WILLMAR -- After Day 1 of 3 of the MCCC volleyball tournament, it would appear that Central Lakes College and host Ridgewater College are on a collision course.
The Raiders posted a 6-0 game record on Friday at the college while the Lady Warriors went 5-1.
Those two have accounted for the past six championships -- four by Central Lakes, including the last three, and Ridgewater in both 2001 and 2002.
Joe Sussenguth, the first-year Ridgewater coach, points to Central Lakes as the favorite.
"They've been rated No. 1 all season," said Sussenguth.
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Both Central Lakes and Ridgewater play only one match today after playing two apiece Friday.
Ridgewater seemed to play just well enough to win. The first time the Lady Warriors played, Itasca drilled them.
"We have to keep in mind every team here wants to win it (the state title)," said Sussenguth. "Today, we seemed to think it was enough just to step on the floor. But Itasca was solid defensively and stopped or slowed our hits at the net, so they were able to run their offense. It took us a while to get our (offense) going."
Ridgewater, the 2005 NJCAA Division III runner-up, will host the four-team Region 13A tournament next weekend.
Kill leaders for Ridgewater the first day were Ashley Olson with 19 and Hillary Groothuis with 18. Jackie Noyes was 15-for-15 serving and 11-for-11 hitting against Rochester with a total of six aces.
Ridgewater 2, Itasca 1
Itasca (17-12) 30 20 20
Ridgewater (26-3) 22 30 30
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(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Ridgewater
Serving: Jenna Olson 2-2-0, Ashley Olson 9-12-1, Ashley Hennen 10-10-2, Amy Ballard 16-18-1, Jackie Noyes 7-7-0, Laura Suter 25-28-2, Hilary Groothuis 5-6-4 ... Setting: Suter 105-105-30 ... Hitting: A. Olson 31-34-12, Ashley Hennen 21-21-6, Kayla Powers 21-22-5, Noyes 15-15-2, Suter 9-10-3, Groothuis 14-16-8 ... Blocking (aces): Hennen 1, Powers 1, Noyes 1, Groothuis 1 ... Digs: A. Olson 11, Hennen 10, Brittany Haas 18, Ballard 5, Powers 3, Noyes 2, Suter 12, Groothuis 2
Itasca
Statistics not available
Ridgewater 3, Rochester 0
Rochester (15-17) 27 22 15
Ridgewater (27-3) 30 30 30
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(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Ridgewater
Serving: Ashley Olson 12-13-0, Ashley Hennen 12-13-1, Amy Ballard 17-18-3, Jackie Noyes 15-15-2, Melissa Sterkel 5-5-2, Laura Suter 11-14-4, Hilary Groothuis 7-8-3 ... Setting: Suterf 72-73-25 ... Hitting: A. Olson 12-16-7, Hennen 16-19-4, Brittany Haas 1-1-0, Kayla Powers 7-10-2, Noyes, 11-11-4, Melissa Sterkel 1-1-1, Suter 3-4-1, Groothiuis 16-18-10, Krystle Prodoehl 1-1-1... Blocking (aces): Noyes 2, Groothuis 3 ... Digs: Jenna Olson 1, Ashley Olson 9, Ashley Hennen 9, Haas 5, Ballard 5, Powers 2, Noyes 3, Suter 12, Groothuis 1
Rochester
Statistics not available
