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- MMCRU at #5 (2A) Hinton, 2. Cherokee at Emmetsburg, 3. HMS at South O’Brien
Royals experience difficulties at No. 5 ranked Blackhawks
HINTON — Class 2A No. 5 ranked Hinton failed to show their War Eagle Conference opponent MMCRU any hospitality on Thursday, dominating the Royals 25-3, 25-3, 25-11.
MMCRU was unable to establish any momentum against the Blackhawks, as Hinton’s front line of defense came up with a robust 20.5 blocks against the Royals. Offensively, Hinton junior and Creighton committee Bailey Boeve finished with a phenomenal .941 kill efficiency and a match-best 14 kills. Boeve had accounted for six blocks. As a team, Hinton finished with a .600 kill efficiency, finishing with only three attack errors.
Hinton’s setter Katelyn Hoefling finished with a match-best 22 assists and added four ace serves. Olivia Petersen was a flawless 13-for-13 with four aces.
The Blackhawks win is the fourth consecutive match win against MMCRU, and sixth in the last eight meetings.
It was a struggle to say the least for the Royals. They finished with a -.157 kill efficiency, committing a total of 15 attack errors. They tallied just seven kills in the match, led by Lana Florine’s 2. Freshman Peyton Busch made her varsity debut for MMCRU.
MMCRU senior Breanna Staab did finish with a match-best 10 digs for the Royals.
As a team, the Royals served 90.5 percent (19-for-21) with two aces.
MMCRU begins the season with an 0-3 match record. It is the worst start to a season for the Royals since becoming MMCRU in 2017 when they began the volleyball campaign 0-6.
MMCRU 3 – 3 – 11
Hinton 25 – 25 – 25
MMCRU Record: 0-3 | Hinton Record: 5-1
MMCRU Statistics
Assists (7) — Kylie Harpenau 3, Tia Tentinger 3, Breanna Staab 1.
Kills (7 | Kill Eff: -.157) — Lana Florine 2, Peyton Busch 1, Chloe Alesch 1, Brielle Lux 1, Harpenau 1, Tentinger 1.
Digs (25) — Staab 10, Florine 5, Tentinger 3, Deanna Partridge 3, Sadie Youde 1, Aleah Lux 1, B. Lux 1, Alesch 1.
Blocks (0) —
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (19-21 90.5 2 aces) —
Braves’ Machine churns out seventh consecutive match victory, top Emmetsburg
EMMETSBURG — The power and strength was on full exhibit as the eight-ranked (Class 3A) Cherokee volleyball team came away with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-14) road victory over Emmetsburg on Thursday.
The non-conference matchup is one that marked the 35th meeting since September 2008. Cherokee has owned Emmetsburg in the all-time series 33-2. Most recently, it is the third straight match win over the E-Hawks.
The Braves match victory is the seventh consecutive on the season, since suffering a loss to ranked Hinton at the Unity Christian Tournament back on August 31.
All cylinders were clicking for Cherokee, which finished plus +4 in kill advantage (29-24) and came through with a .216 kill efficiency to the .045 kill efficiency of Emmetsburg. Senior Laney Wolfswinkel led the way for Cherokee with eight kills. Fellow senior Keylee Gregg added five. Addy Wolfswinkel, Deidra Doeden, and Ellana Mortenson each finished with four kills for the Braves.
Sophomore setter Addy Wolfswinkel continues to make the most of her opportunity, leading the Braves with 15 assists. She also finished 21-for-22 (95.5%) with two ace in serving. Fellow sophomore Kendyl Fox stepped up against Emmetsburg and led Cherokee in digs (11) and added a flawless 8-for-8 serving performance.
Yet another part of the Braves youth, sophomore Doeden finished with 9-1/2 blocks in the match, finishing with five solo and nine assisted blocks. Cherokee was monstrous defensively as the net, finishing with a season-best 23-1/2 blocks against Emmetsburg.
The E’Hawks did get a couple players with match-best effort against Cherokee. Junior Rachel Schany posted a kill efficiency of .357, finishing with 11 kills. Junior Nora Nelson finished with 24 assists.
Emmetsburg wound up 42-for-49 (85.7%) with one ace. The loss to the Braves leaves Emmetsburg with a 2-1 match record overall.
Cherokee 25 – 25 – 25
Emmetsburg 13 – 21 – 14
Cherokee Record: 10-1 | Emmetsburg Record: 2-1
Cherokee Statistics
Assists (29) — Addy Wolfswinkel 15, Elise Anderson 11, Kendyl Fox 1, Laney Wolfswinkel 1.
Kills (29 | Kill Eff: .216) — L. Wolfswinkel 9, Keylee Gregg 5, A. Wolfswinkel 4, Deidra Doeden 4, Ellana Mortenson 4, Macy Gravenish 3, Kadyn Volkert 1.
Digs (37) — Fox 11, L. Wolfswinkel 9, Gregg 6, A. Wolfswinkel 3, Anderson 3, Ava Bouchard 2, Gravenish 1, Volkert 1.
