WILLMAR -- Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa had reached the championship of the Willmar Volleyball Invitational each of the two previous seasons, only to come away with the runner-up trophy.
This time, Jaguars' coach Mimi Knutson showed her team what the winner's trophy looked like, displaying it proudly in the team's jubilant huddle after her team knocked off Buffalo Lake-Hector 25-14, 25-17 on Saturday.
"This is the best we've played in this tournament," said Knutson, who managed a smile despite not feeling well all day. "I didn't want to get in the championship again and lose. That's not a lot of fun."
BBE lost to Willmar in two straight games each of the past two seasons.
In the championship match, senior April Hansen paved a balanced attack with eight kills (BBE's composite totals were not available and will be published in Tuesday's paper). Senior Ashley Lensing and her sophomore sister, Heidi Lensing, had five kills apiece. Katie Gruber, a senior, added four kills. All four hitters are among the top 20 in the area in terms of kill percentage, which shows the value of an attacker by combining accuracy and the ability to score points.
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"We have some very talented hitters and they all played well in this tournament," said Knutson, who guided her team to a berth in the state tournament a year ago. "We just hope we can keep playing like this the rest of the season."
Emily Roelike, a sophomore libero who just returned from an ankle injury, aced three serves and led the team with 14 digs. Sarah Gruber had seven set assists and Jenny Hieserich had three.
Benson also had a strong tournament, finishing third. The Braves gave BBE its toughest match of the day, losing 25-18, 27-25 in pool play. The Braves also were without one of their top hitters, senior Jessica Ascheman, who was attending a wedding.
Benson beat Breckenridge 25-11, 25-23 in the third-place match. Courtney Frank led the team with 24 kills. Annie Ecklund added 12.
Willmar started out slow, losing to both Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City and Breckenridge in pool play before upending Buffalo Lake-Hector. The Cardinals then finished the day 2-2, beating New London-Spicer in the seventh-place match.
Greta King, a junior, had 50 kills, six ace serves and three ace blocks. Heather Thoma, a senior, had 24 kills, five ace serves and three ace blocks. Laurie Buer, a junior, had 50 set assists. Megan Brown, a junior, led the Cardinals with 32 digs, while freshman Hannah Smith added 30.
Team scores
Pool A
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Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City def. Willmar 26-24, 14-25, 15-13
Breckenridge def. Willmar 11-25, 25-23, 15-11
Willmar def. Buffalo Lake-Hector 25-20, 18-25, 15-7
Buffalo Lake-Hector def. Breckenridge 25-14, 25-18
Buffalo Lake-Hector def. ACGC 25-19, 25-13
Breckenridge def. ACGC 25-20, 23-25, 15-7
Pool B
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa def. Parkers Prairie 25-17, 25-18
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BBE def. Benson 25-18, 27-25
BBE def. New London-Spicer 25-11, 25-11
Benson def. Parkers Prairie 25-17, 25-12
Benson def. New London-Spicer 19-25, 26-24, 18-16
Parkers Prairie def. New London-Spicer 19-25, 25-15, 15-3
Seventh place
Willmar def. New London-Spicer 25-13, 25-23
Fifth place
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Parkers Prairie def. ACGC 25-22, 23-25, 15-12
