advance to the Class 1A state semifinals with a 28-6 win. The Fighting Saints, playing in the state tournament for the first time since 2008, saw their terrific season end with an 8-3 overall record. Springfield, who led 7-6 at halftime, is 10-2 overall as they head to the U.S. Bank Stadium next week. The K-M-S secondary was battered by a 224-yard passing performance by Springfield's quarterback, Jakob Nachreinder.

**Special shout out to B-B-E's upcoming fall musical Anastasia! You can read more and also get the link to buy your tickets by clicking at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://bit.ly/3UE3Pv6.