This has been a long, grueling day - but winning sure helps - thank you, Jaguars! (VIDEOS)

Additional updates coming on Friday morning, once the middle school field trip busses are on their way towards I-94...don't miss the video added from the end of game one!

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team put a terrific book end on what has been a long, grueling, challenging day for all of us in Jaguar Country. In game one, the Jaguars dug as deep as they could and overcame an outstanding challenge from Paynesville Area by winning 32-30. My notes are lengthy from that set.

The Jaguars ultimately won 3-0 to improve to 14-5 overall. Game scores: 32-30, 25-19, 25-21.

I currently have a few family tasks to deal with, all good - but tomorrow is a long day with a middle school field trip to Elk River that I'm a part of. Please take a moment as you are reading this to pray for the Reed and Carrie Adrian family. We will always miss Levi and cherish the time we had with him. It's still raw. In fact, it still feels perfectly wrong. We're now 8 days since his passing, and I'm still partly in denial. I really don't know how else to describe this.

Let's work hard at providing one another compassion and grace as our community rallies behind the Adrian and Lindner families.

Before I get too far into volleyball coverage...
Tonight, in the Section 6A quarterfinals, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team fell 7-0 to state-ranked and No. 1-seeded Minnewaska Area. The Jaguars played with purpose and poise and gave an incredible effort. Some sets were shutouts, but other sets were battles. Our girls gave all they had, and the season is not quite done. Six members of the team will play in the Section 6A individual tournament starting next Wednesday at the Rogers Tennis Club.

Here's the player introductions before the Jaguars played the Lakers at MAHS:


In my previous blog post, I mentioned Coach Reichmann's tribute to our school and what we are dealing with. It's quite brave to speak to others about the burden our community is carrying. I thought her words were perfect and spot on for the moment. Her team provided gifts to all of our players. It was an incredible moment to witness. Thank you, Coach Reichmann!

Here's a video from game one tonight against Paynesville:


Updates with video to follow here after 9:30 p.m.

How the match played out tonight...game one was a barn burner:
The opening set was wild. It was madness. I struggled to keep up. The Jaguars were focused and dialed in on the opening serve, with Kacey Fischer and Teagan Dingmann earning back-to-back kills as part of an early 3-1 lead. Kadynce Haider's block made it 4-2, but from there it was a battle with few lengthy scoring streaks. The Bulldogs turned a 10-9 deficit into a 12-10 lead. A kill by Kacey Fischer, an ace block by Kamie Fischer and back-to-back Bulldogs errors put the Jaguars up 14-12.

Game one got crazy from that point on. The Jaguars gained 2 point leads at 16-14 and 18-16 only to see the Bulldogs storm back for a tie or the lead. After the score was 18-16, the Bulldogs scored 5 of the next 6 points to push Coach Borgerding into a timeout. Paynesville's tall freshman middle Teagan Glenz got an ace block that gave her team a 21-19 lead. Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs got another ace block before the Jaguars hit long. Suddenly, the 18-16 lead was a distant memory as Paynesville held a 23-21 lead.

Macey Roering got a monster ace block on the left side, and Paynesville hit long...twice! Coach Humbert called a timeout, and the Bulldogs scored the next point to bring game point at 24-22. Roering's kill kept the set alive, and the Bulldogs hit into the net for a tie score. Kacey Fischer's kill put the Jaguars up 25-24...but the set had a long way to go. Coach Humbert called her last timeout, and the Bulldogs tied it at 25-25. The Jaguars hit long to go down 26-25, but Kacey Fischer's kill tied it again. B-B-E took a 27-26 lead, but a Bulldogs kill brought another tie. Kadynce Haider's kill gave the lead back to B-B-E, but an ace tip by the Bulldogs tied it at 28-28. Mya Worms fired down an ace attack for a 29-28 lead, but the Bulldogs scored two straight for a 30-29 lead. Next, the Bulldogs hit into the net to tie it at 30-30. Back-to-back ace attacks by Teagan Dingmann's finished the set in favor of B-B-E. It was madness. Thank goodness, the madness was in our favor!

And here's a video that features all points scored in the 1st set after it was tied at 28-28. It was crazy! See below.

First set volleyball action with the final points scored:


Paynesville shook off the sting of losing that battle after holding game point on three occasions and took early leads of 4-1 and 6-3 in game two. Josie Buckentine's ace serve helped turn the momentum, and Haider's ace block tied it at 6-6. Kamie Fischer's ace serve gave the Jaguars a 7-6 lead, and they never trailed in that set while they slowly built a lead as wide as 19-10. They had two more 9-point leads of 21-12 and 22-13, and the Bulldogs got no closer than 5 points while the Jaguars won 25-19.

Before I get into writing about game three, I want to give a HUGE shout out to sophomore Kaden Kollman, who had the presence of mind to notice when I went to the gym's south entrance and then signal to the rest of the student section to get ready! Get ready, because I was coming! They quickly rose to their feet and joined me in the "WHO'S HOUSE, OUR HOUSE!" chant. That was a great way to cut through the tough emotions we've got on our minds. Thank you, Mr. Kollman! The Jaguars led 23-19 at that point, but the Bulldogs got no closer than 24-21. I actually got the chant going about 5 seconds later than I should have. That was on me. Fortunately, it all worked out.

In game three, Paynesville had a hot start and led 4-1 and 8-3 before the Jaguars found their footing again. On a short set, Haider's kill brought a side out that stopped a 3-0 Bulldogs run. A Paynesville error tied it at 9-9. Paynesville led 10-9, but the Jaguars went on a 6-0 run capped by Kacey Fischer's kill for a 15-10 lead. Roering's kill later brought a 21-14 lead, and a Worms ace block made it 23-15. Paynesville Area scored 4 straight, but the Jaguars closed out the night on a Kacey Fischer kill for the 25-21 win.

On Friday...
You can follow along with the middle school field trip by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper editor's blog: https://shorturl.at/qnjBH. I can't do much blogging while on the bus, or I will become severely car sick! The desination is exciting. You can read more about it at that blog post.

On the bus ride, I managed to get small updates added to the newspaper's website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. Three short web articles with video were posted in an October 2 update. By this evening, a NEW blog post will be added that will feature football updates from Benson.

Central MN Conference volleyball scores on October 2:
Royalton 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 1
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Kimball Area 0
Maple Lake 3, Holdingford 2

Area volleyball scores on October 2:
Wadena-Deer Creek 3, Henning 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Sauk Centre 2 (a giant upset WCC win for the Tigers)
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 3, New London-Spicer 0
Minnewaska Area 3, Melrose Area 0
Swanville 3, Browerville 0
Osakis 3, Upsala 1