Volleyball Jaguars sweep Royalton, one match to go in title hunt! (VIDEOS)

A successful Dig Pink night took place this evening for the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team, as they defeated visiting Royalton in straight sets in Central Minnesota Conference action. This moves their conference record to 5-1. All that's left is a home match with Maple Lake next week, Thursday, October 22. In the CMC race, Eden Valley-Watkins kept pace with the Jaguars by defeating Maple Lake on the road tonight in four sets.

B-B-E is 14-8 overall with two matches to go before the playoffs begin.

In tonight's win, the Jaguars had 27.6 percent hitting. The Jaguars had a balanced attack: Laken Anderson 9 kills, Macey Roering 7 kills, Jaylee Jensen 6 kills, Kamie Fischer and Mya Worms 4 kills each.

Both teams traded punches as game one got rolling. After a Royalton kill cut an early B-B-E lead to 5-4, Macey Roering's kill started a 4-0 run. A kill by Jaylee Jensen got the lead to 10-5, and Laken Anderson's kill later made it a 20-7 lead. The Royals settled in and scored 6 straight points, but the Jaguars regained control with an ace serve by Kamie Fischer and a Mya Worms kill to bring it to 24-13. A late flurry of Royalton points followed before Roering shut it down with a kill and a 25-18 win.

Here's a video from the final points scored in game 1 tonight:


B-B-E led 4-2 early in game two, and they fought past a 7-5 deficit to go up 12-9. The Royals tied the set multiple times, later at 15-15, before fading in the final stretch. They trailed 24-17 before scoring 3 straight points, but the Royals served out of bounds to give the Jaguars a 25-20 win.

Here's a video featuring the end of game two:


Royalton came out flat in game three, and the Jaguars capitalized with aggressive serving to take leads of 4-0 and 16-1. Royalton had a couple late kills after falling behind 23-7, but Anderson finished the match with two straight kills for a 25-9 win.

Additional coverage will be published in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Central MN Conference volleyball scores on October 13:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Paynesville Area 0 (a mild upset in CMC action in Grove City tonight)
Holdingford 3, Kimball Area 1
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Maple Lake 1

Area volleyball scores on October 12-13:
Parkers Prairie 3, New York Mills (played last night)
Osakis 3, Browerville 0
Willmar 3, Detroit Lakes 0
Albany 3, Pierz 0
New London-Spicer 3, Watertown-Mayer 0
Battle Lake 3, Ashby 0
Minneota 3, Canby 0

It's game night, bring on the Royals

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is hosting Royalton tonight. The Jaguars won game one 25-18 after holding a 20-7 lead at one point.

In game two, Royalton held a 17-16 lead, but the Jaguars caught fire and rallied for a 25-20 win.

In the Dig Pink cancer fundraiser, over $2,200 was donated free-will fashion by the home and visiting fans. These funds are being donated to the Joslyn and Brandon Deters family. 

More to come after 9 p.m.

Dig Pink night is tomorrow, tennis heading to section individuals (VIDEOS**)

The Dig Pink cancer awareness night for the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is set for tomorrow night, Tuesday, when Royalton visits our place for a Central Minnesota Conference match. The Royals are currently tied for third place with a 3-2 record along with Paynesville Area. In the latest QRF rankings, the Jaguars (13-8) have climbed to No. 14 in Class 1A while also moving up in the Section 6A standings. They are currently No. 2 in Section 6A behind Underwood, who is ranked No. 14 by the QRF.

The Royals are 10-10 overall. They compete in Section 6AA in the postseason.

Additional Dig Pink night information:
All proceeds from the evening will go to the Joslyn and Brandon Deters family. Two gift baskets are being raffled off, and a free will donation will be accepted. Raffle tickets are $20 each. You can see more about the Deters family and Joslyn's battle with cancer by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: ElrosaFireSteakFryNight.

As stated in that web article, a marvelous showing of support for the Deters family took place on Saturday night in Elrosa. It should warm everyone's heart!

For six members of the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team, their season continues with the Section 6A individual tournament, which is held on Wednesday, October 14 at the Rogers Tennis Club. This spacious, indoor facility features 7 hard courts, and both a singles and a doubles bracket will be in play that morning. The six Jaguars competing are Ellan Fischer, Hannah Wurm, Olive Olson, Kwynn Quade, Harper Herickhoff and Jena Borgerding.

Here's a video from Long Prairie-Grey Eagle six day ago:


The girls' tennis team season concluded last Tuesday in the Section 6A play-in round. Of the 10 players competing in the varsity lineup, just one was a senior: Ellan Fischer.

Let's back up a few days to last week...

Here's a video from the finish line of the Color FUND Run last Wednesday:


The forecast for the weather is remarkably cold this week compared to what we've had across the first 11 or so days of October. The temperatures should be in the low 50s for Wednesday's football game at Long Prairie.

Here's a video from game two of the Paynesville volleyball match held one week ago:


After the Jaguars won a back-and-forth battle in game one, they won 25-14 in game two.

B-B-E Volleyball records 3 wins at Runestone Invitational (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team had a strong outing today in Alexandria for the Runestone Invitational. Playing at Alexandria Area high school, the Jaguars went 3-0 in pool play before falling to state-ranked Minnewaska Area in straight sets in the playoffs. I have to head back to my Friday Night Lights VI post and finish writing my game recap from last night. Once that's done, this blog post will get revamped.

