Tennis on a win streak! And Homecoming is underway (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team has a two-match winning streak to their credit and three wins overall after today's action. On the home courts this afternoon/evening, the Jaguars clawed out a 4-3 border battle win against Melrose Area. They followed that with an exciting 5-2 win over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area in Prairie Conference action.

B-B-E 4, Melrose Area 3...
This was a HUGE win! The Dutchmen entered today's match with six wins overall. I do not recall the last time B-B-E has defeated Melrose Area in girls' tennis. It has been a few years. Strong singles play led the Jaguars in today's close win over the Dutchmen. At No. 2 singles, Bree Thieschafer won a thriller by scores of 7-5 (8-6 tiebreaker), 7-5. Izzy Graham picked up a straight set win at No. 3 singles by scores of 6-4, 6-1. At No. 4 singles, Skylar Knight-DeWeerd put up zeroes with a 6-0, 6-0 win. At doubles play, No. 1 doubles players Ellan Fischer and Grace Berndt won in three sets by scores of 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 10-7. How about that!

Next: the Jaguars (3-10 overall, 1-3 Prairie) have Staff Appreciation Day with a third straight home match tomorrow against Parkers Prairie. Varsity action starts at 4 p.m., and JV players will also compete against the Panthers. It is also a Prairie Conference dual.

In football news...
Tonight in a home game, the B-B-E Jaguars JV football team won a close battle by a score of 24-18 over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The Jaguars led 12-6 early and stayed strong through the final horn. This win evens their record at 1-1 overall.

This is an exciting day! Now it's time to prepare for Homecoming coronation!

And here's a video featuring the socializing taking place after coronation was held tonight:


You can catch up on the Homecoming coronation by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/cD2kB. Additional video is uploading. **Due to technical difficulties, the coronation video won't be posted until Tuesday morning.

For Tuesday's activities...a grill-out will take place for high school students, which is exciting! The weather will be terrific for that. The 7th/8th grade volleyball teams travel to Eden Valley-Watkins. Taylor Nelson with the B-B-E/Paynesville Area cross country team competes at Koronis Hills in Paynesville. The tennis schedule was posted earlier in this blog post.

And! The 9th annual Color FUND Run is on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the high school athletic complex.

Tennis playoffs coming

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team opens playoffs on Thursday this week. The Section 5A quarterfinal match will take place on the road at a location to be determined. The seeding takes place today, and tonight I hope to get that posted before our Homecoming coronation at 7 p.m.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team travels to Hancock tomorrow for a non-conference match.

The B-B-E/Paynesville cross country teams run at BOLD on Thursday.

In case you've missed church lately, or you haven't missed church and want to take in some or all of another worship service, you can click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website and take in the September 25 worship service at West Lake Johanna Lutheran church: https://bit.ly/3M1TB3W.

After taking what I'd call a "light freeze" on the evening of September 27 last week (Tuesday), our family garden has gotten a reprieve from cold nights. The plants that survived that freeze are still growing, and some were "dinged" and just stunted. However, it looks like on Thursday and Friday this week the gardening may come to a close for anything growing above ground. The forecast calls for 30 degrees both nights. Tending to our garden will use up a fair amount of my time today/tomorrow/Wednesday, which will cut into blogging time.

Catching up with Jaguar tennis

It has been a heavy lift to get my sports department up and running. We'll see how the next week goes!

Last Thursday in their season opener, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team earned a decisive 6-1 victory against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area. The match was part of a triangular hosted at LP-GE high school. The Jaguars also faced Staples-Motley, and the Cardinals won that match by a 6-1 score.

More to come.

Today (Tuesday) the Jaguars hosted Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg and lost by a 6-1 score. B-B-E's No. 1 doubles players, Tiyana Schwinghammer and Presley Detloff, improved to 4-0 on the season with a straight set win by scores of 7-6 (6-4), 6-3. They are next in action at Melrose for a triangular on Thursday this week; also included is Parkers Prairie.

