A very young Kimball Area squad gave their best effort, an effort good enough to avoid being swept, but the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team recovered from a rough second set to win 3-1 tonight and improve to 2-1 overall. After being swept in a disappointing loss on Tuesday night, the Jaguars applied a couple tweaks in the rotation that paid off. Improvements in passing and blocking are still needed, but they are coming along with the meat grinder of the schedule right in front of them across the next few weeks.
This was the Central Minnesota Conference opener for both squads.
The Cubs, who were just coming off of a thrilling 3-2 win against Section 5AA and neighboring rival Dassel-Cokato two nights ago, fall to 3-4 overall. They have no seniors on the roster, and their setter is just an 8th grader (5'4" Bree Johnson). They have a very good 5'11" middle in Mazie Jurek, one of 8 juniors who make up the majority of the team. We can all look for Kimball to make some noise in 2026, and it's a sure bet they are only going to get better this season as they gain experience.
How tonight's match played out...
B-B-E won the opening set 25-14 after initially trailing 2-0. An ace block by Mya Worms gave them a 3-2 lead, and they did not trail from there. The Cubs tied it at 6-6 after they fell behind 6-4, but Kacey Fischer's third kill of the night put the Jaguars ahead for good at 7-6.
The Jaguars had to fight from an early deficit in game two, when they started out down 7-3 and then 10-5. They later tied it at 22-22, but the Cubs evened it at one set apiece with a 25-23 win. In the video below, both teams basically traded points to the point where the Cubs led 14-10.
Here's a video from early in game two tonight:
After trailing 14-10 in game two, Kacey Fischer had a kill, and the Cubs then had a hitting error. Kadynce Haider's kill was followed by an ace block by Macey Roering to forge a 14-14 tie. The Cubs gained 17-14 and 19-15 leads, but an ace serve from Roering and a kill from Kacey Fischer brought the deficit to 20-19. The Cubs hit long to make for a 20-20 tie. After Macey Roering had another ace serve, the Cubs called a timeout. Consecutive B-B-E errors then put the Cubs ahead 22-21.
A kill from Kacey Fischer tied it at 23-23, but the Cubs got a kill after that to bring game point. The Jaguars hit into the net to end the set.
Needing to come out strong in game three, the Jaguars got a 2-1 lead on Kamie Fischer's kill. They fell behind 4-2 before fighting back to tie it at 5-5. A kill from Mya Worms put the Jaguars ahead 6-5, and they never trailed from that point while surging ahead 14-6 and then 17-11. The Cubs got as close as 19-16, but the Jaguars overwhelmed them down the stretch with ace attacks from Kamie Fischer, Kadynce Haider and Macey Roering for a 25-17 win.
In game four, the Jaguars built early leads of 7-2 and 15-3 before the Cubs went into their first timeout. A kill from Roering put the Jaguars ahead 17-5, but the Cubs toughened up their level of play while going on a 6-1 run. A kill from Teagan Dingmann brought a badly-needed side out. McKinley Haider fired off back-to-back kills to push the Jaguars ahead 21-12. Final score: B-B-E 25, Kimball 17.
Here's a video featuring the last 6 minutes of the match; this video begins with the Jaguars ahead 18-11:
The Cubs challenged the Jaguars, but their youth showed as unforced errors hurt them badly in the first and last sets of the match.
What's next?
No rest for the restless! The Jaguars have a big task ahead as they travel to Marshall tomorrow for the two-day, 32-team Southwest Minnesota Challenge Invitational. Their first match is at 6:15 p.m. at Marshall Area high school against Class 4A Wayzata. Wayzata is tough! They were 19-11 overall last year and took second place in the Lake Conference behind St. Michael-Albertville.
Between now and Homecoming week, the Jaguars have just one match at home. That home match is next Thursday, September 11 against Holdingford. The Jaguars have best-of-five road matches on the following dates: September 8, September 16 and September 18. They also have a long road trip on Saturday, September 13 to the Crosby-Ironton Invitational.
Unfortunately, the next time I can watch the volleyball team is not until September 18 in Grove City.
Central MN Conference volleyball opener scores on September 4:
Royalton 3, Maple Lake 0 (the Royals are for real this fall; they are 6-1 overall after tonight's win)
Paynesville Area 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 1
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Holdingford 1
Area volleyball scores on Sept. 4:
Sauk Centre 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 0
Norwood Young-America 3, New London-Spicer 2
Minnewaska Area 3, Melrose Area 1
MACCRAY 3, Renville County West 0
Sauk Rapids-Rice 3, Willmar 0
Litchfield 3, Rockford Area 0
Benson 3, Browerville 1
