The varsity match had its moments, and the visitors came to play, but in the end the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team had too much firepower in a thrilling game four as they dispatched Parkers Prairie for a 2-0 start to the season.
Here's a short video from the middle of game one tonight:
Games two, three and four were a battle with Parkers Prairie winning game two by a 25-21 score. The Jaguars played uphill throughout the entire set but showed resilience after trailing 17-10. At that point out of a Coach Borgerding timeout, the Jaguars rattled off an 8-0 run to gain an 18-17 lead on a kill by Adley Hagen. The Panthers then reeled off a 5-0 run, and the Jaguars struggled offensively down the stretch.
In an important game three, the Jaguars were strong early with a 4-0 and 5-0 scoring runs that put them ahead 10-5. The Panthers later cut it down to 16-15 before Kacey Fischer and Hagen had back-to-back kills. Hagen's ace serve later made it 22-17 while the Jaguars took a 2-1 set lead with a 25-18 win.
The Jaguars pulled themselves out of early 5-1 and 9-5 deficits and had to rally multiple times while the Panthers took a 15-9 lead on an ace serve. After they fell back 17-13, the Jaguars reeled off a 6-0 run and never trailed from there in a match-clinching 25-23 win.
Here's a longer video featuring the final points scored in game three tonight:
The Jaguars had a powerful attack with a trio of hitters in double figures for kills: Adley Hagen (13), Kacey Fischer (12) and Kamie Fischer (11). Ava Deters had 12 digs, and Kylie Weller supplied 21 set assists.
No rest for the weary! They have almost no turnaround time as they need a good night's rest and then resume action tomorrow (Friday) with a 3 p.m. non-conference match with MACCRAY in Belgrade. The volleyball action tomorrow is part of home Friday action that includes tennis (4:30 p.m.) and then football (7 p.m.) all at the high school athletic complex.
The Wolverines are also off to a 2-0 start. They swept Montevideo one week ago (August 22) in Clara City and then won 3-1 at Adrian high school against Adrian/Ellsworth on Tuesday this week. MACCRAY and B-B-E have developed a strong rivalry that has lasted well over 20 seasons. The earliest I can recall the teams facing one another is in the 2002 Section 6AA championship, which the Wolverines won by a 3-1 score in B-B-E's first-ever section final appearance.
Area volleyball scores on August 29:
Sauk Centre 3, West Central Area 0
Bertha-Hewitt 3, Battle Lake 2
Melrose Area 3, Benson 0
Holdingford 3, Ogilvie 0
Paynesville Area 3, Dassel-Cokato 2
Breckenridge 3, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 0
Barnesville 3, Henning 1
BOLD 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 1
Minnewaska Area 3, Montevideo 0
