Scouting Walker-Hackensack-Akeley

*The previous blog post mentions a radio station update!!! Posted this afternoon.

Further below in this post is part of an article from the Walker Pilot-Independent newspaper written by Dean Morrill and posted online on Friday morning.

Walker-Hackensack-Akeley delivered a performance for the ages with an aggressive mindset against a supremely talented and upstart Pine River-Backus team. Three WHA players were error-free on serving, and a fourth player missed just one serve. WHA's offense was really humming with 51 set assists compared to 34 by PR-B. The Wolves had 86 digs compared to 64 by the Tigers. Megan Benjamin (20 kills), Katie Sagen (13 kills) and Aleah Tabbert (nine kills) were their top hitters against PR-B.

Senior middle hitter Megan Benjamin (No. 12) is identified as WHA's top hitter in other media articles. In WHA's win over PR-B, Katie Sagen's 13 kills was a huge key in the win, most likely giving the Wolves an extra push that they needed to defeat a team that had 28 wins to their credit plus the last two sub-section titles.

*Below is footage from the final moments of game three in the Sub-Section 5A-North championship match on Thursday night in Little Falls. Pine River-Backus avoided losing by sweep with a 25-18 win.



And on to that newspaper story...

Coach Bonnie Sea said the Wolves continued their unselfish play and responded with their best performance of the season, using a five-set loss just a couple of weeks ago to motivate them.

“The girls knew what we had to do to beat them. The girls executed everything we worked on. They blocked where they needed to block, read the hitters when we pulled our defense back, and when they tipped we picked all of them up,” Sea said. “The performance was unbelievable. It was like watching a drawing board. The girls were all exactly where they needed to be.”

Sea the biggest turnaround from the loss Oct. 14, was the girls’ aggressive play, because they know when they play well they’re playing aggressive..

In the third set, with WHA trailing by a lot, Sea told them during a time out that if they continue being intimidated, they will lose. “Why don’t we at least lose being aggressive. It’s OK to lose, but you have to play aggressive. They’re not going to give it to you. You have to work for it,” the coach said. “So we went out and we changed the score. Results happen.”

The Wolves dominated nearly every stat. They served at 93 percent compared to 86 percent. WHA also had 86 digs to 64, only 34 errors to Pine River’s 39, and 51 assists to 34.

Megan Benjamin recorded 20 kills, Katie Sagen put down 13, Aleah Tabbert had nine, Bri Raddatz four, and Kali Oelschlager and Abi Strandlie both had three. Raddatz finished with 40 assists.

Those perfect on serve were Benjamin (17 attempts), Rachel Pitt (15) and Ally Sea (12), while Oelschlager (12) only missed one. Raddatz had four ace serves and Benjamin three.

Benjamin also had one solo block and three assists, while Tabbert had one solo. Oelschlager and Raddatz each assisted on two blocks.

Leading the team in digs were Sea with 24, Raddatz had 17, Lizzie Naugle 14 and Benjamin 13.

*Below is video from the end of the WHA vs. PR-B match on Thursday:

Time to start getting ready for the road trip to Little Falls!

Step I: volleyball opens strong for subsections

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team prevailed by a 3-0 sweep tonight over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in their Sub-Section 5A-South playoff quarterfinal match. Game scores were 25-17, 25-9, 25-15.

A-C-GC finishes the season 3-22 overall with a 1-1 showing in the playoffs. They are led by first-year co-head coaches Jamie Tanner and Quincy McNeil. I had a nice, brief visit with Coach Tanner as the Falcons were heading to the player bus. They lose seven seniors, but the program is under going a big overhaul that will pay dividends in future seasons. A-C-GC brought a great deal of spark and hustle to the court tonight. They were a very worthy opponent for the quarterfinal-round match, and I congratulated Coach Tanner on her team's efforts.

Next: the Jaguars (20-7-1) travel to Long Prairie on Tuesday, October 29 for the sub-section semifinals. Their match at LP-GE high school begins at 6 p.m. The match will not be aired on the radio.

