Viking are Camden champs
By virtue of winning the Camden South title, Minneota took on North champion MACCRAY for the overall conference championship Monday night in Clara City.
The Vikings (25-4) swept the Wolverines in another hard-fought battle, 25-22, 25-22, 25-16.
Minneota was never able to build more than a three-point advantage in either of the first two sets against MACCRAY, which features some powerful attackers.
After winning the opening set and leading 16-11 in the second set, Minneota seemed in control. But MACCRAY went on an 8-0 run to take a 19-16 advantage. Minneota then went on a 6-0 run to regain the leads, 22-19, and went on to close out the set on a kill by Ella Johnson.
The Vikings put it all together in the third set and were seemingly in control the entire way. They held leads of 6-1, 13-4 and 22-10 before closing out the set and match on a kill by Natalee Rolbiecki, who finished with a team-high 14 kills to go along with 13 digs, two blocks and two ace serves.
Ireland Stassen finished with 10 kills, 17 assists, six digs and two blocks. Abby Frie had nine kills and three blocks. McKenna Yost amassed 23 assists and 15 digs. Ella Johnson had seven kills. McKenzie Tolk had 18 digs and two ace serves.
Next up for the Vikings is the sub-section tournament which begins next week.
"Our section is so tough this year," said Minneota coach Hayley Fruin. "We need to bring it day in and day out. We really need to focus on the little things and get everyone involved."
Minneota 3, MACCRAY 0
Minneota.............................................................25 25 25
MACCRAY...........................................................22 22 16
Minneota Statistics
SERVING (good-att-aces): McKenna Yost 13-13-0, Natalee Rolbiecki 7-7-2, Lyzah Sussner 10-11-1, Dakoda Hennen 4-4-0, Ireland Stassen 9-10-0, McKenzie Tolk 14-14-2, Grace Hennen 4-4-0
SETTING (assists): Yost 23, Stassen 17
HITTING (kills): Rolbiecki 14, Stassen 10, Abby Frie 9, Ella Johnson 7, Emma Bottelberghe 1, McKenna Yost 1
BLOCKS: Frie 3, Rolbiecki 2, Stassen 2
DIGS: Tolk 18, Yost 15, Rolbiecki 13, Lyzah Sussner 10, Stassen 6, Frie 2, Elivia Faris 2, Bottelberghe 1, D.Hennen 1, G.Hennen 1
Vikes 2nd at Eastview Invite
Result Friday-Saturday, Oct. 15-16
Minneota won three of four matches in the Eastview Invitational on Friday at Saturday in Apple Valley.
The Vikings (24-4) reached the finals before succumbing to Kasson-Mantorville in a tough three-set match 25-18, 22-25, 13-15.
Natalee Rolbiecki led a strong Vikings' hitting attack with 50 kills in the four matches. Ireland Stassen had 31 kills, Abby Frie 25 and Ella Johnson 15.
McKenna Yost finished with 53 assists, with Stassen adding 31.
McKenzie Tolk led the team with 48 digs, with Rolbiecki chalking up 35 digs, Yost 34, Stassen 27 and Lyzah Sussner 26.
Minneota swept Duluth East, Greenway of Coleraine and Shakopee in its first three matches.
Team scores
Minneota def. Duluth East 25-14, 25-9
Minneota def. Greenway of Coleraine 25-14, 25-14
Minneota def. Shakopee 25-22, 21-25, 15-8
(Championship)
Kasson-Mantorville def. Minneota 18-25, 25-22, 15-13
Minneota Statistics
SERVING (good-att-aces): McKenna Yost 47-49-2, Natalee Rolbiecki 32-32-1, Lyzah Sussner 39-39-2, Dakoda Hennen 24-27-2, Ireland Stassen 25-27-0, McKenzie Tolk 31-32-2, Grace Hennen 4-4-0
SETTING (assists): Yost 53, Stassen 31
HITTING (kills): Rolbiecki 50, Stassen 31, Abby Frie 25, Ella Johnson 15, Yost 9, Elivia Faris 3, Emma Bottelberghe 3
BLOCKS: Stassen 6, Frie 5, Rolbiecki 2
DIGS: Tolk 48, Rolbiecki 35, Yost 34, Stassen 27, Sussner 26, Johnson 7
Vikings capture Camden South
Result Thursday, Oct. 14
This was more like a tug-of-war than a volleyball match.
Minneota and Canby, ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in Class A, traded leads continually throughout the match until the Vikings prevailed 25-27, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18 on Thursday in Canby.
"Canby is so touch up front and we are outsized," said coach Hayley Fruin. "It took us a bit to execute our game plan and be disciplined when there were holes on certain hitters. I thought Canby defended well in keeping ball alive and that can wear a team down."
The victory gave Minneota (21-3) the Camden South Conference title with an 11-0 record. Canby (20-4) finished 10-1 in the conference.
Natalee Rolbiecki with 20 kills and Ireland Stassen with 18 paced the offense. Abby Frie delivered nine kills, Ella Johnson had six, Elivia Faris and Emma Biottelberghe had four each, and McKenna Yost had three.
McKenna Yost finished with 34 assists, while Stassen added 24.
The Vikings also served well with Dakoda Hennen dropping in four aces. As a team, Minneota was 95-for-98 serving for 97 percent.
Canby won the long and grueling first set, although the Vikings rebounded from a 22-16 deficit to go on an 8-2 run to the set 24-24. Tied 25-25, Canby got consecutive kills to close out the set.
"We knew we started out flat and on our heels in that first set," said Fruin. "We didn't play with intensity and instead played a little timid."
The second set started much the same way as he first, with the teams alternating leads until a kill by Faris gave the Vikings a 17-16 lead they would not relinquish the rest of the set. Rolbiecki then followed with a kill to make it 18-16.
Leading the second set 23-20, the Vikings closed it out on consecutive kills by Stassen.
Minneota went on to win the next two sets to cap the win.
"We did a great job in that fourth set getting all our hitters involved," said Fruin.
"I really give credit to all our kids for that."
Minneota 3, Canby 1
Minneota.............................................................25 25 25 25
Canby...................................................................27 19 20 18
Minneota Statistics
SERVING (good-att-aces): McKenna Yost 15-15-1, Natalee Rolbiecki 20-20-2, Lyzah Sussner 19-19-0, Dakoda Hennen 15-16-4, Ireland Stassen 13-15-0, McKenzie Tolk 13-13-0
SETTING (assists): Yost 34, Stassen 24
HITTING (kills): Rolbiecki 20, Stassen 18, Abby Frie 9, Ella Johnson 6, Elivia Faris 4, Emma Bottelberghe 4, McKenna Yost 3
BLOCKS: Frie 4, Rolbiecki 2, Yost 2, Stassen 1
DIGS: Tolk 30, Rolbiecki 16, Yost 15, Sussner 12, Stassen 7