Step I: tough serving overwhelms Owls (VIDEOS)

On Thursday, two additional videos were added, and other updates were included below...including a postmatch interview with Ava Deters...

In a terrific night of serving, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team overwhelmed the No. 8-seeded Hancock Owls in straight sets during the playoff opener tonight.

Now 26-3 overall, the top-seeded Jaguars host a Sub-Section 6A-South semifinal match on Friday this week. They will face Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley at 7 p.m. The Wolverines (17-13) are the No. 4 seed and were a fourth-place team in the Little Eight Conference. They had a 10-4 overall record after beating Brandon-Evansville 3-0 on the road in Little Eight Conference action back on September 19.

How the match played out tonight...
The Owls came out jittery to start game one and faltered with a serve into the net to start the match. After hitting long, however, they earned a kill for a side out. Adley Hagen had a kill for the Jaguars, and the Owls hit into the net. Hagen then served back-to-back aces to make it a 6-1 lead. The Jaguars expanded the lead to 9-1 before the Owls called for a timeout. The tough serving continued for the Jaguars, and they added three more ace serves plus 8 more kills in a 25-6 win.

The Jaguars won 25-13 in game two after leading 19-10. Hancock showed better fight early in the set, but a 3-2 deficit soon became 10-3 after three straight kills from Kacey Fischer. The Owls had a couple kills and trailed 15-7 before surging down the stretch. Game three had a final score of 25-16 while the Jaguars overcame an 11-7 deficit at one point. In the third set, the Owls had early leads of 5-2 and 7-3. Kylie Weller's ace serve and a kill by Hagen tied it at 11-11. Three straight kills from Kacey Fischer brought Hancock to call their final timeout, but they were unable to re-ignite their offense against B-B-E's strong service game.

Here's a video featuring the starter introductions tonight plus the opening minutes of game one:


And more video...

Here's action from the middle of game three after the Jaguars trailed 11-7...


Match statistics:
The Jaguars had a monstrous 53.1 hitting efficiency rating and were led by Kacey Fischer's 15 kills and Adley Hagen's 10 kills. At the service line, B-B-E racked up 14 ace serves, including 5 by Hagen and 4 by Kacie Fischer. Kylie Weller had 18 set assists plus stellar serving marks (18-for-18 with 3 aces). Overall, the Owls struggled mightily against B-B-E's strong serving and were not able to mount an effective attack.

Here's a postmatch interview with Ava Deters following the win:


Thank you, Ava, and all your teammates! I appreciate you offering your time for these random interviews after matches this season.

The Hancock Owls finish 9-17 overall after a 1-1 showing in the subsection playoffs. In the QRF, they were ranked No. 111 out of 151 teams in Class 1A.

More to come. It's time to work on a scouting report on the Browerville Tigers football team.

Community announcement (again)! I'm asking again that you get the Belgrade Lions Fish Fry on your schedule for Friday this week! It is coming Friday night from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Belgrade. If you get the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in your hands, their advertisement was published as a banner ad on page one.

Section 6A volleyball scores on October 23:
West Central Area 3, Ortonville 0
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 3, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 0
Parkers Prairie 3, Brandon-Evansville 0
Breckenridge 3, Battle Lake 0
New York Mills 3, Park Christian 0
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 3, Henning 0
Underwood 3, Lake Park-Audubon 1

State tennis update...
The Litchfield Dragons girls' tennis team prevailed in a close battle by a 4-3 score over Crookston in the Class 1A state semifinals this morning. In the state championship, the Dragons fell to No. 1-ranked Blake by a 6-1 score to finish as state runners-up.

Area volleyball playoff scores on October 23:
Kimball Area 3, Cristo Rey Jesuit 0
Holdingford 3, Staples-Motley 1
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 3, Nevis 2
Pine River-Backus 3, East Central 0
Browerville 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Swanville 3, Ogilvie 0
Braham 3, Upsala 0
Willmar 3, Mankato East 0
Royalton 3, Melrose Area 1
Sebeka 3, Verndale 0
Minnewaska Area 3, Osakis 1