Pool play results for B-B-E at Alexandria:
B-B-E defeated Fergus Falls to open pool play;
B-B-E won 25-9, 25-15 vs. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta;
B-B-E won 22-25, 25-14, 15-12 vs. BOLD;

Game scores against Minnewaska Area were 25-18, 25-17. The Lakers appear to be running away with the West Central Conference title, and they are one of the top teams in Section 6AA. B-B-E improves to 13-8 overall as they prepare for a tough home match on Tuesday, October 13 against Royalton. That night is also Dig Pink night with their cancer awareness fundraiser.

Minnewaska Area won their way to the championship, where they won 2-1 against Alexandria. The Lakers are 21-1 overall.

Here's a video featuring the end of the volleyball team's Homecoming match on Thursday:


It's been a terribly busy and productive day. The turnout and support in Elrosa for the Joslyn and Brandon Deters family was remarkable. The Elrosa Fire Department also turned out well with their steak fry fundraiser. I have a lot more to report on that.

Here's light coverage that includes very special news out of Elrosa tonight...click on the following link to move over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: ElrosaSteakFry2026.

I have church at 9 a.m. tomorrow, so it's time to call it a night and come back tomorrow to add more here. My first half game recap from Friday Night Lights VI has been added to the previous blog post.

*UPDATE on Monday: in the latest Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Jaguars are sitting in a tie for 12th place with Martin County West.

Jaguars in four vs. WCA Knights (VIDEOS**)

Two additional videos were added to this blog post plus the area scoreboard on Friday afternoon. In the latest QRF calculations, the Jaguars have climbed to No. 17 in Class 1A.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team brought it at just the right time in order to avoid going to a fifth set tonight against West Central Area. Sitting in a 16-all tie in game four, the Jaguars came on strong with 6 kills and one ace serve to finish the match on a 9-2 run and a 25-18 Parents Night win. Another feature of the evening was the introduction of the Homecoming royal court, whose names were announced before the B-B-E Pep Band performed the National Anthem.

Game scores were 25-12, 25-15, 22-25, 25-18.

The Jaguars used 36 percent hitting in game four to overcome an inspired performance by WCA, who was coming off of tough back-to-back West Central Conference losses to last-place Montevideo and first-place Minnewaska Area. The Knights (7-14) are currently on a five-match losing streak.

Next: the Jaguars (10-7 overall) travel to the Alexandria Invitational on Saturday. I haven't studied their schedule for the day, but I know they will face BOLD in pool play in the morning. Other top teams there include Minnewaska Area and the host Cardinals.

Here's action featuring the beginning of the match in game one tonight:


WCA struggled against a relentless B-B-E attack in game one. It took a few serves for the Jaguars to get rolling, but after holding a 5-4 lead, they rattled off 7 straight points while scoring on a kill and an ace block by Jaylee Jensen plus an ace serve from Macey Roering. A kill from Laken Anderson and Kamie Fischer's ace serve made it 15-6. Jensen's kill got the Jaguars to a 20-10 lead, and they finished off the set on a 5-0 run to win 25-12 with Fischer's kill good for the 25th point.

Here's a video from the final points scored in game one tonight:


The Knights played better at the start of game two and trailed 6-5 before the Jaguars scored 3 straight points. A kill from Mya Worms and Jensen's ace block extended the lead to 16-9, which brought a timeout from WCA. Roering's ace serve and an ace tip from Jensen made it 20-13, and WCA called their final timeout. The Jaguars kept the pressure on, and late kills from Anderson and Fischer set up a 25-15 win that ended on a WCA attack error.

Here's action late in game three tonight:


That video begins with the Jaguars trailing 21-20.

B-B-E held leads of 8-4 and 11-7 early in game three, but the Knights tied it at 11-11 with a kill. WCA later pulled ahead 15-14 on a kill, but the Jaguars got a 4-0 run that seemed to right the ship. WCA came on strong and closed out a 25-22 win on a 10-4 run.

Here's the end of game four tonight:


In game four, the Jaguars trailed 8-7 before pulling ahead 14-11 on a Dingmann kill. The Knights tied it at 16-16, but after Anderson's kill sliced a WCA block attempt, the Jaguars never trailed in a 25-18 win.

Central MN Conference volleyball scores on October 8:
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Kimball Area 0
Holdingford 3, Maple Lake 0
Royalton 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0

Area volleyball scores on October 8:
St. Cloud Cathedral 3, Albany 1
Browerville 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 1
New London-Spicer 3, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 1
Willmar 3, Bemidi 0
Henning 3, Menahga 1
Upsala 3, Swanville 0
Renville County West 3, Canby 0
Sauk Centre 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 0
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 3, Parkers Prairie 0
Breckenridge 3, Staples-Motley 1
Ortonville 3, Dawson-Boyd 2

GAME DAY! Volleyball Homecoming (VIDEO)

After a grueling mid-season schedule featuring a three-match road swing, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team looks forward to home cooking with their Homecoming week match tonight. They take on the West Central Area Knights in a big Section 6A matchup. It is also Parents Night, and the pep band will be in action! Something I am terribly excited about!!!

