Jaguars take five-set road loss vs. Top 10 New London-Spicer (VIDEOS)

The storied bordering rivalry between the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team and New London-Spicer continued at the home of the Wildcats tonight. It did not disappoint! With a huge crowd cheering on both teams, the match went the distance lasting nearly 2 hours. In the July 29 preseason Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association poll, B-B-E was ranked No. 8 in Class 1A, while NL-S was rated No. 6 in Class 2A.

Here's the first video recorded tonight at NL-S:


That video begins with the score tied at 4-4 in game one.

Here's a video from later in game one, beginning as NL-S held an 18-14 lead:


After erasing that four-point deficit to force a 20-20 tie in game one, the Jaguars gave up four straight points to see NL-S take control with the Wildcats earning a kill and ace serve to go with consecutive B-B-E hitting errors. Teagan Dingmann had a kill for a side out, and the Wildcats then hit long to make it 24-22. Out of an NL-S timeout, senior setter Ezri Boelter hit her first kill of the night to give her team a 25-22 win.

Here's a video featuring action in game two, including the end:


The Jaguars won back-to-back sets in games two and three and brought strong momentum into game four. That faded, however, as the Wildcats brought a tremendous block in the fourth set while earning a 25-18 win. They were in command for nearly the entire fifth set and took the match with a 15-9 win.

Final: NL-S 3, B-B-E 2. Abysmal four percent hitting for the night was costly, with a total of 35 hitting errors on 176 attacks.

The Wildcats (5-0) were just coming off of earning the tournament title at the Albany Early Bird Invitational last Friday. They have 5 seniors on their roster, and they are going to make noise in the brutally tough Wright County West Conference while being one of the contenders in the Section 3AA playoffs in November.

Next for the volleyball team: the Jaguars continue on a non-conference slate while hosting MACCRAY next Tuesday, September 8.

Video is uploading, and more will be posted on Wednesday. It's time to finish out the September 3 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper and prepare it for the printing press.

Area volleyball scores on September 1:
Maple Lake 3, Litchfield 1
Paynesville Area 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Adrian/Ellsworth 3, MACCRAY 2
Border West 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0
BOLD 3, Melrose Area 2
Minnewaska Area 3, Sauk Centre 1 (a huge win for Minnewaska at Sauk Centre)