ST. PAUL -- For the third straight season, Central Minnesota Christian ended its volleyball season with a victory, beating Climax/Fisher 21-25, 25-18, 25-12, 22-25, 15-9 for third place at the state Class A tournament Saturday at Xcel Energy Center.
The Bluejays (23-10) took third last season and finished fifth in 2004.
A consistent attack and steady serve helped CMCS weather a couple of close games and put the Knights (26-7) away in the fifth game.
Offensively, the Bluejays approached each game the same way, posting a kill percentage of at least .229 in each game. They posted 13 kills in each of the first four games.
In Game 2, junior Cassie Ulferts and seniors Kari Mulder and Kresson Vreeman led the attack with four kills each as the Bluejays worked their way to a 19-8 lead, eventually tying the match 1-1 with a 25-18 win.
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Vreeman -- named to the all-tournament team -- uncorked her potent jump serve in the third game, collecting five of her match-high 13 aces as CMCS ran out to a 23-9 lead. Ulferts also earned all-tournament honors and led the team with 17 kills on 31-of-36 attacks, pounded down five kills.
The Knights evened the match with a 25-22 win in the fourth game behind the strength of Kacie Fortmann's seven kills -- she finished with a match-high 22 -- and four from Meredith Egeland.
Vreeman took over in the final game, serving back-to-back aces to start the match, then collecting two of the last kills -- she finished with 15 -- and adding six assists.
Mulder added 14 kills and senior Jenny Blom had eight. Vreeman recored 32 assists, Ulferts added 28 and Kaitlyn Link had 16 digs.
CMCS 3, Climax/Fisher 2
CMCS (23-10) 21 25 25 22 15
Climax/Fisher (26-7) 25 18 12 25 9
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
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Central Minnesota Christian
Serving: Jenny Blom 10-11-0, Tara Frikke 6-6-0, Kresson Vreeman 31-34-13, Cassie Ulferts 12-13-3, Moriah Gulbranson 12-13-0, Kaitlyn Link 20-21-1, Rachelle Marcus 8-9-0 ... Setting: Vreeman 82-82-32, Ulferts 64-64-28, Gulbranson 3-3-1 ... Hitting: Abby Tebben 24-17-5, Kari Mulder 23-27-14, Blom 28-30-8, Vreeman 27-30-15, Ulferts 31-36-17 ... Blocking (aces): none ... Digs: Tebben 1, Mulder 1, Blom 14, Frikke 1, Vreeman 9, Ulferts 11, Gulbranson 11, Link 16, Kristin Wittman 1
Climax/Fisher
Serving: Kaiaso Korynta 18-18-2, Alyssa Morken 17-18-3, Kacie Fortmann 15-16-1, Bethany Wagner 8-9-0, Stephanie Wagner 3-3-0, Brittany Tronnes 16-17-1, Nicole Knutson 9-9-1 ... Setting: Korynta 109-111-46, B. Wagner 10-10-3, McKenzie Bruer 5-5-2 ... Hitting: Korynta 11-12-2, Morken 5-6-0, Alicia Egeland 12-15-8, Fortmann 51-58-22, B. Wagner 13-14-7, Meredith Egeland 24-31-11, S. Wagner 4-7-2 ... Blocking (aces): M. Egeland 1 ... Digs: Korynta 14, Morken 6, A. Egeland 1, Fortmann 13, B. Wagner 3, Kelsey Halvorson 2, Bruer 3, S. Wagner 1, Tronnes 3, Knutson 21