Osakis knocks out Jaguars from first place

Cassandra Hoppe shown playing at one-singles for the Jaguars against Osakis tonight.

Second-ranked Osakis defeated the Jaguars girls' tennis team 7-0 on Tuesday.

Now 5-5 overall, the Jaguars travel to Parkers Prairie on Thursday for the 4th Prairie Conference match of the season.

Tennis clip from last night's win over MACCRAY/RCW

Foreign-exchange student Eva Lamprecht during her one singles match...

Jaguars girls' tennis posts first win of the season

The Jaguars girls' tennis team defeated Milbank today by a 4-3 score.

They take a 1-2 record into the Minnewaska Quad this coming Thursday. Action begins at the Minnewaska Area high school at 9 a.m. Teams joining the Jaguars and the host Lakers are Parkers Prairie and Montevideo.

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Jaguars girls tennis falls in both matches at home Tri today

Against Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd, the Jaguars lost 5-2. Against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area, the Jaguars lost 6-1.

They host Milbank tomorrow, then have a break in action until next Wednesday when they make the short trip to the Minnewaska Quadrangular.

Jaguars girls' tennis opens season with home triangular on Friday

Kelly Reller, shown in action at the Sub-Section 5A-West individual tournament last October, is one of four seniors on the roster for the Jaguars girls' tennis team...

Action begins at 8:30 a.m. at the high school tennis courts. Teams included are Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area and Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Dawson-Boyd.

The following day, the tennis team travels out to Milbank, South Dakota.

Now in her fifth season guiding the Jaguars girls tennis program, Coach Westrom will have four seniors leading the team this fall on the courts. Read more about the team and Westrom's season outlook in next week's newspapers.

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Knutson/Reller duo falls in sub-section semi's

Against a very good Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg doubles team, Amy Knutson/Kelly Reller lost 6-7 (3-7 tiebreaker), 0-6 in the Sub-Section 5A-West semi-final round today at the New London-Spicer high school tennis courts.

Playing an absolutely outstanding first set, they had B/K-M-S on the ropes, coming back from one point deficits up to a 3-4 score to win two straight points and lead 5-4. In the tiebreaker, they trailed 3-5 before B/K-M-S scored the final two points to take the first set.

**Update on Thursday morning...Against the Trulock/Kienitz doubles team from Maccray, Knutson/Reller lost 3-6, 2-6, in the third-place match.

This marks the third year in a row that Coach Westrom and her Jaguars girls tennis program has had a doubles team advance to the sub-section final four round.

Helping build a little excitement for tomorrow night's Jaguars volleyball match...here's a video clip from the final game of the Maple Lake match two weeks ago. The Jaguars host Eden Valley-Watkins in a key CMC match tomorrow night, in the team's "Dig Pink" match where they honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month.


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Weekend roundup - Jaguars girls tennis finishes runners-up at Prairie Conference tournament

With another strong showing on the tennis courts on Saturday at Long Prairie, the Jaguars girls tennis team took second place honors at the Prairie Conference tournament. Earning the title was #7-state ranked Osakis.

The Prairie Conference tournament format consisted of a separate bracket at each of the seven positions (first though fourth singles and first through third doubles) with points awarded for matches won at each position. Osakis, who is 17-0 and ranked seventh in Class A, was the tournament winner with a total of 27 points, followed by B-B-E with 17, Parkers Prairie with 14, and WCA with 11.

The Jaguars had Jordan Gruendemann place second at third-singles and Morgan Pastian place second at four-singles. Myranda Zarbok and Mackenzie Winter took second at three doubles. Another doubles team took second place at two doubles, but I don't have their names at the present time.

This week the Jaguars girls tennis team competes in the individual round of Sub-Section 5A-West, coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday at noon at the NL-S high school courts in New London.

Area volleyball results:
The Sauk Centre Mainstreeters improved to 19-5 overall with a championship performance at the Perham Invitational, which had a total of 16 teams competing. The Streeters defeated #12-ranked (Class AA) Dilworth-Glydon-Felton in the title match.