**Tonight's match is being aired on Smooth Magic 107.1 FM of Glenwood. Please spread the word!  

Here's a video from game one at Paynesville this week:


That was a fun match, and the Jaguars really picked things up in games two and three to record the big conference sweep.

In other news...
To catch up on a few upcoming local events, you can refer to this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper advertising. If you don't have a copy available wherever you are, you can always click online to see what's coming up by visiting the newspaper's website. Here's the direct link to the online community calendar: BBECommunityCalendar.

**B-B-E won the first two sets by scores of 25-12, 25-15. 

In game three, the Jaguars blew a late 22-21 lead and lost 25-22. Ouch.

Hit refresh for a new blog post to see how the match turned out.

Volleyball sweeps Bulldogs; tennis falls in playoffs (VIDEOS)

Late Wednesday night...the Color FUND Run is in the rear-view mirror. Now I can get this blog post updated and wrapped up. I see in the new QRF rankings that the volleyball team has climbed to No.3 in the Section 6A standings. Good!

In a high-stakes Central Minnesota Conference border battle tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team put together strong performance across games two and three as they swept the Paynesville Bulldogs out of a three-way tie for first place. Game scores were 25-21, 25-14, 25-17.

The Bulldogs fall into third place with a 3-2 record in the CMC. The Jaguars are now a half-match ahead of EV-W in first place with a 4-1 CMC record. The EV-W Eagles are 3-1 in the CMC and have these teams in front of them on the schedule: Kimball Area, Maple Lake and Royalton.

Tonight's sweep was a terrific win for the Jaguars as they come off a tough five-set loss at Eden Valley-Watkins last Thursday. The Bulldogs (11-8 overall) have a firm grip on the No. 3 position in Sub-Section 3AA-North and were winners of four straight coming into tonight. They are looking up at EV-W (16-7) and New London-Spicer (19-1) in their subsection.

B-B-E improves to 9-7 overall with the win as they prepare for the Homecoming match on Thursday with Section 6A rival West Central Area (7-13) in Brooten.

Here's a video from early in game three tonight:


Earlier in the match, the Jaguars had to overcome a somewhat sluggish performance in game one to come out with a 25-21 win. They had an 18-15 lead that brought a Bulldogs timeout. Trailing 21-20, the Bulldogs served long to fall behind by two points. They got a kill, but then back-to-back Paynesville hitting errors brought game point. Laken Anderson finished things off with a kill to make it a 1-0 set lead.

Here's how the end of game one played out:


In recent years, the Jaguars have had some terrific battles against Paynesville. The Bulldogs have become a formidable Highway 55 rival. With that said, you have to go all the way back to the 2017 season to see the last time the Jaguars fell to the Bulldogs in volleyball.

In girls' tennis news...
In their playoff opener today, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team went down swinging in a 6-1 loss at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle high school. The LP-GE/Upsala-Swanville Area Thunder feature a team with four seniors, and their senior leadership pulled through while helping the home team take straight-set wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles plus No. 1 doubles. B-B-E eighth grader Jena Borgerding won the lone point for the Jaguars with a straight-set win at No. 4 singles.

Here's a video with doubles action today at LP-GE:


At No. 2 doubles, sophomore Abby Coners and eighth grader Tiffany Douvier played an incredible match but fell in a third-set tiebreaker. They won the first set 6-4 before falling 7-5 in the second set. Their LP-GE/USA doubles counterparts featured a freshman and a senior.

Although the tennis team's season has ended, the tennis season continues with the upcoming Section 6A individual tournament. You can read more about that in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

More to come in the morning when I can get more updates posted before the Color FUND Run. I took a little time off once I got home from Paynesville to enjoy a delicious watermelon I picked from our family garden earlier today! Mmmm Mmm GOOD!!!

Area volleyball scores on October 6:
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Litchfield 1
Royalton 3, St. Cloud Tech 1
New London-Spicer 3, Dassel-Cokato 0
Kimball Area 3, St. Cloud Apollo 0
Browerville 3, Upsala 0
Melrose Area 3, Sauk Centre 2
Minneota 3, Renville County West 0
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0
Minnewaska Area 3, West Central Area 0
Brandon-Evansville 3, Rothsay 1
Breckenridge 3, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 2
Underwood 3, Battle Lake 0
Hancock 3, Parkers Prairie 1
Swanville 3, Benson 1

Tennis Jaguars fall in terrific match at MACCRAY (VIDEOS); Volleyball stung in 5th set at EV-W

I'm a little late in finally posting here after making the trek south to MACCRAY high school in Clara City tonight. Finally, after 9 p.m., I'm back in the saddle at the home office. Earlier today, I made the choice to pass on the drive east to Eden Valley-Watkins for volleyball. I took the easier path by driving to Subway in Clara City for supper with the tennis team and then an easy country drive home through Sunburg. When I got the volleyball box score, my heart sank! (More on that below.)