I don't have a final score yet from the Osakis vs. Upsala playoff match. The Jaguars get the winner of that one on Tuesday night.

**Update: it's Osakis! The Silverstreaks won in a 3-2 match over Upsala tonight. I don't have game scores yet.

Osakis is now 11-16 overall. They finished 7-1 in the Prairie North Conference standings to claim the title outright.

Upsala closes out their season 8-19 overall; they went 5-3 in the Prairie South Conference, good for second place and one game out of first, a spot occupied by Browerville as sole champions.

Tonight in another Sub-Section 5A-South match, Browerville (14-10) dispatched visiting Long Prairie-Grey Eagle (6-22) in a rare border battle quarterfinal round match via a 3-0 sweep. Game scores were 25-20, 25-19, 25-17.

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg defeated neighboring Benson 3-1 in a sub-section quarterfinal border battle tonight at Kerkhoven. Game scores were 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 25-20. The Fighting Saints improve to 16-11 overall, while the Braves finish the season 9-16.

K-M-S and Browerville will meet in the semifinals in the late match at LP-GE high school next Tuesday.

...and so goes the playoff march...it's safe to say that all teams at this point are going 'one night at a time'!!!

Venturing northward, in Sub-Section 5A-North...
Pine River-Backus won their playoff opener tonight by a 3-1 score over No. 5-seeded Bertha-Hewitt. The Bears set the Tigers back on their heels after winning game one 25-18. PR-B (27-1-2) proceeded to win the next three games 25-17, 25-22, 25-13. Bertha-Hewitt closes out the 2019 season with a fine 17-11 overall record (2-5 Park Region Conference). They were ranked No. 88 in the latest QRF ranking for Class 1A.

The PR-B Tigers advance to face Onamia next Tuesday in their semifinal round of subsections. That match will start at approximately 7:30 p.m. at Aitkin. The Panthers are 19-9 overall and have a 2-0 record so far in the playoffs. They went 8-2 (third place) in the Great River Conference, and the latest QRF rankings put them at No. 59 in Class 1A.

The Great River Conference title was shared this year by Pine City and Rush City, who both finished 9-1. Our B-B-E Jaguars played Rush City a couple weeks ago at SCSU and won 3-0.

PR-B is ranked No. 9 in the QRF scale. B-B-E is ranked No. 25. Minnesota's Class 1A includes 188 volleyball teams.

*Here's a short video clip featuring the player introductions for the team tonight:


*Here's video from the end of game one tonight:



Other updates will follow later tonight. Much to work with including photos, player interviews and match statistics. Plus random checks of the area scoreboard!

Down in the ultra-competitive Section 3A playoffs...
Minneota won 25-12, 25-13, 25-9 over Lac qui Parle Valley. Lakeview swept Yellow Medicine East 26-24, 25-8, 25-9 in a border battle match up. Canby swept Central MN Christian 25-14, 25-16, 25-22. Finally, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton swept Camden Conference North champion MACCRAY 25-16, 25-20, 25-18.

##ConquerEveryDay

Volleyball playoffs

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is seeded No. 1 in the upcoming Sub-Section 5A-South playoffs. Other top seeds in Section 5A are Pine River-Backus (26-3), Browerville (13-10) and Rush City (14-8). The Jaguars open playoffs with a sub-section quarterfinal match this Friday at home at 7 p.m. against either No. 4-seeded Kimball Area or No. 5-seeded Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. Those two teams will square off in the play-in round this week Thursday in Kimball.

Other notes:
Friday's playoff match will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood.

Osakis is the No. 2 seed in B-B-E's side of the sub-section, with Upsala the No. 3 seed.

The sub-section semifinals will be held at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle high school on Tuesday, October 29. B-B-E's match has a 6 p.m. start time that night, and they will face the winner of the Osakis vs. Upsala match.

