Breitbach makes Top 30 at state cross country; volleyball prepares for state! (VIDEOS)

We have an exciting week ahead of us in Jaguar Country!

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is preparing for the Class 1A state tournament for the second straight year. They gear up with three practices on the home floor before the trip to state competition in St. Paul on Thursday. On Tuesday, they also travel to St. Paul for the State Volleyball banquet.

In state cross country news:
B-B-E's Brooklyn Breitbach was one of four eighth graders who placed in the Top 30 at state cross country on Saturday (November 7). She finished 27th with a time of 19:31.7. The fastest 8th grader, Lia Stokman of Crosby-Ironton, was 20th with a time of 19:21.6. The Class 1A state field included 160 female runners.

Margaret Duffy, the Section 5A champion from St. John's Prep, won the Class 1A title with a time of 17:25.2.

Breitbach was one of four B-B-E students who competed this fall on the B-B-E/Paynesville cross country team. They were featured in the October 29 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Here's a video featuring action in game 3 against Border West:


In the final Class 1A Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Mayer Lutheran Crusaders were ranked No. 6, while the Jaguars were ranked No. 11.

Here's a video featuring the players and fans soaking up last night's win:


The video also includes the postmatch ceremony when Border West's team received their medals.

Some notes on Mayer Lutheran:
Mayer Lutheran has 8 seniors on this year's team. Many of those seniors played on last year's state tournament team that won the Class 1A state title. They defeated B-B-E 3-1 in the state semifinals. One senior this year of this year's team, Ada Hahn, was the leading hitter in last year's meeting with B-B-E; the 6'0" middle hitter had 17 kills in that match. The setter on Mayer Lutheran's 2025 team graduated.

In last year's Class 1A state championship, Mayer Lutheran won 25-17, 25-15, 25-23 against No. 2-seeded Russel-Tyler-Ruthton.

Sydney Panek is another setter on the team, and she's a 5'6" eighth grader. I don't know enough about them to determine if they run a 6-2 or 5-1 offense. My guess is a 6-2. Hallie Hunter, 6'1" senior outside hitter, is one of their main offensive weapons.

Here's the start of game two against Border West:


The early stages of game two had a back-and-forth flavor, and Border West held early leads of 1-0 and 5-4. Kills by Macey Roering and Laken Anderson sparked a 6-0 run that gave the Jaguars momentum to take control.