In a non-conference match to conclude the regular season, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team faced MACCRAY/Renville County West on the road in Clara City. The Wolverines have a varsity lineup that includes 4 seniors and 4 juniors. This compares to B-B-E's varsity lineup that has just one senior and one junior. Knowing they had a battle on their hands, the Jaguars fought with a mighty hand and pushed MACCRAY/RCW at numerous points at both singles and doubles play. With No. 1 doubles and No. 4 singles both going into third-set tiebreakers, everything broke towards the home team down the stretch as MACCRAY/RCW earned a 7-0 win.

Here's a video featuring action at No. 1 doubles today:


I'm not sure why, but I started the video saying it was No. 1 singles. That's a pretty wild mistake to make when you're watching a doubles match of tennis. Yikes!

I don't have the full set of scores from all 7 points tonight. I have notes from some of the matches from each of their sets. Losing in third-set tiebreakers were Jena Borgerding at 4-singles and Olive Olson/Kwynn Quade at 1-doubles.

Here's another video featuring action at one doubles and also two doubles tonight:


It was exciting to see Layla Tensen playing at No. 3 doubles in her second varsity action of the fall. She is one of three seventh graders who joined the team and basically saved them from ruin. The team will dramatically increase recruiting efforts in the offseason with a major goal of surpassing a turnout of 15+ for the 2027 season.

Playoffs begin for the girls' tennis team next week. That schedule won't be posted until Monday morning.

Regardless of how this fall's tennis season ends up with playoffs next week, this year's team has been far and away the youngest girls' tennis team to exist since the program was founded by the late Kay Mohr in the fall of 1992. Of the varsity line up, 9 of the 10 players will return next year. In fact, the team is so young that 8 of the existing 10 varsity players will be back two seasons from now! There's a bright future ahead for the team.

And for volleyball news...a tough night...
In a key Central Minnesota Conference match at Eden Valley-Watkins tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team put their 3-0 CMC record on the line but came up just short in the end while losing to the Eagles 3-2. This loss sends the Jaguars (8-7) into a tie for first place with EV-W (11-6) and perhaps other teams depending on how their matches went tonight.

In the loss, the Jaguars blew a 2-1 set lead. After winning easily 25-14 in game three, the Jaguars suffered a 25-19 game four loss. In the fifth set, the Eagles won 15-13.

Some light match statistics at EV-W:
Macey Roering had 20 kills to lead the Jaguars. Adding 17 kills was Laken Anderson, and Jaylee Jensen had 11 kills. McKinley Haider was 22-of-22 at the service line with 3 ace serves. B-B-E had outstanding 96 percent serving with 10 service aces. As a team, they had 19.7 percent hitting. In looking at the statistics, it's hard to see where the Jaguars faltered. However, on this night, EV-W got the breaks they needed to pull into a first-place tie.

Update: the tie in first place includes 3 teams. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City was in a tie for second place with a 2-1 record, but they lost 3-2 tonight at Maple Lake to fall into fourth place.

More to come. I have to hit the archives for some volleyball research. It has been a long time since B-B-E lost a CMC volleyball match. My recollection is that this occurred in the 2022 season against EV-W in a home match, when the Eagles won 3-1. I have to check the archives to see if I'm right.

One of the biggest problems with losing tonight to EV-W is that it hurts the Jaguars in their quest to earn the No. 1 seed in Section 6A. That very well could still take place, but the Jaguars are going to have to rattle off a crazy hot winning streak in order to pull that off.

Lo and behold! I was right. On September 22, 2022, the EV-W Eagles came to our house and won by a 3-1 margin. The Jaguars ultimately won a share of the CMC title with a 6-1 record and shared the title with EV-W. Paynesville Area and Kimball Area both finished in a tie for third place with 5-2 records. This decade, the Jaguars have lost just 2 matches in CMC play. Besides the 2022 loss to EV-W, the Jaguars also lost to Maple Lake during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

In a CMC match for their Homecoming week, the Paynesville Area Bulldogs defeated Kimball Area to put themselves in the first-place tie. As I see it, the first-place tie now includes B-B-E, EV-W and Paynesville. What this sets up is a huge, huge CMC showdown next Tuesday, October 6 in Paynesville. On that night, our Jaguars will have to fight with everything they have in order to stay in that first-place tie.

This was a RARE night where three of the four CMC matches all went the full distance of five sets. That is crazy! See the scoreboard below.

On Friday, October 2: the Belgrade Lions will host their fall fish fry fundraiser starting at 4:30 p.m. at The Spot on main street. They serve all-you-can-eat fish until 7:30 p.m.

Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on October 1:
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, B-B-E 2
Maple Lake 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 2 (Maple Lake won game five 15-11)
Royalton 3, Holdingford 2
Paynesville Area 3, Kimball Area 0

Area volleyball scores on October 1:
Minneota 3, MACCRAY 0
Marshall Area 3, Mayer Lutheran 1
Hancock 3, Ashby 0
Osakis 3, Upsala 0
Montevideo 3, West Central Area 2
Sauk Centre 3, BOLD 0
Jackson County Central 3, New London-Spicer 1 (game scores were 19-25, 19-25, 25-23, 23-25; this was the first loss of the season for the No. 3-ranked Class 2A Wildcats)

Jaguars sweep Owls

In back-to-back nights, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has formed a three-match winning streak. Tonight, at Hancock, the Jaguars utilized 27.5 percent hitting on their way to a 3-0 sweep over the Owls. The Jaguars had 6 service aces, two each by Kamie Fischer and Lydia Primus.