**Update: in tonight's regular season finale, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team (19-8) defeated Swanville Area by sweep; game scores were 25-9, 25-6, 25-6. As a team, the Jaguars had a 33.8 hitting percentage on a night when all 14 varsity players played in at least one set and seven players recorded one or more kills.

Step IV: STATE it is!!

Right after receiving the Section 5A champion team trophy, the Jaguars are shown in a huddle soaking it all in. It's the first section title for the volleyball team since 2010.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is headed to the Class 1A state tournament!! Wow! They won the first two sets, fell in the third 25-18 and then won game four 25-20! Game one was 25-22, and game two was 25-20.

"It's coming!" is what I thought as this was happening...Brittany Berge (14) is about to leap high for an ace attack that glanced off the fingertips of Pine River-Backus players and sailed out of bounds for match point.

This match was one for the ages! It had shades of the 2010 Section 5A title match between our B-B-E Jaguars and a red-hot Nevis team. The Jaguars won 3-1 in that match and advanced to state with a 27-2 overall record. Nevis finished an incredible season 29-3-2 overall. The last three games that night in Pierz went into overtime! Game scores were 25-22, 26-28, 27-25, 26-24. This year, the Jaguars head to state with a 26-4 record.

**ADDED at midnight, here's MATCH POINT! and the post-match dog pile!!!


I am SO unbelievably, incredibly proud of our team. Overall, the Jaguars hit 33.9%!! That is an absolutely dynamite hitting percentage in a section championship match.

*We will open up state on Thursday, November 8 at either 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. SPREAD THE WORD!

*My prediction is that the Jaguars will play at 1 p.m. both Thursday and Friday. I have to study the field tonight and see just who's advancing.

Updates to follow after 11:30. Time to head home.

I heard tough news (sports-wise) that St. Cloud Cathedral edged Sauk Centre 3-2 to advance to state. The Crusaders trailed 8-3 in game five before coming back to take it by a 16-14 score. Wow. I also saw that Willmar lost game five 15-13 to Moorhead to fall short of state in Class 3A.

**MY COUGARS ALSO WON!!! They won in very similar fashion  as the Jaguars did! The University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars volleyball team is advancing to the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time in school history! They beat powerhouse University of Northwestern 3-1 to claim the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference title.

Here's a photo of the Cougars tonight in St. Paul after they won. PHOTO BY THE 'COUGARS SIDELINE SQUAD'

This is such an incredible night!!

*Also advancing to the Class 1A state tournament:
New Life Academy (19-10) won Section 4A and holds a No. 18 ranking on the QRF; they beat Nova Classical Academy 3-0 tonight at Bloomington Kennedy high school.

Carlton (28-2) won Section 7A; they beat Deer River 3-0 tonight at Hibbing and were ranked No. 9 in the latest QRF calculation.

Mayer Lutheran defeated Waterville-Elysian-Morristown tonight 3-1 at Mankato East high school to claim the Section 2A crown; they will be the likely No. 2 seed at state.

Minneota won 3-0 over Adrian tonight to win Section 3A; they are 33-1 overall and will be the likely No. 1 seed at state.

In Section 6A, New York Mills (29-2) beat Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 3-0 to advance to state.

On Thursday, Medford beat Bethlehem Academy 3-0 to claim the Section 1A title.

On Friday, Ada-Borup won 3-2 (15-11 in game five) over Sacred Heart to win the Section 8A title in a match played at Lysaker Gymnasium on the University of Minnesota-Crookston campus.

That sets the Class 1A field as follows: Minneota, Mayer Lutheran, B-B-E, Ada-Borup, New Life Academy, New York Mills, Medford, Carlton.

*I should have some type of video up at midnight here. I will try posting match point footage!!

##ConquerEveryDay

Who's excited? Updates...

Who's excited for tonight!

I hope you are! You don't have to be as excited as I am, but you better be at least a LITTLE excited about the B-B-E Jaguars winning a section title!