Blocks (23.5) — Doeden 9.5 (5 S, 9 A), Gregg 5 (2 S, 6 A), Gravenish 3 (6 A), A. Wolfswinkel 1.5 (1 S, 1 A), L. Wolfswinkel 1.5 (1 S, 1 A), Volkert 1.5 (1 S, 1 A), Mortenson 1 (2 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (61-68 89.7% 6 aces) — Fox 8-8 (100%), A. Wolfswinkel 21-22 (95.5%) 2 aces, Gravenish 8-9 (88.9%) 1 ace, Gregg 8-9 (88.9%), L. Wolfswinkel 6-8 (75%) aces.
Surging Wolverines top rival HMS
PAULLINA — Back-and-forth was the opening two sets of the War Eagle Conference matchup Thursday between Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and host South O’Brien.
There were five ties in the first set won by the Wolverines 25-20, nine ties in the second set won by South O’Brien 25-19, and following six ties and six set points in the third game, South O’Brien swept the Hawks with a 25-17 victory.
“What a fun night to watch volleyball! Our girls came out with fire in their eyes and really got after it. They were prepared from the beginning and used some information that the media provided to light that fire. Our focus was to prove to ourselves that we’re capable of playing so much better than what we have been playing and hats off to the girls because they did just that.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head volleyball coach
Composure, confidence, and a bit of swagger was spilled onto the floor by the South O’Brien lasses.
In the first set a 5-0 Wolverines run gave them their biggest lead of six points (20-14). It took three set points for the Wolverines to tame the Hawks.
South O’Brien trailed 10-6 to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in the second set, battled to force ties at 12-12, 13-13, 15-15, 17-17, and 18-18. The Wolverines then stepped on the accelerator and finished the second set on a 7-1 run.
“During timeouts, we were able to talk about the small things that we needed to fix and I felt that the girls went out and executed. Staying aggressive offensively allowed us to push forward instead of allowing them to set up their offense. I can’t say enough about our girls for their efforts tonight.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head volleyball coach
The passion of the present came to life in the third set, as the Wolverines built a 19-10 lead behind a 4-0 run. The biggest lead of the evening came at set point 24-11. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn then rallied with a 6-0 run of its own forcing the sixth set point. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn was whistled for being in the net and the final point was awarded the Wolverines.
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn committed 11 service errors, finishing 46-for-57 (80.7%) with two aces in the loss. The Hawks finished the match with an .038 kill efficiency. Kylie Schiphoff’s seven kills led the Hawks. Moriah Otto and Abby Douma added six and five kills, respectively. Schiphoff also finished with 2.5 blocks, and Douma finished with two blocks.
Senior Frankie Mohnie led Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn (1-4) with 19 assists and 16 digs.
“Our serving pushed them out of system and that helped us as we were getting a lot of tipped, offspeed and free balls our way. I thought our passing was much improved and defensively, our kids covered the court well.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head volleyball coach
For the Wolverines, senior Ashlynn Gunnerson has rebounded from a slow start to the season as setter. She finished with a season-best 23 assists for a three set match at Harris-Lake Park on Tuesday, and backed it up with 22 assists against Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn.
South O’Brien finished with 27 kills led by sophomore Reagan Plagge’s 10. Junior Taylor Wulf has come to life as the second-half of the one-two kills attack for the Wolverines. Wulf finished with six kills, but more impressive was her .455 kill efficiency. Wulf’s impact carried over to her finishing with 12 digs, and a 16-for-16 night in serving with two aces.
Junior “Lefty” Addison Hedberg led South O’Brien in digs with 14, and also turned in a flawless 11-for-11 effort in serving.
“Taylor (Wulf), Ashlynn (Gunnerson), and Addi (Hedberg) all served well. Defensively, these three stepped up for us and kept a large majority of attacked balls in play. We continue to improve defensively at the net. Ashlynn is playing back to her style of play leading our hitters to have some success. It was just a great overall team effort.”
Amy Schmidt, South O’Brien head volleyball coach
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 20 – 19 – 17
South O’Brien 25 – 25 – 25
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Record: 1-4 | South O’Brien Record: 2-5
South O’Brien Statistics
Assists (25) — Ashlynn Gunnerson 22, Reese Farquhar 3.
Kills (27 | Kill Eff: .061) —Reagan Plagge 10, Taylor Wulf 6, Toru Schueller 6, Chloe Hustedt 3, Farquhar 2.
Digs (60) — Addison Hedberg 14, Wulf 12, Gunnerson 11, Farquhar 8, Abby Nelson 6, Hustedt 5, Plagge 2, Abby Woodall 2.
Blocks (3) — Plagge 1 (2 A), Hustedt .50 (1 A), Wulf .50 (1 A), Farquhar .50 (1 A), Schueller .50 (1 A).
Serving (Mininum 7 attempts): (61-73 87.7% 14 aces) — Wulf 16-16 (100%) 2 aces, Hedberg 11-11 (100%), Woodall 9-10 (90%0 3 aces, Hustedt 8-9 (88.9%) 1 ace, Gunnerson 12-14 (85.7%) 6 aces, Farquhar 8-11 (72.7%) 2 aces.