Laken Anderson had 8 kills, and Jaylee Jensen and McKinley Haider each had 7 kills.

B-B-E is now 8-6 overall going into this week's tough conference match at Eden Valley-Watkins on Thursday, October 1. That's all I've got tonight. I have a big newspaper issue to finish, and I hope this week a software error won't butcher the sports section like it did last week.

Noteworthy: Browerville's football roster has 40 players on it. Their grades 9-12 enrollment is near identical to B-B-E. The Tigers have 12 seniors football players...while B-B-E has 2.

Coming on Thursday: the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team concludes the regular season with a non-conference match at MACCRAY in Clara City. The match starts at 4 p.m.

Area volleyball scores on September 29:
Henning 3, Battle Lake 2
Maple Lake 3, Braham 0
Willmar 3, Fergus Falls 0
Albany 3, Little Falls 0
New London-Spicer 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 1
Melrose Area 3, Royalton 2
Browerville 3, Benson 1 Holdingford 3, Pillager 0

B-B-E volleyball takes K-M-S in four sets (VIDEOS)

A scrappy and athletic Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Fighting Saints gave the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team all they wanted tonight in a non-conference border battle. As a battle-tested unit in the Camden Conference, K-M-S faced a 2-0 deficit in sets late in game two, when they trailed 24-22. They stormed back to claim a 27-25 win.

Here's a video featuring the end of game one tonight:


After hitting just 2.8 percent in game two, the Jaguars utilized 17.2 percent hitting in game three while winning 25-15.

Here's the end of game three tonight:


In the fourth set, the Jaguars steamrolled the Fighting Saints with 43 percent hitting and just one attack error while winning 25-11.

Laken Anderson led the Jaguars with 12 kills on powerful 37 percent hitting. Macey Roering added 9 kills on 24 attacks plus 12 digs. B-B-E had 94 percent serving with 22.8 percent hitting for the night.

With no time to rest, B-B-E (7-6) hits the road tomorrow for a huge Section 6A contest at Hancock. The Owls (11-6) were idle tonight. On Saturday, they went 2-2 at the Bertha-Hewitt Invitational. Hancock will be a formidable opponent, and they are gunning for a Top 5 seed for the playoffs. As of Tuesday morning, September 29, the Jaguars sit in third place in Section 6A, while Hancock is in seventh place. At the top, according to the QRF, is Underwood. Henning is in second, and Park Christian is in fourth.

K-M-S falls to 4-8 overall, but they are vastly better than their record shows. While not having generous height in their front line, they are very quick. They put up a fierce battle on numerous points tonight. In the current Section 3AA-North standings, they sit around the No. 5 position just behind Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City.

Area volleyball scores on September 28:
Kimball Area 3, Rockford 1
Renville County West 3, Wabasso 0
Paynesville Area 3, Litchfield 1
Brandon-Evansville 3, Ashby 0
Park Christian 3, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 2
Rothsay 3, Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal 1
BOLD 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 1

BORDER BATTLE! Jaguars vs. Fighting Saints

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is hosting Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg tonight in a non-conference border battle. The Fighting Saints hold a 4-7 overall record, and they are 2-3 in the rugged Camden North Conference.

After the conclusion of the JV match, members of the varsity team presented Suicide Prevention Awareness Night. It was a touching, heartfelt moment to be a part of. All of Jaguar Country continues to mourn the loss of Levi Adrian, who passed away on September 24 a year ago. He was a member of the current senior class, the Class of 2027.

Tonight's match will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. Thanks, Brady!

Here's game one action from last Thursday night:


First serve tonight should take place at about 7 p.m.

**After the Jaguars won game one, the Fighting Saints won a thriller by a 27-25 score in game two.

See a new blog post for the rest of the evening's action.

Volleyball team takes over first place alone (VIDEOS!*)

After a dominant performance in the opening set tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team dispatched a gritty Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Falcons squad in a 3-0 sweep. During the third set, senior setter/hitter Kamie Fischer surpassed 2,000 career set assists. On a pass from Laken Anderson, Fischer set to the left side for Macey Roering. Roering completed the 2,000-career-set-assist sequence with a kill that gave the Jaguars a 15-14 lead.

Coming into the match, Fischer needed 29 set assists to get to the 2,000 mark.

And here's the video! Featuring that exciting moment...


Both teams entered the match with 2-0 records in the Central Minnesota Conference. The win puts the Jaguars in first place alone in the CMC and evens their overall record at 6-6. A-C-GC falls to 7-9 overall. Next: the Jaguars host a border battle next Monday, Sept. 28 against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

Here's a video featuring the end of the match:


Backing up to earlier in the match...which lasted about 1 hour and 5 minutes...

After getting handled easily in game one, the Falcons came out with a much better block in game two and put up a fight. The Jaguars had leads of 10-8 and 13-11 in the middle of game two. Two straight A-C-GC points to make it 18-16 pushed B-B-E into a timeout. Late kills by Kamie Fischer and two by Laken Anderson brought game point. Fischer ended the set with an ace serve and a 25-20 win.

