WAS THAT CRAZY, OR WHAT!!?!?!
Through two sets in tonight's Central Minnesota Conference match, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team looked mostly flat and disheveled as they took on bordering rival Paynesville Area in a match that still had big implications. The Bulldogs entered the night just one game out of first place, and a win would have brought a tie for the CMC title for both squads. The match ultimately played out in truly wild, see-saw fashion as the teams traded wins the entire way. Trailing 2-1 in sets, the Bulldogs dominated game four to force a fifth set. B-B-E had the upper hand for most of the final game to claim a 15-10 win and take the match 3-2 to finish 7-0 in the CMC! I still have to tally up how many conference titles the program has earned, solo and shared. This program makes me work, and this NEVER GETS OLD! Not for one second.
Paynesville Area finished second in the CMC with a 6-1 record. Royalton took third place with a 4-3 record. They lost tonight in a 3-1 match to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. CMC match results from tonight are added at the end of this blog post.
Before getting to the nitty gritty on the volleyball match, it must be stated very clearly how overwhelming, unforgettable and unbelievable the entire evening was, especially for the Dustin and Tiffany Breitbach family. There is so much that can be said here, but what everyone needs to know is that our little B-B-E community came together in a truly marvelous way to give the Breitbachs a huge, huge lift with both an enormous financial gift and also a spiritual lift with an untold level of prayers and well wishes as Tiffany fights for her life with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Through various fundraisers that took place today and in days leading up to today, the Breitbachs received a donation of roughly $11,000. Almost $6,700 of that was raised through today's silent auction. There are simply no words to fully explain how incredible that is. And lest anyone forgets, including me! Breitbach was a key leader on the very first B-B-E Jaguar team to advance to a state tournament. She was a senior member of the 2005 volleyball squad that won the Section 6AA title to punch through to state.
And how about tonight's volleyball match...!
The Bulldogs held the upper hand for nearly the entire first set, as B-B-E played uphill starting from a 3-1 deficit. The Jaguars fought for ties at 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 7-7 and 11-11. The Bulldogs surged later in that set and built multiple three-point leads. After the Jaguars trailed 18-16, the Bulldogs scored three straight to lead 21-16. Brooklyn Fischer's kill brought a badly needed side out, but the Bulldogs got a kill to take a 22-17 lead. B-B-E then went on an incredible and unforgettable comeback to claim a 25-23 win.
Game two was tough to watch, as the Bulldogs led 3-0 right away and expanded that to 13-2 before the Jaguars began clawing their way back. Paynesville's lead shrunk to 22-19 before they closed it out with three straight points in a 25-19 win.
Here's action from later in game two, where the Jaguars pulled within 22-19...
The Jaguars played much, much better in game three and came out of an early 4-1 deficit to lead 14-7 after Brooklyn Fischer had back-to-back kills. The lead grew to 19-11 and then 21-12 as the Jaguars eventually won the set by a 25-15 score. They hit at an incredible 34.6 percent clip in that set.
As good as the Jaguars looked in game three, the Bulldogs appeared the better unit throughout most of game four and once again took a 3-1 lead out of the gate. The Jaguars rattled off four straight points for a 5-3 lead, but the Bulldogs then scored three straight to regain the upper hand. They pushed further ahead to a 15-9 lead to force B-B-E into their first timeout. Paynesville had an 8-0 run going that put them up 19-9 before Kacey Fischer's kill gave the Jaguars a side out. B-B-E fell back 24-11 and then went into their final timeout. A late surge of four straight points from two Brooklyn Fischer kills and two Kacey Fischer ace serves made it 24-15. The Bulldogs finished off the set with a final kill to tie the match at two sets each.
Game five! As good as it gets...
A perfectly-placed tip by Kylie Weller and an ace serve by Kenna Lieser gave the Jaguars a 2-1 lead early in game two. Back-to-back errors put them behind 3-2, however, before a long hit by Paynesville tied the set at 3-3. Kamie Fischer's ace serve and a kill by Kadynce Haider put the Jaguars ahead 5-3. Paynesville cut it to 5-4, 6-5 and 7-6 before Brooklyn Fischer's kill and Weller's ace serve put the Jaguars ahead 9-6. Another huge kill by Haider in the middle made it 11-8, and the Jaguars were able to cruise from there and play through two Paynesville timeouts while earning the final two points in a crazy 15-10 win.
AND!!!! Here is the complete game five! I thought there's no reason to not post it right away...this was crazy!
For the record! Game scores were 25-23, 19-25, 25-15, 15-25, 15-10.
Paynesville Area takes an 18-5 record into the Section 3AA-North playoffs, where they are the No. 1 seed. They finished 6-1 in the CMC to take second place alone. The last season the Bulldogs defeated the Jaguars was in 2017, when B-B-E went 5-2 in the CMC. In 2018, Paynesville Area gave the Jaguars a huge, huge gift when they earned a 3-2 upset win over Maple Lake on October 2. The Irish later defeated B-B-E in a 3-0 sweep on October 11 to finish as co-champions with the Jaguars.
AND here's the conference championship tally! This year's CMC title marks the 18th time in B-B-E history that the volleyball team has won a share or all of a conference title. The first title was earned with a perfect 14-0 record in the West Central South Conference in 1994. Since 2000, when the Jaguars went 8-0 to claim their first CMC title, they have won a whopping 16 conference titles! That makes it easier to count the years they were not conference champions...which were 2001, 2004, 2005, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2020.
Of B-B-E's 18 volleyball conference titles, 12 have been solo crowns.
NEXT! It is playoff time! Yes, the playoffs are just around the corner. It's really hard to believe. I vividly remember the trip to MACCRAY in the second match of the season way back in late August. Now that is so long ago. The Jaguars (20-5-1) enter the postseason and will host a Sub-Section 6A-South quarterfinal match on Wednesday, October 25 at 7 p.m. in Brooten.
Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on October 17:
Maple Lake 3, Kimball Area 2
A-C-GC 3, Royalton 1
Other video will be posted in the morning, as much of the good stuff was recorded on my cell phone. It's now time to get the Bonanza Valley Voice ready for press!!
