Step VII: roller-coaster finish to close out volleyball season (VIDEOS)

It was a match for the ages.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team was at the door step of closing out their season with a win. After consecutive hitting errors put the Jaguars down 22-19 in game four, Ava Mueller's kill and Brooklyn Fischer's ace serve gave the team new life. Then trailing 23-21, Mueller and Abby Berge each had kills that tied the game at 23-23. An ace block by Allie Dingmann made it three points in a row to get the Jaguars to game and match point ahead 24-23. Mabel-Canton, the tournament's No. 3 seed and the state's No. 5-ranked team in Class 1A, then tied the match at two sets each with a late ace block and ace tip to help them win 27-25.

**Here's a video from the final stretch of game four today:


**Here's a video recorded early in game one today:


This match started at 12:38 p.m. and by the time the fourth set was complete it was 2:28 p.m.

A tough start in game five was difficult for the Jaguars to overcome. After falling behind by scores of 4-1 and 6-2, the Jaguars scored two straight to make it a two-point game. Later trailing 11-5, the Jaguars again rallied with a streak of two straight points and then three straight points to narrow it to a 13-10 deficit. The Cougars then closed out the win by earning 2 of the next 3 points scored. Final: #5 Mabel-Canton 15, #11 B-B-E 11. The match lasted a full 2 hours and 15 minutes.

For the match, Mabel-Canton had a hitting percentage of 10, while B-B-E's hitting percentage was 13.5 Ava Mueller finished with 25 kills on 23.9 percent hitting, Brooklyn Fischer finished with 13 kills on 13.5 percent hitting and Adley Hagen added 11 kills on 18.2 percent hitting. Abby Berge and Harley Roering each had 29 digs, and Kylie Weller had 55 set assists.

The Jaguars earned 125 total digs, while the Cougars had 97.

B-B-E volleyball finishes one of their better seasons in school history with a final record of 26-8. They've had seasons with 27 wins, 28 wins and one with 31 wins (2008 when they went 31-3 and took fourth at state).

More to come. Video is uploading. The team is currently watching the Class 1A state championship match between Minneota and Mayer Lutheran. They are waiting for the announcing of the Wells Fargo All-Tournament team, which is coming after this match is over. Anything regarding a welcome-home ceremony won't be announced until later.

State finals update: Minneota won game one by a 25-23 score after the set was tied 23-23. 

*Minneota won the state title in a 3 to 2 marathon volleyball match against No. 2-seeded Mayer Lutheran. Final score in game five: Minneota 18, Mayer Lutheran 16. What a crazy ending. With this win, the Vikings avenge a loss in last year's state finals to the same team. 

*Update: Ava Mueller was named to the Wells Fargo All-Tournament team. This is a terrific honor for the senior who is signed with Jamestown College in North Dakota.

Just for fun! Click on the following link to see a recap with some photos from the 2008 volleyball season: https://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2008/11/welcome-home-at-high-school-at-7pm.html.