Here's a video from late in game two:


Game three was a back-and-forth affair after the Jaguars had an initial 4-1 lead. The Falcons cut it to 6-5 and then took an 8-7 lead on two straight Kenlie Blom ace serves. Jaylee Jensen's ace block put the Jaguars ahead 9-8. On the left side, Kelsie Blom had two straight kills that tied the score at 11-11. Teagan Dingmann's kill off of a block put the Jaguars ahead 13-12. A Falcons hitting error tied the set at 14-14, and Roering's kill on Fischer's 2,000th set assist made it a 15-14 lead. The Jaguars repelled a tough fight down the stretch, and Anderson hit back-to-back kills to finish the match with B-B-E winning 25-21.

For the night, the Jaguars had 21.7 percent hitting, which helped overcome a tough match at the service line, where they had 10 errors against just 4 ace serves. Laken Anderson led the Jaguars team with 10 kills, and Macey Roering throttled over 8 kills. The Falcons were led by 7 kills from senior Kenlie Blom, who also added 3 ace serves and 13 digs.

After the match, Kamie Fischer was part of countless pictures with teammates, friends and family. The team and coaches gathered with her for a photo before the rest of the pictures were taken. I had the distinct honor of being able to interview her after the match. I attempted to think of different questions than I've had in the past for volleyball interviews.

Here's Kamie Fischer in her post-match interview tonight:



In a big match to the west, Minnewaska Area won 3-2 against Sauk Centre. The Mainstreeters won game four 25-22 to force the tiebreaking set, but the Lakers overpowered them in a 15-5 win to remain undefeated.

Friday afternoon...
A light football story with a video has been posted to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: BBEfootballvsUSA-9-18.

Central MN Conference volleyball scores on September 24:
Paynesville Area 3, Royalton 1
Maple Lake 3, Kimball Area 0
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Holdingford 0 (the Eagles are having a strong season and are now 10-6 overall)

Area volleyball scores on September 24:
Bertha-Hewitt 3, New York Mills 2
Henning 3, Verndale 2
Milaca 3, Albany 0
Swanville 3, LP-GE 1
New London-Spicer 3, Rockford 0
Ortonville 3, Yellow Medicine East 2
Renville County West 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 0
Osakis 3, Browerville 0
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 3, Brandon-Evansville 0
West Central Area 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 1
Minnewaska Area 3, Sauk Centre 2 (the Lakers take control of the West Central Conference)
Upsala 3, Benson 1
Central MN Christian 3, Canby 0
Battle Lake 3, Parkers Prairie 0
Melrose 3, BOLD 1

Jaguars vs. Falcons

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is hosting A-C-GC tonight. The match is being aired on Smooth Magic 107.1 FM.

In game one, the Jaguars have an early 6-2 lead. Final: B-B-E 25, A-C-GC 15.

Hit refresh to read more in a new blog post!

Mainstreeters have edge in border battle

It was the Mainstreeters in four sets.

After a lackluster performance in the first two sets, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team found themselves in a position where they had to run the table to pick up a border battle win at Sauk Centre on Monday night.

Sauk Centre, a team loaded for bear with 8 seniors, won game one 25-15 and game two 25-13. In game three, the Jaguars had a much better start than they had in the first two sets and carried that momentum to a 25-22 win. They quickly fell into an 8-2 deficit in game four, and a late rally couldn't save them in a 25-18 loss.

Cool 9 percent hitting was a factor in the loss. Sauk Centre was tough to tip against, and attacks regularly needed to cut an angle through the blocks to find open spots in the corners. Junior outside Macey Roering led the Jaguars with a robust 15-kill performance on 12.8 percent hitting and a whopping 47 total attacks. The Jaguars managed 5 solo blocks, two each by seniors Kamie Fischer and Mya Worms.

No. 10-ranked (Coaches Association) B-B-E falls to 5-6 overall as they prepare for a home conference match with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Thursday this week.

The Mainstreeters move to 12-2 overall and are currently the No. 3-ranked team in a tough Section 6AA. In the state polls, Sauk Centre stands at No. 7 in Class 2A. They don't have a particularly tall lineup for a Class 2A school, but a large array of 5'9" and 5'10" hitters were able to mount an effective block. In the back row, they were tough as nails with scrappy defense that's typical of Jim Klaphake-coached teams.

MARK your calendars! Lions Fish Fry!
The Belgrade Lions invites everyone to their upcoming fish fry night at The Spot in downtown Belgrade. They will be serving all-you-can eat fish from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Meal prices: $12 for adults and for kids ages 10 and under it's $7. Serving: fish, baked beans, potato salad, bread. A Lions meat raffle also takes place starting at 5 p.m., and the Lions fall raffle drawing will take place at 9 p.m. at the same location that night. Proceeds from this event will go towards the Belgrade city park bathroom and shelter project. This event was advertised in the September 17 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper, and the ad will continue through these next two weeks leading up to the event.

On Tuesday night...
I have been severely distracted from getting the newspaper completed by news of a double-homicide at Rau Park in Willmar late last night. This is a location sitting between KWLM Radio (Lakeland Broadcasting) and the Kandiyohi County Fairgrounds. My mind is blown! For the 2022 county fair, I parked our minivan right at this park. This news is insane. A third victim has initially survived being shot. The news is still unfolding...

