ST. PAUL -- Maggie Gruber recored a match-high 20 kills and Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa earned its second state tournament volleyball win with a 25-14, 27-25, 25-16 victory over Cherry in the Class A consolation semifinals Friday at Xcel Energy Center.
The Jaguars (28-3) will play Win-E-Mac for the consolation title at 9 a.m. today.
The win is also the first for BBE after suffering a loss in the tournament. The Jaguars previously have had two 0-2 appearances and one 1-2 tournament.
A strong attack helped the Jaguars get easy wins in Sets 1 and 3. BBE went on a 10-3 run to end the first game, getting three kills from Maggie Gruber during the stretch. In the final game, Gruber had five kills and BBE ran out to an 11-3 lead, also helped by three ace serves. Taylor Braegelman had three of her five kills in the third set.
It was the second set that the Jaguars were tested. Cherry served five aces and Taylor Sauter had three straight kills to give the Tigers (22-4) a 13-9 lead. BBE got as close as 18-17, but Cherry served a couple of aces in a 4-2 run to take a 23-19 lead.
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Then BBE coach Kevin Weller called a timeout. The Jaguars responded with a Shyan Kuefler kill and a Raeann Sorenson ace to cut the advantage to 23-21. Brittany Roelike served a couple of points and Gruber got a kill to tie the set at 24. Another Gruber kill gave BBE a 26-25 lead and a block by Gruber and Megan Rodgers sealed the Set 2 win.
Gruber finished with a .516 kill percentage. Kuefler added seven kills. Julie Hieserich had 31 assists, Brittany Roelike served five aces and Sorenson had ace serves.
Morgan Hanson led the Tigers with 10 kills and Sauter added seven.
BBE 3, Cherry 0
Cherry (22-4) 14 25 16
BBE (28-3) 25 27 25
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Cherry
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Serving: Sara Sauter 11-11-1, Molly Parentaeau 10-10-3, Macey Etter 9-9-2, Taylor Sauter 8-9-1, Morgan Hanson 8-9-1, Shaina Novak 4-5-1, Tanner Ersbo 1-2-1, Maria Clement 0-1-0 ... Setting: S.Sauter 7-7-0, Parentaeau 22-22-16, Etter 4-4-1, T.Sauter 13-13-0, Hanson 11-11-0, Elyssa Bright 1-1-1, Novak 15-15-1, DeAnn Bjerklie 1-1-0, Clement 3-3-2 ... Hitting: S.Sauter 6-7-2, Parenteau 5-7-0, Etter 3-7-0, Bright 3-6-1, T.Sauter 10-14-7, Hanson 33-39-10, Ersbo 2-2-1, Clement 4-6-0 ... Blocking (total): Bright 1, S.Sauter 2, Hanson 2 ... Digs: S.Sauter 4, Parenteau 9, Etter 3, T.Sauter 3, Hanson 5, Novak 8, Clement 1
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
Serving: Julie Hieserich 12-13-0, Brittany Winter 5-6-0, Maggie Gruber 8-11-1, Taylor Braegelman 5-5-0, Brittany Roelike 23-23-5, Raeann Sorenson 14-14-3, Miriah DeKok 2-2-0, Kim Kollman 1-1-0, Mariah Rach 0-1-0 ... Setting: Hieserich 32-33-31, Winter 3-3-0, M.Gruber 6-6-1, Braegelman 7-7-0, Roelike 3-3-0, Shyan Kuefler 1-1-1, Sorenson 9-9-0, DeKok 1-1-0, Kollman 1-1-0, Morgan Geer 4-4-0, Becca Gruber 1-1-0 ... Hitting: Hieserich 9-9-2, Winter 0-3-0, M.Gruber 27-31-20, Braegelman 10-12-5, Roelike 9-13-4, Kuefler 20-22-7, B.Gruber 1-1-1, Megan Rodgers 3-3-2 ... Blocking (total): Hieserich 2, Gruber 5, Roelike 1, Kuefler 2, DeKok 1, B.Gruber 1, Rodgers 1 ... Digs: Hieserich 5, Winter 5, M.Gruber 6, Braegelman 7, Roelike 4, Kuefler 1, Sorenson 7, Geer 3, B.Gruber 1, Rach 1
