This blog post will be updated again on Sunday during the Vikings-Ravens game.
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is bringing home bronze medals after finishing with a win at the Class 1A state tournament today. They defeated upstart Ada-Borup West in grand fashion, a 3-0 sweep, to finish an incredible season with a 26-6 record. They can be incredibly proud to start the season unranked and finish with the state third place trophy!
Game scores were 25-21, 25-18, 25-14.
Here's the post match medals/trophy ceremony today in Saint Paul:
During B-B-E's press conference yesterday after Mayer Lutheran overcame the Jaguars in the state semifinals, sophomore hitter Macey Roering spoke about the mindset held by the team after their terrific effort came up short in their bid to get to the championship, "It's really fun to be here. It's still okay, we're gonna bounce back. We're still having fun here."
That positive mindset translated into a monster effort against No. 6-seeded Ada-Borup West this afternoon. The Cougars already had one big upset in the tournament when they defeated No. 3-seeded Fillmore Central 3-1 in Thursday's quarterfinals. They never got on track against B-B-E, who put up a strong block and used their quick offense to make it difficult for Ada-Borup West's back row.
Here's action from game one today against the Cougars:
The video begins with the Jaguars holding a 13-8 lead.
How game one played out today...
B-B-E gained an early 2-0 lead on Macey Roering's ace serve, and a kill by Kadynce Haider broke a 3-all tie. A kill from Mya Worms broke a 4-all tie, but two Jaguar hitting errors brought a 7-all tie. Two Roering kills helped push the Jaguars in front 13-8. After Ada-Borup West's first timeout was called, each team scored 5 points. Roering had a kill down the left line, and the Cougars called their final timeout trailing 18-13. Kamie Fischer's kill later made it 22-18. The Cougars had a late push to cut the gap to 23-21, which was the closest they got.
How game 2 played out today...
B-B-E had a great response to the start of game two after the Cougars got the first point on a Jaguar service error. That 1-0 score represented Ada-Borup West's first lead of the day. Kacey Fischer's kill made it a 4-1 lead, but the Jaguars went into a brief let down to fall behind 7-5. In that stretch, a back row kill from Macey Roering was all they got. Two Cougars errors tied the set, and Roering's kill put the Jaguars back in front with an 8-7 lead.
Two B-B-E errors lifted the Cougars back in front with a 9-8 score, but that was short-lived when Roering's cross court kill put her team ahead 10-9. A kill by Worms made it 12-9, and the Cougars called a timeout. Ada-Borup West showed a good response to that break to cut it to one point. The Jaguars response halted that two-point rally with a kill by Roering and a solo block by Teagan Dingmann. Back-to-back Dingmann kills, a joint block by Dingmann and Kamie Fischer plus a Roering ace serve put the Cougars on their heels. They called their final timeout trailing 18-12.
B-B-E's lead grew to 20-13, but Ada-Borup West's front line came to life with 3 straight kills. A Cougars hitting error brought a side out, and Kamie Fischer's ace serve made it 22-15. Ahead 23-18, Kamie Fischer's kill and Kenna Lieser's ace serve gave B-B-E a 25-18 win. B-B-E's block was impressive, and they held the Cougars to negative 4.1 percent hitting on 49 attacks with just 9 kills. B-B-E had 9.3 percent hitting with 10 kills on 43 attacks.
How game 3 played out today...
Another hot start helped the Jaguars gain control early in game three. Two Dingmann kills, a Roering ace serve and a kill by Kacey Fischer made it 4-1. Kacey Fischer hit 5 straight kills, the latter two coming after a Cougars timeout, for a 9-2 lead.
Ada-Borup West got a couple kills but then had two net violations as they showed signs of disarray. Worms added to their problems with two straight kills for a 13-6 lead. Roering's ace serve forced the Cougars to call their final timeout as they trailed 17-8. Josie Buckentine's ace serve, a joint block from Haider and Kamie Fischer and a Kacey Fischer kill extended the lead to 21-9. Late kills from Haider and a kill by Roering helped bring game and match point. A Cougars hitting error ended the match, sending the Jaguars into an excited sequence of jumping, cheering and hugging with the third-place achievement in their hands.
In the 3rd set, the Cougars had solid 18.2 percent hitting, but they were doubled up on that by the Jaguars, who had 44.4 percent hitting, an 18-9 advantage in kills with just 2 misses in 36 total attacks. Just 2 Ada-Borup West hitters earned kills in the 3rd set, while the Jaguars had 5 players with 2 or more kills. Kacey Fischer had 10 of her 16 kills in the set. Overall, the Jaguars had 22.5 percent hitting to 5.5 percent by the Cougars.
B-B-E kill totals: Kacey Fischer 16, Macey Roering 11, Kadynce Haider 5, Mya Worms 5, Teagan Dingmann 4, Kamie Fischer 3. Roering racked up 4 ace serves, Kamie Fischer had 37 set assists and Kenna Lieser led the back row with 14 digs.
Saturday afternoon announcements...
The welcome-home ceremony will take place TONIGHT at the high school in Belgrade between 6 and 7 p.m. The exact time is up in the air right now. Stay tuned.
In the Class 1A state championship this afternoon, Mayer Lutheran won 25-17 in game one against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton. UPDATE: in game two, Mayer Lutheran holds a 21-11 lead.
In the Class 2A state volleyball tournament, New London-Spicer lost in a sweep yesterday to Southwest Christian (a Metro private school) to finish a fine season 17-12 overall. The Wildcats, 3-5 in the Wright County West Conference in a tie for fifth place, earned a repeat trip to state after suffering huge graduation losses last spring.
Today, in the Class 2A third-place match, New Life Academy of Woodbury defeated Albany. That's all I have for information.
In the Class 1A state consolation championship match, Fillmore Central swept Cleveland by scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-14 to claim fifth place.
In the Class 1A state finals: Mayer Lutheran defeated R-T-R in a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-15, 25-23). The Knights (30-6) put up a terrific fight in the final set, but it was not enough to overcome a richly talented Crusaders squad. R-T-R was gunning for another state title after they won their school's first volleyball state championship in 2023. In today's meeting with Mayer Lutheran, the Knights were held to just 3.5 percent hitting. The Crusaders had 4 players who had between 9 and 12 kills. Today's state finals loss was the first time R-T-R experienced losing since September 19.
I won't get more on this blog post until later tonight! Now it's time to get some interviews done here at Grand Casino Arena. We've all gotta watch the clock to plan for the drive home!
ANNOUNCEMENT: the welcome home should start at approximately 6:30 p.m. at the High School...Belgrade. I would arrive a little before that, my advice. Time to make tracks west!!!
Saturday night update:
Congratulations to B-B-E senior Kacey Fischer, who was named to the 10-player Trustone FCU All-Tournament team today at Grand Casino Arena.
Second-year head coach Brittany Borgerding finishes the season with a 52-11 overall record. She was a varsity player for Coach Kevin Weller during the 2010 to 2012 seasons. Borgerding, daughter of Joel and Joyce Roelike of Lake Henry, is a 2013 B-B-E graduate. She was also a key player on current head girls' basketball coach Kristina Anderson's first team.
Here's a video featuring the introductions of the All-Tournament team:
That took place after the completion of the state championship match.