Area volleyball scores on September 21:
New London-Spicer 3, Annandale 2 (the Wildcats survive a stiff Wright County West challenge from a Cardinals team that entered the match 6-6 overall; they are 14-0 overall)
Royalton 3, Osakis 0
Kimball Area 3, Maranatha Christian 0
Holdingford 3, Swanville 0
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 3, Lake Park-Audubon 1
Pine River-Backus 3, Sebeka 2
Bertha-Hewitt 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 1
Hancock 3, Dawson-Boyd 0
Paynesville Area 3, Benson 2 (Bulldogs are 8-6 overall)
Underwood 3, Barnesville 1

Mainsteeters have early advantage

The Sauk Centre Mainstreeters have a 2-0 set lead tonight in the volleyball border battle. Game three is going much better in the early stages. 

The Jaguars won game three 25-22. Game 4 starts at 8:32 p.m.

In game four, Sauk Centre (11-2) has an early 8-2 lead.

Later, trailing 17-9, B-B-E called their last timeout. It has been a rough fourth set. Check a new blog post for the final score.

Girls' tennis does battle at conference tournament, volleyball sweeps Huskers (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars girl's tennis team traveled to the massive 10-court complex at Osakis high school today for the Prairie Conference tournament. At No. 1 doubles, Hannah Wurm and Harper Herickhoff played the match of their life in their tournament opener. After holding leads of 3-2 and 4-3 in the first set, they suffered a tough 7-5 loss. In the second set, they came on strong after holding early leads of 2-1 and 3-2 to win convincingly by a 6-2 score and force a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, a Pro 10 set, the game was a neck-and-neck all the way to the end. The St. John's Prep doubles team came away with a 11-9 win to advance to the winner's bracket semifinals.

Here's a video from early in the first set of that doubles match:


Here's action from late in the first set of that No. 1 doubles match:


Hannah Wurms, a junior, and Harper Herickhoff, an eighth grader, ultimately finished with fifth place at the tournament.

Other tennis information is forthcoming. Also, additional football and volleyball videos are being uploaded to be shared. Next: the girls' tennis team hosts Yellow Medicine East next Monday at 4:30 p.m. in a non-conference match.

In volleyball news...
At Holdingford, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team evened their record at 5-5 with a 3-0 sweep of the Huskers in Central Minnesota Conference action. They're now 2-0 in the CMC, in which they are currently a five-time defending champion.

Game scores at Holdingford were 25-19, 25-17, 27-25. The Jaguars had 14.5 percent hitting with 37 kills on 131 attacks. Junior outside Macey Roering had 12 kills on 23 percent hitting, and Laken Anderson powered over 10 kills o 27 percent hitting. Kamie Fischer (20 set assists) and Reese Kampsen (11 set assists) guided the offense.

Next: the volleyball team travels to Sauk Centre next Monday for a big border battle with the state-ranked Mainstreeters.

Here's a video from the 3rd quarter of the WCA game last week:


The B-B-E Jaguars football team hosts Upsala/Swanville Area tomorrow night for Week 3 action.

Get a load of this! Tonight, Holdingford hosted Eden Valley-Watkins in their Week 3 game. The Huskers were all over the Eagles and won 24-2 to improve to 3-0 this season. EV-W, who lost last week 55-0 to Minneota, is now 1-2. Holdingford, who went 12-1 last season and lost in the Class 2A state semifinals, has now won 11 straight regular season games.

ON FRIDAY: I have to travel to Glenwood for my 9:30 a.m. radio show and then attend the annual Waterfest activities with B-B-E's Class of 2033 students. That event is hosted at the Pope County Fairgrounds. It will be wet!

As for the football game...it is currently in limbo, and a decision will be made this afternoon (Friday) on whether or not it will be played tonight or tomorrow. The game may have an 11 a.m. kickoff on Saturday. Stay tuned.

Central MN Conference volleyball scores on September 17:
Kimball Area 3, Royalton 2
Paynesville Area 3, Maple Lake 0

Area volleyball scores on September 17:
Redwood Valley 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 1
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0

Jaguars in three! (VIDEOS*)

Wednesday night: this blog post was updated with an area scoreboard...see below...

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team moved one match under .500 with a 3-0 sweep against defending Prairie Conference champion Swanville. Game scores were 25-17, 25-23, 25-17.

Early leads of 5-2 and 10-5 got the Jaguars off to a good start in game one. Macey Roering's ace serve brought an 8-4 lead, and Teagan Dingmann's kill started a 5-0 run that culminated with Kamie Fischer's ace serve for a 15-6 lead. The Bulldogs fought back to close it to 17-13, but an ace block by Kamie Fischer sparked a 4-0 run. Roering's kill made it 22-14, and the Bulldogs could not narrow the gap with B-B-E winning 25-17.

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


Here's a video featuring the conclusion of game one:


In the third set, the Jaguars trailed 7-6 and 11-10 before getting a better block in place. Jaylee Jensen's kill made it a 15-14 lead, and Jaguars opened up a 19-15 lead before Swanville called a timeout. An ace block by Laken Anderson gave the Jaguars a 22-15 lead. Jensen's kill made it 23-16, and Laken Anderson's kill achieved game and match point with the 25-17 win.

