MOORHEAD - The Willmar Cardinals volleyball team fell to tournament champion Roseville on Saturday but rebounded to defeat Moorhead and earn third-place honors at the Pumpkin Classic.
The Cardinals lost to Roseville 25-22, 25-21 but came back from a set down to edge the Spuds 19-25, 26-24, 15-12 in the third-place match.
On Friday, Willmar opened the tournament with a convincing 25-8, 25-11 win over Nevis and took out Win-E-Mac in the evening match 25-20, 25-20.
The Cardinals improved to 20-6 overall and they will play host to New Prague to open the Section 2AAA playoffs at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Willmar High School.
Despite their solid season, the Cardinals are the No. 7 seed heading into the postseason, thanks in part to having the state’s No. 1 (25-2 Prior Lake) and No. 3 (19-3 Chaska) teams in the section.
Should the Cardinals get by New Prague on Wednesday, they would get No. 2-seed Chaska on Friday. No. 8-ranked Delano (23-4) is 2AAA’s No. 3-seed Delano (23-4) also lurks in Willmar’s half of the bracket.
Pumpkin Classic
Willmar scores
Defeated Nevis 25-8 25-11; Win-E-Mac 25-20 25-20; lost to Roseville 22-25 21-25; defeated Moorhead 19-25 26-24 15-12 (third place)
How Willmar Fared
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Serving: Allie Roehl 50-51-6, Leah Ruter 16-17-0, Riley Grussing 24-28-5, Jamie Reyes 7-8-0, Emily Chermak 35-37-1, Addie Erickson 36-38-3 … Set assists: Riley Grussing 223-227-102, Carly Wedel 3-3-3 … Hitting: Sarah Smith 17-18-9, Dani Rosen 45-54-28, Ruter 94-107-45, Esther Grussing 35-42-12, Cami Sletta 22-28-11, Catelyn Haug 1-1-1 … Blocking (aces): Smith 6, D. Rosen 8, Ruter 5, Riley Grussing 3, Esther Grussing 3, Sletta 3 … Digs: Roehl 42, Ruter 22, Riley Grussing 19, Reyes 9, Chermak 9
