Volleyball: Minnewaska tops Montevideo, Brandon-Evansville, Ashby, West Central Area fall

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Lexi Amundson dropped in five ace serves to go with her 19 kills and 12 digs, helping boost her Minnewaska volleyball team to a five-set victory over Montevideo in West Central South Conference action Tuesday night.

Ashton Byrne had 40 set assists in the 25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13 win, adding six ace serves.

Alison Hoeper had 14 digs and Sydney Joos had 10 kills.

The Lakers will host Yellow Medicine East on Tuesday.

MINNEWASKA 3,

MONTEVIDEO 2

MINNEWASKA 25 20 25 19 15

MONTEVIDEO 20 25 22 25 13

MINNEWASKA STATISTICS

SERVING – Ashton Byrne 20-22-6, Abby Mitchell 3-3-0, Alison Hoeper 11-12-1, Taylor Noetzelman 13-15-2, Sydney Joos 14-15-3, Lexi Amundson 17-18-5, Alexis Guggisberg 11-11-0, Shanae Suchy 4-4-1.

SETTING – Byrne 135-147-40, Mitchell 1-2-1, Hopeper 3-3-0, Noetzelman 3-3-0, Amundson 2-2-0, Guggisberg 2-4-0, Emma Middendorf 1-1-0.

HITTING – Byrne 9-10-1, Mitchell 0-1-0, Hoeper 3-3-0, Noetzelman 15-19-4, Joos 30-38-10, Amundson 33-42-19, Ariel Ostrander 11-12-5, Guggisberg 14-18-5.

ACE BLOCKS – Noetzelman 1, Joos 1, Ostrander 1.

DIGS – Byrne 4, Mitchell 2, Hoeper 14, Noetzelman 1, Joos 6, Amundson 12, Guggisberg 6, Allyssa Engfer 2.

CHARGERS FALL

The Brandon-Evansville volleyball team did a lot of things well last Thursday night but it was consistency that head coach Kelly Olson was looking for after a 3-2 loss to Rothsay in a Little Eight Conference match.

The Chargers were able to overcome a 25-17 loss in the first set by taking the next two 25-14 and 25-19. The Tigers responded from there by winning 25-21 in the fourth and then putting it away 15-13 in the fifth.

“We gave the fans their money’s worth but sold ourselves short,” Olson said. “We were too timid during the fourth and fifth sets of the match. It is during those times of a match that we need to push to win, and instead we didn’t want to make a mistake and got caught on our heels too many times. Rothsay found the hole in our defense and exploited it.”

The Chargers were strong from the serving line with 20 aces. They also finished with 14 blocks at the net.

Megan Friedrich had a team-high 12 kills for Brandon-Evansville. Caroline Jansen added nine, while Kinsley Randt set them up with 20 assists. The defense was led by Megan Kokett and Randt, who finished with 23 and 19 digs, respectively.

In the end, it wasn’t enough as the Chargers fell to 3-6 and 2-2 in the LEC, while Rothsay improved to 1-2 in conference play.

MATCH STATISTICS

Rothsay 3,

Brandon-Evansville 2

(25-17, 14-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13)

BRANDON-EVANSVILLE – Randt – 1 kill, 20 assists, 19 digs, 1 block, 5 aces; Jansen – 9 kills, 3 aces, 2 digs, 1 block; Mariah Hansen – 5 aces, 3 digs, 2 blocks; Anna Lundeen – 4 kills, 2 assists, 3 digs, 3 aces; Friedrich – 12 kills, 1 assist, 1 ace, 16 digs, 4 blocks; Emma Friedrich – 4 kills, 2 aces, 12 digs, 3 blocks; Kokett – 1 ace, 23 digs; Alea Alstead – 6 digs; Carlie Steffenson – 6 digs

warriors sweep

arrows

The Wheaton-Herman-Norcross volleyball team came into Ashby last Thursday night and left with a convincing three-game sweep over the Arrows.

The Warriors have yet to drop a game on their way to an 8-0 record this season. They were dominant in Ashby, winning 25-8, 25-8 and 25-9 to put things away early.

The Arrows were held to just eight kills as a team. Paige Nelson, Bailey Funkhouser, Alexis Ness and Meg Roley all had two apiece. Amber Sundal had eight digs to lead the defense, while Ashby served 24-of-25 as a team with four points.

Rockets top Ashby

Undefeated Underwood proved why it has a perfect record this season as the Rockets swept Ashby in Little Eight Conference volleyball Tuesday night.

“They are always very well coached and prepared for each match,” said Ashby head coach Brenda Johnson. “We worked on defense for two practices and knew that we couldn’t stop all their hitters, but if we could slow down their attacks and pick up the hits and transition offensively, we could maybe get the momentum to swing our way.”

Ashby was unable to get that momentum going, falling 25-12, 25-14, 25-14 to the Rockets.

“I was pleased with how hard our girls worked,” said Johnson. “We are still in need of that hitter that can put the ball away for us when we need a side out. You can only play so much defense before it eventually wears a team down.”

Despite the loss, Johnson was still happy with her team’s efforts.

The Arrows had 21 kills in the match, with Paige Nelson putting down five, and Meg Roley, Bailey Funkhouser and Madison VanSanten adding four each.

“Our right sides are really moving the ball around offensively,” said Johnson.

Cassandra Jordan contributed 16 assists in the game.

Ashby is scheduled to travel to Henning Tuesday.

WCA FALLS

West Central Area rallied back from a 25-17 first set loss to Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, winning the second 25-23, but couldn’t come through with what they needed and dropped the final two sets 25-14 and 25-16.

“We started out playing well and were competing with a very talented team,” said head coach Beth Hanson. “We were right there with them every step of the way through the first two sets and into the third.

“From there, we lost our drive and gave up. Consistency and the desire to win are our main issues to resolve. We have the capabilities, but need to fight for everything.”

The Knights were led by Tiana Christenson’s 10 digs, while Kelsey Hammer led the offense with 10 kills and nine digs.

“Tiana was a solid leader on the court,” said Hanson. “Mariah Hennen came back from an injury and played extremely well. She brought a spark we needed and played excellent defense. Kiersten Sabolik came in and set well for us in running our offense.”

Holly VanKempen had five kills and six blocks, with Sabolik recording 15 set assists.

West Central Area will be at Eagle Valley on Tuesday.

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