Third place
Benson def. Breckenridge 25-23, 25-11
Championship
BBE def. Buffalo Lake-Hector 25-14, 25-17
Composite Statistics
How ACGC fared
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
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Statistics not available
How BBE fared
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Statistics not available
How Benson fared
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Serving: Holly Erickson 24-29-2, Kim Wiebold 3-4-1, Ashley Lindahl 40-44-6, Kayla Anderson 11-15-2, Anne Bausman 23-28-4, Annie Ecklund 33-35-2, Carli Collins 5-7-2, Courtney Frank 24-29-7, Krista Connelly 3-3-1, Katie Razink 5-6-1 ... Setting: Erickson 171-173-53, Wiebold 4-4-0, Lindahl 7-7-1, Anderson 4-4-0, Emily Ness 2-2-0, Bausman 5-5-1; Ecklund 1-1-1, Frank 4-4-1, Jenny Bouta 7-7-1, Keri Mikkelson 2-2-0 ... Hitting: Erickson 8-10-3, Wiebold 3-3-0, Lindahl 4-7-1, Anderson 30-35-6, Ness 4-4-1, Ecklund 38-40-12, Frank 69-72-24, Connelly 1-3-1, Bouta 14-18-5, Mikkelson 37-48-12, Razink 1-1-1 ... Blocking (aces): Anderson 3, Ecklund 6, Frank 2, Connelly 1, Bouta 3, Mikkelson 2 ... Digs: Erickson 10, Wiebold 11, Lindahl 9, Anderson 2, Bausman 6, Ecklund 3, Collins 2, Frank 15, Bouta 2, Mikkelson 3, Razink 6
How Buffalo Lake-Hector fared
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(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Serving: Sam Broderius 25-25-2, Missy Deal 37-38-0, Tiffany Larson 31-33-4, Kasey Peterson 22-26-1, Megan Sandgren 12-17-2, Kara Peterson 43-45-5, Emma Koeberl 1-2-0 ... Setting: Broderius 186-189-53 ... Hitting: Broderius 20-20-14, Deal 40-44-16, Larson 35-37-11, Kasey Peterson 37-42-16, Sandgren 25-28-3, Valerie Melich 18-18-5, Emma Koeberl 10-10-6 ... Blocking (aces): Broderius 4, Kasey Peterson 6, Sandgren 1, Melich 1 ... Digs: Kasey Peterson 7, Deal 6, Broderius 5, Brittany Peterson 5, Kelly Wilkinson 4, Larson 3, Sandgren 2, Kara Peterson 2, Koeberl 2
How New London-Spicer fared
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Serving: Justine Dammerman 23-25-1, Jenna Moritz 36-39-8, Taylor Thompsen 20-20-3, Cassie Ziemer 18-20-3, Brianna Jacobson 14-16-0, Emily Duininck 2-2-0, Whitney Herman 20-25-5, Hannah Setterberg 3-4-1 ... Setting: Dammerman 145-154-37, Duininck 53-58-19, Emily Gobernatz 34-35-10, Herman 13-14-4, Jacobson 8-9-2, Karli Wendlandt 17-20-0, Moritz 12-13-0, Thompsen 11-11-0, Ziemer 7-8-0, Jacobson 8-9-2, Kelsey Stahl 4-4-2 ... Hitting: Dammerman 5-5-1, Moritz 42-52-11, Wendlandt 19-29-6, Thompsen 57-69-21, Ziemer 42-50-13, Jacobson 45-52-12, Stahl 1-1-0, Herman 21-31-9, Chelsea Wendlandt 1-1-0, Gobernatz 3-3-1 ... Blocking (aces): K.Wendlandt 3, Thompsen 3, Ziemer 5, Jacobson 4, Herman 2, C.Wendlandt 1 ... Digs: K.Wendlandt 41, Thompsen 39, Ziemer 17, Herman 13, Allie Stulen 13
How Willmar fared
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Serving: Megan Junkermeier 7-8-0, Heather Thoma 32-33-5, Annalise Bratt 24-27-4, Megan Brown 41-44-4, Greta King 39-42-6, Laurie Buer 23-23-4, Hannah Smith 30-33-4 ... Setting: Junkermeier 1-2-0, Thoma 2-2-0, Bratt 5-5-2, Brown 1-1-1, King 113-115-42, Buer 109-109-50, Smith 14-14-3 ... Hitting: Junkermeier 24-32-13, Thoma 48-61-24, Bratt 26-32-14, King 82-97-50, Emily Nelsen 35-43-11, Chelsey Beilhartz 12-22-6, Buer 7-7-1, Smith 13-17-7 ... Blocking (aces): Junkermeier 2, Thoma 3, King 3, Beilhartz 1 ... Digs: Junkermeier 11, Thoma 12, Bratt 21, Brown 32, King 17, Nelsen 6, Beilhartz 2, Buer 14, Smith 30
