WILLMAR -- Ridgewater flexed its muscles at home on Saturday and captured the NJCAA Region 13A volleyball title with a 30-17, 33-31, 28-30, 30-26 victory over Madison (Wis.) Area Technical College.
Ridgewater advances to the Division III National Tournament Nov. 17-18 in Rochester in Joe Sussenguth's first year as coach. The Lady Warriors were national runners-up a season ago under Val Swanson.
Sussenguth guided Minnesota to a Class A state runner-up finish last year.
"I've really enjoyed coaching at this level," he said after the match. "The one thing I'm surprised at is the girls are still willing to learn at this time of the year. I wasn't sure if they would be with all the other things going on. I'm really pleased with their work ethic."
And the Lady Warriors' work ethic showed on the court, too. They dominated the opening game as Madison Area made 13 consecutive unforced errors at one point.
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And Ridgewater rallied back after trailing 13-10 in Game 2. Tied 31-31, the Lady Warriors closed out the game on consecutive Madison Area passing errors.
The visitors got back into the match, bolting to a 16-8 lead in the third game before. Trailing 27-24, Ridgewater knotted it on an ace block and a kill by freshman middle hitter Hilary Groothuis.
But Madison Area eventually closed out the win, forcing a fourth game.
Ridgewater never trailed in the final game, leading by as much as 24-11.
"I think we're very competitive and intense," said Groothuis, when asked what the key to the Lady Warriors' success has been this season.
Jackie Noyes, also a freshman middle hitter, paced the Lady Warriors with 21 kills. Groothuis added 19 kills, sophomore Ashley Olson had 14 and freshman Ashley Hennen 10. Laura Suter had 58 assists. Olson also chalked up a team-high 22 digs and four ace serves.
Ridgewater 3, Madison Area Tech 1
Madison Tech.......................................17 31 30 26
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Ridgewater (31-4)..................................30 33 28 30
Madison Area Tech
Statistics not available
Ridgewater
Serving: Ashley Olson 18-24-4, Ashley Hennen 17-17-1, Brittany Haas 1-1-0, Amy Ballard 18-20-3, Jackie Noyes 21-21-1, Laura Suter 12-17-1, Hilary Groothuis 17-19-2 ... Setting: Suter 144-145-58, Kayla Powers 8-8-3, Hennen 2-2-2 ... Hitting: Olson 35-40-14, Hennen 34-37-10, Powers 15-16-7, Noyes 37-38-21, Suter 8-9-3, Groothuis 30-34-19 ... Blocking (aces): Olson 1, Hennen 3, Powers 2, Noyes 2, Groothuis 6 ... Digs: Olson 22, Hennen 20, Suter 17, Haas 17, Ballard 10-, Groothuis 5, Ballard 4, Noyes 2