Here's another video I threw together this afternoon, with footage from October 20 in Morris. The UMM Cougars volleyball team knocked UW-Superior out of a first-place tie in the conference.


Time to pack up and head to Little Falls! Updates to follow on this blog post. Remember, first serve is at 7 p.m. And if you're wondering which radio station is carrying it, then you have not been paying attention!! Look at past posts to find out.

**Game one: updates to start around 7:30 p.m., and possibly sooner.
...the Jaguars are trailing 19-14. **Update: the Jaguars won 25-22.

Bring on game two!! **We are up 23-20 in game two!

WE WON THE MATCH!!! By a 3-1 margin in sets! Updates to come in a new blog post! (Click on the header)

##ConquerEveryDay

Pine River-Backus vs. Rush City

Here's a recap from last night's Sub-Section 5A-North volleyball championship match...defending section champion Pine River-Backus entered as the odds-on favorite, but Rush City brought in an impressive resume as well with a very tough, seasoned lineup. Rush City's top player is senior and 6'2" middle hitter Jamie Guptill, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Division II powerhouse Concordia-St. Paul as a college athlete. Coming into last night's match, she had an incredible 37.6 hitting percentage this season!

Game one:
PR-B hammered Rush City in every facet of the game. They shot out to an early 9-2 lead, then 16-9, 19-10, 22-12 before winning game one 25-13. One key to the big set win was PR-B earning four ace serves. Their kills were thundering down on Rush City, and it appeared they had no answer.

Game two:
Rush City came out with completely different composure and surged ahead to a 15-10 lead after PR-B led 3-0 and 9-7 in the early stages. After trailing by five points, PR-B then went on a 7-1 run to regain the lead, and it was a wild, neck-and-neck affair after that. PR-B build their lead to 19-16 and was poised to gain a 2-0 lead in sets. Then came a service error and two hitting errors to tie the game at 19-19. PR-B then led 23-22 going into a Rush City timeout. By that point, game two had five ties and three lead changes. Jamie Guptill had an ace attack on a tip to tie it up. PR-B senior outside hitter Gabby Rainwater hit into the net, putting Rush City ahead 24-23. PR-B then had a net violation, ending the game and tying the match at one set apiece. It was a rather stunning turn of events after PR-B hammered Rush City in game one.

Game three:
In a pivotal game three, Rush City built a small 6-4 lead. PR-B tied the game at 6-6 on an ace serve and then took a 7-6 lead. Rush City took a 9-8 lead, then PR-B went in front 10-9. Rush City sophomore outside hitter Ellie White had a kill to tie it at 10-10, the eighth tie of game three! Guptill hit long to put PR-B up 11-10. Then PR-B hit long for an 11-11 tie. PR-B senior middle hitter Alyssa Semmler earned her third kill of the set to make it 12-11 PR-B. A two-hit call on Rush City made it 13-11. In what was perhaps the key succession of events in game three, PR-B junior libero Emma Barchus had two ace serves to make it a 15-11 score. Rush City called a timeout, and out of that, Rainwater had a kill to stretch it to 16-11; a kill by Semmler gave PR-B the biggest lead of the set at 18-11. PR-B then had a few errors to narrow the lead to 18-15, forcing their squad into a timeout. Coming out of that, Semmler's kill made it 19-15. A Rush City kill and a PR-B hitting error cut that to 19-17. Rush City then served long for a 20-17 score. PR-B then committed their fifth service error of the game to make it 20-18. Rush City hit into the net, and PR-B senior middle hitter Bailey Wynn had a kill to make it 22-18. Senior middle hitter Shawna Mell, Rush City's second-best hitter, got an ace block for a side out. It was Rush City's seventh ace block of the match. Guptill then had a hitting error to hand the game to PR-B by a 25-19 score.

By this point, here's a noteworthy set of numbers: game one had two ties and two lead changes and was all PR-B; game two had six ties and three lead changes and was dominated mostly by Rush City; game three had nine ties and five lead changes and was a toss-up most of the way.

