The Class 1A state volleyball Final Four was an incredible show to see play out. Four evenly-matched teams found their way into Friday's semifinal round: No. 1-seed Minneota, No. 2 seed Mayer Lutheran, No. 3 seed Mabel-Canton and our fifth-seeded B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team. The top seeds won, but they were tested and pushed in each match.
In game 2 against Minneota, the Jaguars were playing their hearts out while trying to even the match at one set apiece. They built an initial lead of 6-2, but then ties followed at 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 12-12, 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15. After an ace block by Brooklyn Fischer, Minneota called a timeout trailing 16-15. The Jaguars scored three more unanswered points after that. Minneota had an ace tip for a 19-16 score, but Allie Dingmann's kill gave the Jaguars a 20-16 lead.
*See some of game 2 play out in the video below:
The video begins with the Jaguars ahead 16-15 during a timeout by Minneota, and it ends with the Vikings holding a 21-20 lead and B-B-E calling a timeout. The downward slide was one the Jaguars couldn't get out of, and Minneota ultimately scored the last 9 points of the second set to win 25-20.
In Saturday's Class 1A matches for first and third place, the top four teams went at it in separate five-game marathons. Both matches lasted over 2 hours and 15 minutes, with Minneota winning their game 5 by an 18-16 score and Mabel-Canton winning their game 5 by a 15-11 score.
*Here's a short video I shot last Thursday before the team left for St. Paul:
It's wonderful to see the huge support for our B-B-E school activities by our locally-owned businesses!!!! In that video, Coop's Corner owner Dani Davis was delivering cookies from her restaurant to the team.
**Below is a video from the elementary pep fest held on Wednesday:
The kids were singing the school song in the video.
I have been combing over my videos from the past two weeks and seeing if anything important hasn't been posted. I found this next one that features one of the most exciting moments this entire fall!
The Jaguars accept their team trophy and get mobbed by their fans at Fergus Falls after advancing to state!
This is all I can probably post for the next 24 to 48 hours. I have a big newspaper issue to get out the door before the printing press runs on Wednesday morning.
