Volleyball season opener is here! (VIDEOS)

The seventh head coach in B-B-E volleyball history, Brittany Borgerding, and her Jaguars are set to host the season opener tonight! Pine River-Backus, a long-time playoff opponent back when B-B-E was in Section 5A, is in town to kick off the 2024 season. Last season, the PR-B Tigers went 22-11 overall and won the Section 5A title with a state tournament trip.

Tonight's match will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. Online at https://www.kmgk1071.com. The varsity match should get underway at about 7:15 p.m. depending on how long the JV match lasts. The JV match started shortly after 6 p.m.

Pine River-Backus has already started their season, as they went 2-2 last Friday in a tournament at Rush City. They earned a 2-1 win against Class 3A Rock Ridge and a 2-0 win over Class 3A Chisago Lakes Area. I expect tonight's varsity match to be tough from start to finish!

Here's a throwback to September 26, 2011, when Coach Borgerding was a junior at B-B-E; she is shown singing the National Anthem when the Jaguars hosted MACCRAY:


And here it is...my long-awaited video interview with Coach Borgerding! She is a 2013 B-B-E graduate and was a key hitter as a sophomore on the 2010 state tournament team. From 2020 through 2023, she was a C-squad coach with the Jaguars.

Recorded earlier tonight just before the JV match started...


More to come. Video is uploading!

Varsity updates...
In game one, the Jaguars launched out to a quick 5-0 lead. The Tigers came back to lead 16-15. They won game one 25-18.

Here's a video featuring action early in game one tonight:


In game two, the Tigers led 3-0 early before the teams fought through ties at 10-10 and 12-12. An ace serve by Kylie Weller put the Jaguars up 17-13. PR-B remained within striking distance down the stretch before a kill by Kadynce Haider gave the Jaguars a 25-23 win.

B-B-E completed a 3-0 sweep with a hard-fought come-from-behind 25-22 win.

Next: the Jaguars host Parkers Prairie in a big Sub-Section 6A-South contest on Thursday this week. The Panthers had an outstanding season last year with a 24-6 overall record and a Little Eight Conference co-championship with Underwood. In the subsection playoffs, West Central Area ended Parkers Prairie's season in the semifinals. Last night at Verndale, Parkers Prairie won their season opener by a 3-1 margin over the Pirates, who were a Sub-Section 5A-West finalist last year.