Game four:
PR-B came out on a mission early in game four, building a quick 6-1 lead, thanks in large part to tremendous serving from libero Barchus. The Pine River radio announcer commented that her serving has been able to cause tremendous headaches for opposing teams this season. Her serving early in game four helped soothe the trouble PR-B was experiencing by other players at the service line.

Barchus then served long for a side out and a 6-2 score. Rush City returned the favor with a serve into the net. Ironically, PR-B then served into the net. Semmler then earned her 13th kill of the night for an 8-3 lead. PR-B service and hitting errors made it 8-5. Wynn's kill made it 9-5. Rush City's Mell had a kill for a 9-6 score, with Guptill in the back row. Mell had another kill for a 10-7 score, but Guptill then rotated back to the front row.
.

...here's some football updates from today's playoff action:
In the Section 4A championship game, Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity is taking it to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. With 8:29 left in the game, they scored on a 30-yard pass play to lead 27-6. LP/HT shot out to a 20-0 lead in the first half, and K-M-S scored just before halftime to make it 20-6.

Late in the third quarter in the Section 6AAA championship game, Pierz has a 44-6 lead over New London-Spicer. Over in Section 5A, BOLD rolled over Minneota 49-7.

Step III: hauling in playoff hardware!

A fitting group hug by the Jaguars after they received their sub-section championship trophy!

In the 17th sub-section title match appearance in school history for the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team, the Jaguars pulled off an impressive win over a very solid, talented Royalton Royals team. Final: B-B-E 3, Royalton 1!

The final score in game four: Jaguars 25, Royals 19!! The Jaguars led 21-17 late in game four, gave up a few points and then finished the match with a 3-0 run. They advance to the Section 5A championship for the second straight year!! As a team, the Jaguars hit just under 18 percent, a figure they will have to dramatically improve on in order to get past the section finals. Through all four games, the Jaguars tallied seven ace blocks and four block assists.

To re-cap the game scores: 25-23, 24-26, 25-19, 25-19!

**Here's video added later in the night...featuring action early in game one. Royalton led 8-6 when the tape started rolling...


The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team will play for a Class 1A state tournament berth when they face either Pine River-Backus or Rush City in the Section 5A championship match. The next round is coming on Saturday, November 3 at Little Falls high school. First serve is at 7 p.m.!

Spread the word! The Jaguars will be playing in the section finals for the 13th time!!

**And here's a four-minute long iMovie production by the Bonanza Valley Voice that features action from throughout the night. This is the low-resolution version. The high-resolution iMovie video will be uploaded later today (562 megabytes!).


In the Sub-Section 5A-North title match...favored Pine River-Backus and Rush City are tied at one game apiece. It is one hell of a match playing out in Little Falls! The third set is underway, and it is a heated battle! PRB 8, Rush City 8!

Then: Rush City is leading 9-8 in the third set, forcing PR-B into a timeout. Rush City had a 6-4 lead, then PR-B scored a 3-0 run for a 7-6 lead.

Game three final score: Pine River-Backus 25, Rush City 19.

Noteworthy: last year in this sub-section title match, underdog PR-B beat Rush City 3-2 after they beat state-ranked Rush City in games four and five.

Final score in game four of the north sub-section title match: PR-B 25, Rush City 22. After a lopsided first game, this match was a wild one the whole way from games two to four! PR-B improves to 28-2 overall.

NEXT! Pine River-Backus, ranked No. 5 in the final Class 1A state volleyball poll, will face No. 10-ranked B-B-E on Saturday night in the Section 5A championship match. The match will be at Little Falls again, with first serve at 7 p.m.!!!! This will be B-B-E volleyball's 13th section championship appearance in school history. They first played for a section title in 2002. The second section final was in 2004. They first punched through to state in 2005, and they played for state every year after that through 2013!

