ST. PAUL - Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa's first trip to a state tournament ended Friday with a 25-23, 16-25, 25-16, 25-22 loss to St. Cloud Cathedral in the Class AA consolation semifinals at the Xcel Energy Center.
Like its quarterfinals loss to Stewartville the day before, the Jaguars (28-4) had opportunities to win and couldn't take advantage of them.
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa fought off several Crusader charges and held a 20-14 lead in the first game, but Cathedral tied the game at 22 and then took the first game with an ace block.
Learning from their Game 1 mistakes, the Jaguars didn't let up until the end of the second game.
erved four consecutive points to give BBE a 24-11 lead, but the Crusaders turned back five game points before a passing error tied the game 1-1.
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"Volleyball is such a game of momentum and we saw that perfectly out there," said BBE coach Mimi Knutson. "Our girls put a lot of effort into (Thursday night). I saw moments of fatigue, but it's the same as Cathedral had, too, and they were able to pull it out."
The Crusaders ran with the momentum in Game 3, but the Jaguars once again took it back in the fourth game. But just like at the beginning of the match, BBE's lead quickly diminished, this time from 18-11 to 21-19. BBE's serving suffered - 10 errors in 87 attempts.
"We definitely missed our share of serves," Knutson noted. "It was just those silly, little errors you make that give the other team the point and then the momentum."
The Jaguars also had 32 hitting errors and posted a paltry .094 hitting percentage. Cathedral did a good job of adjusting to BBE's hitters, which showed in the final two games, where the Jaguars hit .086 and .081, respectively.
"We made sure our defense was disciplined. We stayed deep," said first-year Crusaders' coach Lindsay Ashburn, a former Buffalo Lake-Hector and St. Cloud State star. "We know that their left sides are strong, so we played our outsides on the outside of the block."
Ashley Lensing, a 5-foot-9 junior who was named to the Class AA All-State team Friday, paced the Jaguars with 16 kills on 29-of-39 hitting. Junior April Hansen, a 6-0 middle hitter who also is on the All-State team, added 10 kills and 18 digs. Senior setter Holly Thompson had 40 assists, freshman Emily Roelike recorded three ace serves and junior Kelly Hieserich followed with two ace serves.
St. Cloud Cathedral 3, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 1
BBE (28-4) 23 25 16 22
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SC Cathedral (31-2) 25 16 25 25
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
Serving: Ashley Lensing 12-15-1, Emily Roelike 17-17-3, Holly Thompson 16-17-0, April Hansen 7-10-0, Kelly Hieserich 14-14-2, Tiffany Gruber 11-14-0 .... Setting: Thompson 110-110-40 .... Hitting: A. Lensing 29-39-16, Roelike 1-1-1, Thompson 12-14-1, Hansen 27-34-10, Katie Gruber 19-23-4, Heidi Lensing 5-9-2, T. Gruber 24-29-11 .... Blocking (aces): Thompson 1 ... Digs: A. Lensing 17, Roelike 7, Thompson 5, Hansen 18, Hieserich 8, T. Gruber 12
St. Cloud Cathedral
Serving: Andrea Harstad 6-10-1, Alex Lenzen 1-1-0, Natalie Anderson 12-13-1, Anna Zyovolski 13-14-1, Krista Meyer 21-22-3, Sarah Zyovolski 14-15-2, Nina Lindquist 15-15-2 .... Setting: Anderson 56-56-15, Lindquist 55-55-14 .... Hitting: Harstad 20-22- 6, Deanna Novak 0-1-0, Anderson 2-2-0, A. Zyovolski 26-30-10, Abby Kerfeld 15-17-4, Jennifer Waletzko 11-13-5, Meyer 20-26-6, S. Zyovolski 22-29-8, Lindquist 0-1-0 .... Blocking (aces): Kerfeld 1, S.Zyovolski 1 ... Digs: Harstad 3, Lenzen 11, Novak 8, Anderson 6, A.Zyovolski 12, Kerfeld 3, Meyer 16, S. Zyovolski 3, Lindquist 3