The Jaguars now have one practice available before making the trek north into Morrison County to face the conference rival Holdingford Huskers. More to come. Video is uploading.

Area volleyball scores on September 15:
Benson 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 0
Willmar 3, Sauk Rapids-Rice 1
Melrose Area 3, Montevideo 1
Osakis 3, Upsala 0
Maple Lake 3, Sebeka 0
Central MN Christian 3, Renville County West 0
Underwood 3, West Central Area 0
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3, Yellow Medicine East 0
Royalton 3, Pierz 0
Kimball Area 3, Litchfield 0
Barnesville 3, Henning 1
New London-Spicer 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 0
Border West 3, Rothsay 0
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 3, Battle Lake 1
MACCRAY 3, Lakeview 1
Hancock 3, Brandon-Evansville 1
Minnewaska Area 3, BOLD 0
Sauk Centre 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 0

Swanville putting up a fight

After they were dispatched 25-18 in game one, the Swanville Bulldogs gave the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team a battle in game two. After closing a 22-18 deficit down to 22-21, the Bulldogs served long for game point, as B-B-E won 25-23 for a 2-0 set lead.

More to come.

Volleyball Jaguars at Southwest Minnesota Challenge (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team went 0-2 at the opening night of action at the Southwest Minnesota Challenge tournament in Marshall. In one of the matches, they split the first two sets. In the tiebreaker set, they held a 13-11 lead but lost 16-14. Other details are being sought out.

The Jaguars finished with a 1-4 record at Marshall. They lost by a 2-1 set margin to Class 4A Prior Lake in their first Friday match. In the last match last night, the Jaguars lost 2-0 to Sioux Falls Christian.

Today, the Jaguars faced Sioux Falls Roosevelt and earned a 2-1 win. They finished with 2-0 losses to No. 3-ranked Mayer Lutheran and Class 4A Eastview. Next: the Jaguars (3-5 overall) host Swanville in a non-conference match on Tuesday, September 15. The Bulldogs, 24-3 overall a year ago, are defending Prairie Conference champions and Section 5A runners-up.

How about the B-B-E football team!
And back to last night's thrilling win...the scoreboard for last night's games has been updated in the previous blog post. It includes the other 3 Mid-Northwest Gold District final scores.

Here's a video featuring the final plays of B-B-E's first scoring drive last night:


Also, a video from the second quarter of last night's football game was just posted to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. That can be found by clicking here: BBEvsWCAfootball2026.

The Jaguars improved to 4-0 in the past four meetings with West Central Area.

Here's a postgame interview with Coach Moscho last night:


I'll repost that at a future date.

After studying the scores of the first two games with teams that the Jaguars face, I have a declaration: if the football team can draw 3 to 5 more players, consisting of players who quit the team this summer, I have full confidence that the Jaguars can have a 7-1 or 6-2 regular season. It is possible, but they have to have more depth. How can we make it happen? Playing with 22 players leads to having too many players going both ways. It's not the way you want to grind through a regular season of football. Think about it: the Jaguars have the talent this season to have another very special season!

Update: I learned that MSHSL rules suggest that if a player joined the team now, they would not be eligible for the postseason. That's a perfectly reasonable rule. I believe a kid can always join a team, but whether or not they can enjoy the spoils of that team's success is a different matter.

More to come later tonight. Tomorrow will be a busy day with the Bluegrass Festival at Terrace and the Fall Festival at Trinity Lutheran in Grove Lake. I hope you can make it to one or both of those events!

Volleyball wins at Kimball, football game is at 5!

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team won the Central Minnesota Conference opener at Kimball on Thursday night. 

The Jaguars utilized outstanding 34.5 percent hitting to sweep the Cubs by scores of 25-15, 25-18, 25-11. The top hitters were Macey Roering with 11 kills and McKinley Haider with 8 kills. Kamie Fischer racked up 6 ace serves, and Kimball Area struggled to put up an attack. Mya Worms and Teagan Dingmann each had 2 solo blocks.

A weather-related announcement: the B-B-E Jaguars football team's home opener will have a 5 p.m. kickoff tonight. Please spread the word. Also, the game will be aired on Smooth Magic 107.1 FM. 

Central Minnesota Conference volleyball scores on September 10:
Royalton 3, Maple Lake 1
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Holdingford 1
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Paynesville Area 1

Here's action from the state championship game on Sunday night in New Prague:


The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team completed the season with a 27-8 record after losing a nailbiter 5-4 in the Class C state championship game on Sunday. Coverage of the state tournament is in print this week and next week in the Bonanza Valley Voice.

Here's a link to the newspaper's SmugMug gallery featuring pictures from the Fairmont game: ElrosaSaints-vs-Fairmont.

In other news...>
Time to put humpty-dumpty back together again and re-start the newspaper's sports department. It has been a hellish week. On Tuesday, a major cocaine bust took place in downtown Brooten. This was mentioned on page one of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. Additional crime coverage is forthcoming online and in print. On Friday afternoon, a web article was posted to the newspaper's website regarding the arrest: BrootenCocaineBust9-8-26.

I am hoping to plow through a mountain of work this afternoon and make it to the football game on time. Fingers crossed.