Around the area in tonight's volleyball playoffs:
Sub-Section 3AA-North: Paynesville Area's best-ever volleyball season came to a close. They were defeated by Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta in a 3-0 match; game scores were 25-17, 25-16, 25-13. Paynesville finishes 19-5 with the most wins ever in their volleyball program. It was rated as a mild upset, with the Bulldogs being the top-seeded team and Tigers seeded No. 2. MA/CA will take on Marshall Area for the Section 3AA title on Saturday; the Marshall Tigers beat Redwood Valley 3-1 in tonight's Sub-Section 3AA-South match held in Windom.

No. 2-seeded Sauk Centre finished off Annandale tonight in the Section 6AA Final Four round...game scores were 25-14, 25-17, 25-12. They are 28-2 overall and will take on top-seeded St. Cloud Cathedral in the section finals this Saturday at 7 p.m. at Sauk Rapids-Rice high school. The Crusaders (27-2) finished Foley's season 25-20, 25-12, 25-21 in the other section semifinal.

In Section 2A, two-time defending Class 1A state champion Mayer Lutheran (21-9) prevailed in a 3-2 barn-burner over BOLD (24-3) to win a sub-section title. The Crusaders will face a high-octane Waterville-Elysian-Morristown squad in the Section 2A title match on Saturday. They beat BOLD 15-10 in game five tonight...the game scores of the first four games were 24-26, 25-15, 25-19, 22-25 (then 15-10).

Other final scores...
Adrian 3, Red Rock Central 1
Belle Plaine 3, Norwood-Young America 1
Totino-Grace 3, Rockford Area 0
Watertown-Mayer 3, DeLaSalle 0
Kenyon-Wanamingo 3, St. Peter 0
Kasson-Mantorville 3, Stewartville 1
Minneota 3, Wabasso 1 (25-13, 13-25, 25-15, 25-16)

##ConquerEveryDay 

Updates from the finals

Updates to follow. This is gonna be a terrific volleyball match to take in! Royalton is very, very good. They have a powerful hitting attack. Their setter is a third-year starter and eclipsed the 1,000 career set assist mark this fall. The Royals are out for some revenge, as their 2017 season was ended by B-B-E.

And now, for the Sub-Section 5A-South volleyball title match!
In game one! We have a tight game playing out! The score is 10-10...and two errors later, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is trailing 10-12. **Final score: B-B-E 25, Royalton 23.

In game two...the Jaguars and Royals are tied at 11-11...then they led 14-11. Then the Royals tied it at 14-all. **Final score: Royalton 26, B-B-E 24.

Game three! Jaguars win 25-19.

Game four! The Jaguars are trailing 16-14. I am having Internet issues at Little Falls high school...check a new blog post for more information! (Click on the header above)

Volleyball playoffs

At Long Prairie, underdog Benson is duking it out with heavily-favored Royalton.

In game four, the Braves led 5-3 before the Royals went on a 5-0 run. Benson cut it down to a 10-9 deficit. Then Royalton took a 13-9 lead.

Royalton won the first two games. Benson then took game three 27-25 after they trailed 23-20!

The B-B-E vs. Osakis match will follow. It will start late! Smooth Magic 107 FM is carrying it.

**Update: we are in game five!! Royals 10, Braves 3. Benson is plum out of timeouts.

Final score: Royalton 15, Benson 10. The Braves put up one hell of a fight! Royalton advances to the subsection finals for the second straight year. If the Jaguars advance out of tonight, they will face an outstanding Royalton team for a section finals berth.

**And the night cap! B-B-E vs. Osakis!!
Game one update: B-B-E 22, Osakis 15. And the Jaguars pulled out a 25-20 win to go up 1-0 in sets after initially trailing 7-1!

Game two: B-B-E wins a drama-free set by a 25-4 score. I haven't seen that lopsided of a set since 2006!

Game three: B-B-E won 25-16! Further updates to follow in a newer blog post.

Step I: a convincing sweep

The playoff opener was a success tonight for the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team. Facing fourth-seeded Kimball Area, the Jaguars were dominant all night in a 3-0 win that lasted just 56 minutes.

