ST. PAUL -- Montevideo coach Joanna Naumann expected Pipestone to come out firing right away. She didn't expect, though, that her team would play probably its worst match of the year.
Pipestone established its five-pronged attack from the beginning and never let up en route to beating Montevideo 25-11, 25-11, 18-25, 25-18 in the quarterfinals of the Class AA State Tournament Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.
Behind the trio of senior Beth Tinklenberg and juniors Nicole Buysse and Faith Tinklenberg that combined for 12 kills in the first game, Pipestone (22-8) seemed poised to post a sweep. The Thunder Hawks (26-3) didn't help themselves as they committed seven errors and had only six kills.
The momentum carried over into the second game for Pipestone. Faith Tinklenberg had four kills and junior Chelsey Evans added three more, but again it was the Thunder Hawks that hurt themselves by piling up 10 more errors.
"We put too much damage on ourselves in the first two games," said Naumann, whose team lost for the first time in two months and face St. Cloud Cathedral in the consolation semifinals, a team they beat earlier in the season. "If it was only one game then maybe it could have been a different story."
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Montevideo started to play like it had during its 24-match winning streak in the third game to stay alive. Montevideo fought back from a 12-7 deficit after it had traded leads with the Arrows in the beginning of the game. Senior Kat Schwachtgen hammered down a kill to give Montevideo a lead it wouldn't relinquish. Karie Blommel and Taylor Skoglund helped put the game away for the Thunder Hawks as the juniors both notched three kills.
Despite getting only two kills -- one each from Skoglund and senior Brook Moseng -- Montevideo kept pace with Pipestone early in the fourth game. But the Arrows started to slowly pull away, eventually taking a 16-11 lead after falling behind 9-7. The Thunder Hawks got within three at 20-17 on a kill from Schwachtgen, but Pipestone then went on a 5-1 run to close out the match.
"The bottom line was that we didn't play our best," said Naumann. "When you get to the section final and the state tournament you expect to see (good hitting teams). They were very talented and wouldn't give up."
Pipestone, which will meet Jordan in today's semifinals, had Buysse and Faith Tinklenberg finish with 12 kills apiece and senior Steph Kocourek amass 10 more. The Arrows finished with 53 kills compared to just 32 for Montevideo. Skoglund led the way with nine with Blommel following with eight and Moseng seven.
The Arrows also had their way at the net as they accumulated 12 blocks, five alone from Beth Tinklenberg.
Pipestone 3, Montevideo 1
Pipestone (22-8) 25 25 18 25
Montevideo (26-3) 11 11 25 18
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(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Pipestone
Serving: Ashley Weatherly 26-27-6, Steph Kocourek 9-9-0, Chelsey Evans 12-14-2, Faith Tinklenberg 13-15-2, Meghan Moffitt 11-12-1, Lindsey Sasker 1-1-0, Kelsey Lorenzen 13-14-0 ... Setting: Weatherly 123-124-43, Kocourek 12-12-2, Tinklenberg 4-4-1, Lorenzen 5-5-2 ... Hitting: Weatherly 9-11-0, Kocourek 22-25-10, Beth Tinklenberg 24-29-9, Evans 11-13-7, Nicole Buysse 30-38-12, F. Tinklenberg 38-41-12, Moffitt 3-3-2, Lorenzen 1-1-1... Blocking (total): Weatherly 1, B. Tinklenberg 5, Evans 1, Buysse 2, F. Tinklenberg 3 ... Digs: Weatherly 11, Kocourek 16, B. Tinklenberg 5, Evans 4, Buysse 3, F. Tinklenberg 13, Moffitt 9, Lorenzen 18
Montevideo
Serving: Daniela Jensen 13-13-0, Brook Moseng 11-11-0, Ashley Roder 4-4-0, Kat Schwachtgen 9-10-0, Calie Roggatz 10-10-1, Karie Blommel 5-5-0, Kaylee Johnson 13-13-0 ... Setting: Jensen 65-65-15, Moseng 4-4-2, Roder 4-4-0, Schwachtgen 8-8-0, Roggatz 45-45-10, Taylor Skoglund 2-2-0, Blommel 2-2-2, Johnson 3-3-0, Amanda Boike 5-5-1, Kara Nelson 9-9-1 ... Hitting: Jensen 12-13-3, Moseng 21-31-7, Roder 2-3-1, Schwachtgen 13-15-2, Roggatz 6-7-1, Skoglund 22-27-9, Johnson 7-7-0, Boike 12-16-1, Nelson 2-2-0 ... Blocking (total): Jensen 1, Schwachtgen 1, Skoglund 2, Blommel 1 ... Digs: Jensen 5, Moseng 5, Roder 6, Schwachtgen 4, Roggatz 16, Skoglund 1, Blommel 6, Johnson 20, Boike 1, Nelson 8
