Step IV! It's a SWEEP! STATE it is! How SWEET it is! (VIDEOS!!)

Yes, indeed! It was an incredible night in Fergus Falls.

Facing a loaded, experienced Parkers Prairie team for a state tournament berth, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team won 25-17 in game one before grinding out two close wins over the Panthers for a Section 6A championship sweep. The Jaguars earned an incredible 25-23 comeback win in game two after they trailed 23-21. In game three, they built a 23-15 lead before fighting off the Panthers down the stretch. Game three final score: B-B-E 25, Parkers Prairie 20.

Overall, the 3-0 win lasted 70 minutes.

HERE it is! Match point is earned in this video!


NEXT! the Jaguars improve to 24-6 overall and open the Class 1A state tournament on Thursday, November 6. My prediction: we open state at 5 p.m. that night. We will know tomorrow morning once the seeding is made public. More information to come! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT! B-B-E is back in the state volleyball tournament for the first time since 2022. It is also our second trip to state since we went in back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019.

More to come. Video is uploading. I lost a great video when my camera popped off the tripod...it was a video featuring the medals/trophy presentation. I might be able to pull it off of my camera in low-quality fashion. We'll see. Fingers crossed!

In game one tonight...
The Jaguars pushed out to a 5-2 lead only to see the Panthers surge ahead with a 10-8 advantage after they went on a 5-0 run. Terrific serving by Makenna Roelike helped the Jaguars regain the lead, with her ace serve bringing a 10-all tie. They took a 15-11 lead and maintained control of the set the rest of the way. Back-to-back Kacey Fischer ace serves made it 23-14. Teagan Dingmann's kill finished off a 25-17 win.

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


And then in game two...it was a BATTLE...
Both teams were scrapping from the get go in game two. Teagan Dingmann dropped a nice kill off a block attempt for a 1-0 lead. Parkers Prairie's sophomore middle blocker, Nevaeh Koep, had a kill to make it 1-all, and the Panthers soon had a 6-3 lead. A kill from Mya Worms put the Jaguars up 7-6, but Parkers Prairie then got in front 10-9. Ties at 10-all, 11-all and 12-all followed, and the Jaguars then took small 14-12 and 15-13 leads. Consecutive B-B-E hitting errors helped the Panthers earn a 4-1 scoring run and a 17-16 lead. Macey Roering's kill later put the Jaguars up 19-17.

Parkers Prairie caught fire and surged ahead 23-21 on Alyssa Revering's kill, and B-B-E's Coach Borgerding called a timeout. The Jaguars ran the table while scoring the last 4 points to earn a 25-23 win with a valuable 2-0 lead in sets.

Game notes from the third set will be reviewed and summarized after I get home tonight.

Light match statistics:
B-B-E's offense ran strong all night, and they finished with a 21.7 hitting efficiency. If you can hit over 20 percent, your odds are good! In 126 total attacks, the Jaguars had just 13 misses. Kamie Fischer had 34 set assists, and libero Kenna Lieser had a team-high 11 digs. Key stat: B-B-E served at a 96 percent clip with just 3 misses in 74 serve attempts. That's huge! The Jaguars racked up 7 ace serves: 3 by Kacey Fischer, 2 by Macey Roering and one apiece from Kamie Fischer and Makenna Roelike.

Here's a short postmatch interview with Kacey Fischer:


It's worth noting that the sound system was blaring some loud tunes in the B-B-E locker room right by our interview location. The Jaguars had much to celebrate!

In other Class 1A section finals tonight:
In the Section 3A championship in Marshall, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton won the first set against Minnesota. Update: R-T-R won 25-23 in game two, but the Vikings kept their season alive by winning the third set. In game four, the Knights have a 15-8 lead over the Vikings. Update: R-T-R is going to state! Their high school principal is Mr. Rick Gossen, who devoted 16 years in education to B-B-E as our elementary principal (and also our A.D. from 2011-2022). The Knights defeated Minneota 25-15 in game four to leave no doubt. They are the likely No. 2 seed at the state tournament with a super young lineup. R-T-R has just 2 seniors: a setter and a middle blocker; the rest are 9th-11th graders. Minneota, meanwhile, also had just 2 seniors: a libero and a middle blocker.

In Section 7A, North Woods defeated Floodwood by a 3-1 margin. Both teams were the No. 2 seeds in their respective subsections.

In Class 2A section championships today...
Rush City, ranked No. 9 in the final coaches poll in Class 2A, lost a heartbreaker to fall short of state. Game five went to Esko by a 17-15 margin. That's harsh! Rush City high school is where Mrs. Brystin LaMont (BBE band director) played in her high school days as a three-sport athlete.

In Section 3AA, upstart New London-Spicer won 15-12 in game five to take down Jackson County Central and earn a repeat trip to state. They graduated a pile of seniors after a state run last year but reloaded this season.

GAME DAY! Back in Otter Tail County (VIDEOS *SPORTS SHOW!)

First serve from Kennedy High School in Fergus Falls is at 7 p.m. tonight, Saturday, November 1. The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is geared up for a giant battle with Parkers Prairie! It will be a terrific battle between two state tournament contenders. The match will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. They stream online at https://www.kmgk1071.com.

Here's my 10th fall sports show this season:


For the record: the first B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team to play in a playoff championship game was the 1994 squad, which went 22-0 in the regular season with a 14-0 West Central South Conference record. They fell 3-0 to Sauk Centre in the overall West Central Conference playoffs, and in the Sub-Section 5A-3 tournament, the Jaguars went 2-1 with a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in the championship at the College of St. Benedict. Final record: 24-2 in Carrie Halvorson's 5th season as head coach. She retired after the 1998 season.

Here's a video from the end of game one against Hillcrest Lutheran Academy:


A few notes on Parkers Prairie and the upcoming match tonight have been added to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's website sports section: https://shorturl.at/Juaoh. Their team has a 26-4 overall record. In the latest QRF rankings, they are No. 16 in Class 1A. Our Jaguars are power ranked No. 5.

The Panthers have a very tall lineup, beginning with 6'0" sophomore middle blocker Nevaeh Koep. Two of their 8 seniors are listed at 5'11" and another at 5'10". Of their roster of players, just one is a junior: 5'5" utility player Autumn Hartman.

In September, Parkers Prairie won two tournaments: on September 20 at home (5-0 record) and on September 27 at Bertha-Hewitt (4-0 record). They went 3-1 at Perham in a tournament on October 4.

And here's the exciting ending to B-B-E's game two win vs. HLA:


Time to get back to writing about football. I've finally finished combing through all of my first half notes from the FargoDome.

In other section volleyball championship matches being played today...
In Section 4A, heavily favored Mayer Lutheran hammered Liberty Classical in their state qualifier by scores of 25-9, 25-6, 25-14. The Crusaders will likely gain a top four seed in the state tournament. This is their 8th state berth in the past 10 seasons. Also qualified for the Class 1A state tournament: No. 4-ranked Fillmore Central (Section 1), unranked Cleveland (Section 2), unranked Nevis (Section 5) and No. 12-ranked Ada-Borup-West (Section 8).

**Game one: 25-17 Jaguars win!

Game 2: the Panthers led 23-21, but the Jaguars won 25-23!!!