Step III: Jaguars earn statement win, sweep Comets! Heading to the 'Ship! (VIDEOS)

This is the time of the year you want to be peaking!

Facing the powerful, senior-laden Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Comets, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team put the hammer down in a big way to claim a 3-0 sweep in the Section 6A semifinals.

Tough, terrific serving was a key factor in the win, as the Jaguars kept the Comets out of system for a majority of the first and third sets. B-B-E won game one 25-16 after they initially trailed 5-2. Kamie Fischer's ace serve tied it at 5-5. The Panthers later held a 9-8 lead, but the Jaguars surged ahead to grab leads of 12-9 and then 18-10. The Comets were unable to close the deficit below 7 points.

HLA had a strong game going in the second set, and they took early leads of 5-4 and 7-5 before coming on strong to lead 13-8. A kill into a block by Macey Roering tied the set at 15-15. Her ace block then put the Jaguars up 16-15 for their first lead since they were up 4-3. The Comets pulled ahead 19-18 and then 21-19, but that faded quickly as Kacey Fischer's ace block gave the Jaguars a 22-21 advantage. Final in game two: B-B-E 25, HLA 22.

Here's a video from the middle of game 1 tonight:


That video begins while the Jaguars are ahead 11-9.

To close out the night in game 3...
The Jaguars blew the Comets away in game three, building a lead as wide as 18-8 and 21-10. HLA appeared shell shocked at times and were unable to overcome an initial 5-0 deficit. A mild let up on the gas by the Jaguars made for a somewhat closer final score, but B-B-E finished out the 1 hour, 10-minute match with a 25-14 win.

Here's a 5-minute video from game 3 tonight:


The tape started rolling in that video with the Jaguars ahead 18-8.

NEXT: the Jaguars (23-6) advance to the Section 6A championship match, which is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 1 back in Fergus Falls at Kennedy High School's Gold Gymnasium. Now we wait for the outcome of the other semifinal match, which featured Parkers Prairie and West Central Area.

UPDATE!...we will have a true No. 1 vs. No. 2 seed section championship! Also, the section will have a new champion! Two-time defending Section 6A champion West Central Area went down in a 3-1 loss to No. 2-seeded Parkers Prairie in the other semifinal. The Knights have been a juggernaut, and playing in the West Central Conference certainly prepared them for the Class 1A playoffs. Their season ends with a 15-15 overall record. Parkers Prairie improves to 26-4 overall. They lost a nailbiter on their home floor to our Jaguars back on Monday, September 8. The Jaguars trailed 2-1 in sets that night, but they lit up the Panthers in game 4 by a 25-13 score. The fifth game was close, but the Jaguars squeezed out a 15-12 win. Overall, the Panthers are 1-3 in five-set matches. They lost to conference rival Battle Lake 3-2, beat Underwood 3-2 but lost 3-2 to Henning in the final regular season match. Parkers Prairie is stacked with 8 seniors and "loaded for bear" - Saturday night is going to be a giant match! The Panthers featured a super tall lineup: three of their seniors are 5'10" or taller. Two more seniors are listed at 5'9", and one of their sophomores is a six-foot middle blocker. Wowza!

Parkers Prairie's win tonight avenges their loss by a 3-0 sweep to WCA in last year's Sub-Section 6A-South semifinals. That was also the outcome of the 2023 playoffs, when the Panthers lost in the same round to the same team in the same gymnasium (Barrett). In the past 2 seasons, Parkers Prairie has gone 43-15. In 2022, K-M-S won an upset playoff opener by a 3-2 margin at Parkers Prairie. In 2021, B-B-E bounced the Panthers from the playoffs in the subsection semis in Brooten. I went back to 2014, and their current playoff run is their volleyball team's deepest in that span. I am not sure when Parkers Prairie last played in a state-qualifying match.

CALLING ALL Jaguar fans! Now is the time to plan your trip to Fergus Falls on Saturday! We have twice the driving than our opponents do! This is an extra burden that we will overcome! The distance from Parkers Prairie high school to Kennedy high school is 44 miles. From our high school, it's an 85-mile drive that lasts 1 1/2 hours. We got this! Spread the word. Plan your carpools! Fill your seats! That's the plan for our Chevy Suburban!

Here's a post-match interview with Coach Borgerding tonight at Kennedy high school:


I have to tip my hat to Coach Borgerding! I was in a rush to get that interview taped, and she did a terrific job speaking about the teams in the other semifinals. I greatly appreciate any chance to interview our players or coaches at B-B-E. We are blessed with outstanding students and adults throughout our athletic program!

Some light match statistics vs. HLA:
The Jaguars dropped 113 attacks on the Comets and hit with a strong 22.1 hitting efficiency. Kamie Fischer ran 37 of the 42 set assists for the night, and a whopping 12 block assists were also a huge part of the win. At the service line, the Jaguars went 68-for-73 (93%) with 3 aces. They will need to improve that 93 percent mark just a bit to keep this playoff push going.

The Comets end a fine season with a 23-7 overall record. They were co-champions of the Little Eight Conference with Parkers Prairie and were gunning for their second straight trip to the section finals. It was not meant to be.

In a Section 6AA semifinal match tonight, Minnewaska defeated Sauk Centre in straight sets by scores of 25-21, 25-22, 25-20. The Mainstreeters blew an 18-11 lead in game three while trying to avoid a loss by sweep.

This blog post is on pause as of now until the morning. I'll get other scores added tomorrow. I need to get the newspaper ready for press and get adequate sleep. Tomorrow night, I have a trip to Rochester Mayo on my schedule. Good night!