Now 23-4 overall, the Jaguars advance to the Sub-Section 5A-South semifinals. Their opponent will be Osakis. The Silverstreaks beat Prairie Conference rival Browerville 3-2 in their quarterfinal match tonight. Game scores were 25-15, 25-14, 23-25, 22-25, 15-6.

B-B-E and Osakis will square off next Tuesday, October 30 at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle high school. First serve will be approximately 7:30 p.m.

*Here's some video from the match:

Around Section 5A tonight...
*A wild border battle took place in Kerkhoven, where the K-M-S Fighting Saints lost a 3-2 battle with No. 3-seeded Benson. The Braves won game five by a 16-14 score! Holy cow! Can you imagine the atmosphere there? Making it more dramatic was how K-M-S lit up Benson in the first two games (25-17, 25-11)...K-M-S finishes a fine season with a 16-13 record, while Benson advances with an 8-14-1 overall record to face Royalton in the semifinals.

Royalton 3, Swanville 0
Pine River-Backus 3, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 0
Braham 3, PACT Charter 1
Rush City 3, Ogilvie 0
Nevis 3, Verndale 0 (the only upset of the section tonight, with the Tigers being the No. 3 seed and the Pirates seeded No. 2)

Area volleyball playoff scores on October 26:
Brandon-Evansville 3, Henning 2 (Henning took the first two sets, but the Chargers rallied for 25-20, 27-25, 15-10 wins to advance to the Sub-Section 6A-South title match; the Hornets finish a stellar year with a 21-8 record, 5-2 Park Region for a three-way tie for second place with Verndale and Wadena-Deer Creek)
New York Mills 3, Pelican Rapids 0
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 3, Underwood 1
Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 3, Yellow Medicine East 1
Wabasso 3, Lakeview 1
Canby 3, MACCRAY 1 (the Wolverines won the Camden North Conference title this year with an 8-4 record and finish 16-14 overall with an 0-1 mark in the ultra-tough Section 3A playoffs; earlier in the season, Canby lost in Clara City in a 3-2 match with a 15-12 score in game five)
Minneota 3, Central MN Christian 0
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 3, Southwest MN Christian 0
Adrian 3, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 0
Willmar 3, Alexandria 0
Barnesville 3, Wadena-Deer Creek 2

Playoff updates

Set one final score: B-B-E 25, Kimball Area 13. The Jaguars and Cubs duked it out early, but the Jaguars had a huge run to open up a 16-5 lead and take control.

Set two final score: B-B-E 25, Kimball Area 7.

Set three was another win for the Jaguars, who had a late 23-14 lead before finishing it off.

 They advance!

More to follow.

Volleyball playoffs set

We have an opponent!

In tonight's play-in round of the Sub-Section 5A-South tournament, the No. 4-seeded and host Kimball Area Cubs defeated No. 5-seeded Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 3-1 to advance to the quarterfinal round. The Cubs (5-23) advance to face our B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team on our home court tomorrow night (Friday, October 26) with first serve coming at 7 p.m. That match will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood.

A-C-GC finishes the year 3-18.

B-B-E's student section is having a "Dad-Out" theme, which will be very interesting!

First-round volleyball playoff scores on Oct. 25 in Section 5A (North & South):
Osakis 3, Upsala 0
Browerville 3, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 1
Swanville 3, Onamia 0
Verndale 3, Laporte 0
Nevis 3, Pillager 0
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 3, Bertha-Hewitt 0
PACT Charter 3, East Central 1
Braham 3, Isle 1
Rush City 3, Kaleidoscope Charter 0
Ogilvie 3, Hinckley-Finlayson 2

Area volleyball playoff scores on October 25:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 3, Minnewaska Area 0
Eden Valley-Watkins 3, Montevideo 0
New York Mills 3, Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal 0
Brandon/Evansville 3, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 1
Henning 3, Parkers Prairie 0