Long Prairie-Grey Eagle lost to Nevis in the finals of the Nevis tournament.

Pierz went 2-2 at the Mora Invitational.

Eden Valley-Watkins, who comes to town to face the Jaguars on Thursday night in a CMC match, won the Kimball Area tournament.

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This is awesome news - the Jaguars girls tennis team wins their playoff opener vs. Maccray

While picking up their eighth win of the season, the Jaguars girls tennis team opened up the Sub-Section 5A-West playoffs with a 6-1 win at MACCRAY tonight. Final score was 6-1 in favor of B-B-E.

Now 8-13 overall, the Jaguars travel to #1-seeded Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Thursday for the semi-final round of sub-sections. The Fighting Braves are state ranked with an 18-4 overall record. They went 5-0 in the West Central South Conference to claim the league title for the third year in a row.

B/K-M-S head coach Don Brehmer reported the following about his team, "We are 18-4 and we have won the conference 3 years in a row and 4 out of the last 5 years - 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. We hope to have a shot at the section but Annandale, Litchfield, and Glencoe Silver Lake are going to be tough."

About state tournament trips, Coach Brehmer said, "We have been to State 3 out of the last four years and maybe we have a shot this year - 2006, 2008,and 2009."

Eight team wins ties for the second most in B-B-E school history. In 1998, the girls tennis team went 8-13 to set a record for team wins that stood until 2007. That year, Coach Westrom took over the program with seven talented seniors who led the team to a 10-13 regular season. They lost in the sub-section opener to a 14-3 Maccray team that was seeded number four in an absolutely loaded playoff bracket.

The Jaguars won seven matches in 2008 and five in 2009, and even though they only have two seniors on the roster in 2010, the Jaguars have picked up eight team wins. They've had many close losses this year, quite honestly 10 or 11 team wins was not out of the question. The playoff win is a nice feather in their hat as they continue on in the playoffs.

The Sub-Section 5A-West individual tournament begins on October 19.

The B-B-E girls tennis program was founded in 1992.

2010 Sub-Section 5A-West girls tennis seedings:
1- Benson/K-M-S
2- New London-Spicer
3- Melrose Area
4- Maccray
5- B-B-E

A shocking outcome from Sauk Centre...the visiting Mora Mustangs beat the Mainstreeters 3-1 in a West Central North Conference match. The loss knocks the Streeters out of first place in the WCCN. Game scores were 25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19. Sauk Centre fell to 6-2 in the WCCN and 14-5 overall.

Area volleyball scores tonight:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3, Kimball Area 1
Albany 3, Holdingford 1
BOLD 3, Paynesville Area 0
Benson 3, LQPV 0
St.Cloud Cathedral 3, New London-Spicer 0
Canby 3, K-M-S 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Minnewaska Area 0
YME 3, Montevideo 1
Wadena-Deer Creek 3, Bertha-Hewitt 0
Upsala 3, Browerville 0 (Upsala is 14-1 overall, 8-0 Prairie)
Sebeka 3, Pine River-Backus 1
Nevis 3, Laporte 0
Eagle Valley 3, Royalton 2
Osakis 3, Swanville 0
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 3, Melrose Area 1
Mora 3, Sauk Centre 1
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 3, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 0

This Jaguars sports playoff update, the first playoff update for the 2010 season, is brought to you by:



...Yeah, a little crazy that playoff action has already started - it seems like pre-season was just yesterday.

Jaguars girls tennis team tags West Central Area with first Prairie Conference loss of the year

In a historic girls tennis match yesterday at the High School athletic complex, the B-B-E Jaguars handed the once-beaten West Central Area Knights their first conference loss of the season. It marked the debut of the Jaguars in the Prairie Conference, which was resurrected this season after B-B-E and WCA joined the league. (Including Osakis, New York Mills, and Parkers Prairie)

The Jaguars won the first four matches to seal the win, while the Knights won the final three for a final team score of 4-3. WCA head coach Doug Racoczy reported that one of the first four matches could have gone either way.