Underwood 3, Breckenridge 0

New London-Spicer 3, Litchfield 0
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 3, Little Falls 0
Albany 3, Rocori 0

Annandale 3, Pierz 0

St. Cloud Cathedral 3, Holdingford 0

Sauk Centre 3, Zimmerman 0
Maple Lake 3, Spectrum 0
Melrose Area 3, Milaca 2 (the Dutchmen won this match at Milaca)

Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 3, West Central Area 0

##ConquerEveryDay

Volleyball playoffs

The K-M-S Fighting Saints volleyball team is ahead 2-0 in sets over Browerville/Eagle Valley. *Update: the Tigers trailed 24-16 in game three, rallied a few points, but lost 25-20.

K-M-S (13-17) advances to the Sub-Section 5A-South championship match that will be on Thursday this week at Little Falls. Their opponent will be Kimball Area, who upset the #1-seeded (other sub-section pod) Verndale Pirates in a 3-2 barn burner tonight.

I said it last Friday night, and I'll say it again...Section 5A is wide open. Now there's just four teams remaining. In Sub-Section 5A-North, Pine River-Backus and Braham (both No. 1 seeds) will battle on Thursday for the championship.

Browerville

The Browerville Tigers are heading to the Class 1A state volleyball tournament after ending Sebeka's season in a 3-1 match tonight while claiming the Section 5A championship. Sebeka won game one 25-23, but the Tigers then won 26-24, 25-12 and 25-21 to head to state in volleyball for the first time since 2005 when they took sixth place. In school history, this is Browerville's second trip to state in volleyball. One fun little nugget that I dug up from the 2005 season was from the Section 5A championship match, when Browerville beat Verndale 3-1. That night the Tigers served 91-for-93 while having sterling serve-receive of 95 percent (80-for-84).

This year's Tigers volleyball team has a number of athletes who played on last year's section champion girls' basketball team. They take a 24-5 record into the state tournament and will probably be unseeded.

Rough start

Not off to a good start against Verndale tonight.

Update: the errors that plagued the Jaguars in game one never really went away and the season is over. For the record, the scores were 15-25, 21-25, 24-26.

We are shell-shocked in Jaguar Country. I am dumbfounded by this loss! We haven't been 1-1 in sub-section volleyball since 2001.

I'm signing out for the night.

Eden Valley-Watkins

We get Eden Valley-Watkins tonight. The Eagles won their play-in round match of the Sub-Section 5A-South volleyball tournament last night. They face our B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team tonight on our home court at 7 p.m. The pep band will play tonight before and during the match.

Volleyball playoff scores from October 23:
* Eden Valley-Watkins def. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, 25-19, 25-21, 25-7
* Hinckley-Finlayson def. East Central, 25-9, 25-22, 25-23
* Menahga def. Pillager, 3-1
* Ogilvie def. Isle, 25-14, 25-18, 25-20
* Swanville def. Bertha-Hewitt, 25-21, 16-25, 25-19, 25-22
* Verndale def. Eagle Valley, 25-19, 25-9, 25-15

Over in Section 3AA, New London-Spicer beat Benson in four games, 25-11, 25-16, 25-27, 25-8.

In Section 5AA, Maple Lake beat Rockford in three games, 25-15, 25-14, 25-8.

Volleyball seeding is in

In a nutshell.

The number-one seeded B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team will host either fifth-seeded Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City or fourth-seeded Eden Valley-Watkins in the sub-section playoff opener this Friday at 7 p.m.

A-C-GC and EV-W square off in a play-in round match on Thursday night at Eden Valley.

More to follow later.

The defending section champion, Nevis, is the number-three seed in one of the North sub-section pods behind Sebeka and Pine River-Backus.

Finally unveiling the final minutes of the Nevis volleyball match, and the post-match celebration that followed

Exactly 4:57 into this video clip, Shyan Kuefler's ace tip went to the floor to end the match. A terribly exciting moment!!


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