The Knights, fell to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the Prairie Conference. The Jaguars improve to 5-9 overall and 1-0 in the Prairie.

Up next for the Jaguars: another home match, this Thursday, when the MACCRAY Wolverines come to town at 4:30pm for a non-conference meeting between Sub-Section 5A-West rivals. It will be a key match in terms of post-season seeding. The Wolverines are 1-10 overall, with their lone win coming over B-B-E on August 30 at the Benson/K-M-S triangular.

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Jaguars girls tennis falls in a 5-2 match to New London-Spicer; Tuesday night prep results below

It's just harsh.

The Jaguars girls tennis team had a battle going against visiting New London-Spicer on Tuesday night in a non-conference match between two sub-section rivals.

In the end, two close matches that were up for grabs went the way of the Wildcats, as they won 5-2. Had those matches gone the other way, the Jaguars would've sent the Wildcats on the short trip back down Highway 71 as 4-3 losers.

Number one doubles players Amy Knutson and Kelly Reller won a close tiebreaker in the second set to win 6-3, 7-6 (9-7). Daisha Meyer also won a tiebreaker, at number three singles, to win in straight sets 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

Mattea Eckstein and Nicole Dokken, playing at number two doubles, fell after a super tiebreaker 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Jordan Gruendemann and Mackenzie Winter lost a super tiebreaker match, with two sets having tiebreakers themselves, in a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3) marathon at number three doubles.

It's quite remarkable how Coach Westrom has gotten her young varsity squad to compete at such a high level, going toe-to-toe with the likes of New London-Spicer. With this tough loss, the Jaguars are now 4-9 overall going into their Prairie Conference opener this Thursday at the High School Athletic Complex beginning at 4:30pm against New York Mills.

The NYM Eagles are 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the Prairie Conference.

Area girls tennis results from Tuesday night, September 7:
Matches involving Sub-Section 5A-West teams Melrose Area 5, St.Cloud Cathedral 2 (Dutchmen inch over .500 to sit at 6-5 overall). Benson/K-M-S 5, Montevideo 2. Luverne 7, MACCRAY 0.

Sauk Centre 7, Mora 0 (Mainstreeters are 11-1 overall)
Foley 6, LP-GE/USA 1

Area volleyball results from Tuesday night, September 7:
St.Cloud Cathedral 3, Sauk Centre 1 (a WCCN clash of the titans goes to the Crusaders in their first meeting)
Maple Lake 3, Watertown-Mayer 0
Minneota 3, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 0
Royalton 3, Kimball Area 1
Rockford 3, Marantha Christian 0
Upsala 3, Pillager 1
Annandale 3, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 0
Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 3, Eden Valley-Watkins 0
BOLD 3, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 2
New London-Spicer 3, Foley 2 (at Foley, NL-S wins game five 15-7)
A-C-GC 3, LQPV 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Paynesville Area 0
Benson 3, Yellow Medicine East 1
Brandon-Evansville 3, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 2
Pierz 3, Crosby-Ironton 2
Nevis 3, Menagha 0
Hancock 3, Henning 0
Minnewaska Area 3, Montevideo 0
Albany 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 1

**Noteworthy: Tuesday night volleyball result in Woodbury...The host Woodbury Royals almost knocked off the defending Class A champion Bethlehem Academy Cardinals, ultimately falling in a 3-2 non-conference loss. Game scores were 24-26, 25-22, 27-25, 22-25, 15-9.

Bethlehem Academy had just swept defending Class AA champion Marshall Area last Thursday on their home court.

The Royals (2-2 overall) are the first-round opponent for the Jaguars volleyball team at the Southwest Minnesota Volleyball Challenge, coming this Friday at the Marshall Area High School. (Sept. 10) More on that will follow this week. Stay tuned.

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Jaguars girls tennis update - Prairie Conference opener is on Thursday

The Jaguars girls tennis team had their match against the host Panthers rained out at last Thursday's Parkers Prairie Triangular. It was a match the Jaguars were excited to play, as they had won over the Panthers earlier in the season by a 6-1 margin.

In their other match, against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area, the Jaguars fell in a rain-shortened affair by a 5-1 score.

The Jaguars stand at 4-8 overall going into this week's action, when they host a strong New London-Spicer squad at the high school tennis courts on Tuesday at 4:15pm. The Wildcats are 2-4 overall, with some losses to very good area competition including Sauk Centre (5-2 outcome on September 2).

On Thursday, September 9, the Jaguars will make history when they play in their first-ever Prairie Conference match in a home outing against New York Mills. That match is set for 4:30pm.

New York Mills finished 6-8 overall in 2009, an improvement on their 3-10 mark in 2008. The Eagles will be a tough team, as they have a 5-2 win over Morris Area to their credit and a 4-3 loss to West Central Area in their Prairie Conference opening match.

Returning for New York Mills from last year are three seniors (Lauren Bach, Missy Hendrickx, Jen Maki), three juniors (Jenna Esala, Krista Guldseth, Kristin Kane), two sophomores (Emily Blomberg, Leslie Geleneau) and two freshmen (Abby Salo, Victoria Selander).

"We go into the season with nine returning letter winners with the goal of competing well and having fun as a team each time we step out onto the court," Eagles head coach Gary Bach stated in a pre-season preview.

The Prairie Conference for 2010 includes B-B-E, Osakis, West Central Area, Parkers Prairie, and New York Mills.

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It's that time of year - Jaguars sports kicks off fall season with a home girls tennis triangular tomorrow (Friday)

It's that time of year again, as we are through over half of August and the time for the fall sports season to kick off is here.

Tomorrow, Friday, the Jaguars girls tennis team opens up the 2010 season with a home triangular beginning at 8:30am.

Traveling to the B-B-E High School tennis courts to join the Jaguars will be Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area as well as Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd.

The opening match of the day will have the host Jaguars facing off with LQPV/D-B. Following that, LQPV/D-B will face LP-GE/USA in the middle match, with the Jaguars taking on LP-GE/USA in the final match of the day. The triangular will probably go until at least 2:00pm if not later.

Preparing for her fourth year as head coach of the Jaguars girls tennis team, head coach Katy Westrom begins her second season with the help of J.V. coach Colleen (Radermacher) Borgerding, a 2005 graduate of B-B-E who was also a standout girls tennis player for the Jaguars.

The Jaguars are hopeful for a very successful season, based on the fact that eight of the 10 starters at playoff time in 2009 return to the courts this season. They lost two-time Sub-Section 5A-West Final Four participants Tia Braegelman and Laura Johnson to graduation last spring.

The Jaguars have two experienced seniors on the roster, Amber Meyer and Amy Knutson. Seven talented juniors bolster the heart of the varsity lineup, including Erin Anderson, Kelly Reller, Kelsey Loch, Michelle Sanders, Myranda Zarbok, Nicole Dokken, and Sara Welte. The Jaguars have one lone sophomore, Jordan Gruendemann. Freshmen on the squad are Daisha Meyer, Mattea Eckstein, and McKenzie Winter. Rounding out the lineup is eighth grader Morgan Pastian.

Just a day after hosting the season-opening triangular, the Jaguars girls tennis team travels to Milbank, South Dakota, to participate in another triangular.

They then have three days of practice next week before traveling to the Minnewaska Quadrangular next Thursday, August 26, where Parkers Prairie and Montevideo will also be participating. The regular season is jam packed with matches scheduled, with 16 separate regular season dates that will include duals, triangulars, and quads culminating with a trip to Annandale on October 4.

As they have been doing since the program was established at B-B-E in 1993, the Jaguars will compete in Section 5A for post-season honors.

This marks the second year that all home Jaguars girls tennis matches will be played at the B-B-E High School courts.

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