Prep volleyball roundup: BBE sweeps Bertha-Hewitt

LONG PRAIRIE - Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa is one win away from returning to a section championship match after the Jaguars swept Bertha-Hewitt 25-22, 25-13, 25-22 Tuesday in the Section 5A-South semifinals.

The Jaguars’ fifth straight win puts the four-time State entrant into the sub-section final - Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Pierz - against Royalton (17-11).

BBE (25-7) has reached the section final in each of the previous nine seasons, six in 5A and 2004-06 while in 6AA. The Jaguars advanced to the State Tournament in 2010, 2008, 2007 and 2005.

Igniting BBE Tuesday was Becca Gruber (13) and Megan Weller (11) with their 24 combined kills. The seniors only had one hitting error each and were set up by Hailey Braegelman (21) and Tessa Halvorson’s (15) combined 36 set assists.

Kinlee Swanson added 9 kills and Braegelman another 7 for the Jaguars. Swanson also had a team-high 5 ace serves. BBE had 11 ace serves total with Karlee Kern supplying 3 to go along with her team-high 17 digs.

Jamie Meyer added a team-high 3 ace blocks and Halvorson 12 digs.

BBE 3, Bertha-Hewitt 0

Bertha-Hewitt (21-11).............22 13 22

BBE (25-7)...............................25 25 25

(Key: good-attempts-aces)

Bertha-Hewitt

Statistics not available

Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa

Serving: Megan Weller 7-8-2, Kinlee Swanson 11-14-5, Haley VanBeck 12-12-1, Hailey Braegelman 12-13-0, Karlee Kern 15-17-3, Randi Gafkjen 1-1-0, Tessa Halvorson 7-8-0 … Set assists: Weller 1, Taylor Gregory 1, Braegelman 21, Jamie Meyer 2, Halvorson 15 … Hitting: Weller 23-24-11, Swanson 24-28-9, Gregory 4-5-3, Becca Gruber 16-17-13, Braegelman 10-13-7, Meyer 11-13-2, Katelyn Heinze 1-3-1 … Blocking (aces): Swanson 1, Gruber 1, Meyer 3 … Digs (5 or more): Swanson 7, Braegelman 6, Kern 17, Halvorson 12

Section 3A-North

CMCS 3, RTR 2

Central Minnesota Christian will face top-seeded Minneota for the subsection championship on Thursday at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall after scraping out a win in five games against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.

Lexi Scott had 25 kills, 7 ace blocks and 14 digs for the Bluejays.

Erin Orred collected 21 kills and 5 ace blocks, and Kalley Schwitters had 5 serving aces and 12 digs.

RTR...............................18 27 15 25 13

CMCS (27-6).................25 25 25 21 15

(Key: good-attempts-aces)

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton

Statistics not available

Central Minnesota Christian

Serving: Christine Mikelson 17-19-2, Hannah Nelson 16-17-0, Kalley Schwitters 23-23-5, Lexi Scott 10-12-2, Mary Covert 23-24-3, Nicole Brouwer 10-13-3 … Set assists: Nicole Brouwer 54 … Hitting: Erin Orred 33-36-21, Scott 43-49-25, Lillie Hankel 15-16-7, Covert 19-21-4, Natalie Brouwer 10-12-3, Nicole Brouwer 9-9-3 … Blocking (aces): Orred 5, Scott 7, Covert 2, Natalie Brouwer 2 … Digs (5 or more): Mikelson 13, Nelson 10, Schwitters 12, Scott 14, Covert 17, Nicole Brouwer 9

Section 3AA

NEW LONDON - The New London-Spicer volleyball team moved a step closer to a shot at the Section 3AA championship with a four-game win over Redwood Valley in the North semifinals on Monday.

The top-seed Wildcats won 25-17, 25-19, 19-25 and 25-17.

NLS, now 19-12, plays Morris/Chokio-Alberta for the 3AA-North title at 7 p.m. Thursday in Benson.

Third-seed Morris/CA defeated No. 2-seed Litchfield in five games on Monday in Litchfield.

NLS’ Sydney Stone was once again a force at the net, with 22 kills and 1.5 blocks on Monday. She also led the Wildcats with 23 digs.

Megan Thorson had 11 kills. Setter Kelsie Rustad set up 39 winners, shared a block and had 11 digs.

New London-Spicer 3, Redwood Valley 1

Redwood Valley (14-14).....17 19 25 17

NLS (19-12).........................25 25 19 25

(Key: good-attempts-aces)

Redwood Valley

Statistics not available

New London-Spicer

Serving: Shelby Stehn 2 aces, Lindsay Vagle 1, Carley Cronen 2 … Set assists: Kelsie Rustad 39, Petra Lothert 5 … Hitting: Sydney Stone 22, Olivia Setterberg 2, Lothert 4, Stehn 1, Kabrie Weber 5, Megan Thorson 11, Vagle 4 … Blocking (total): Stone 1.5, Rustad 0.5, Lothert 1, Weber 1 … Digs (5 or more): Stone 23, Rustad 11, Bri Fredrick 6, Stehn 11, Vagle 19, Cronen 10

Morris/CA 3,

Litchfield 1

The Tigers limited Litchfield to 21 points in the final two games to move into the sub-section championship match with a five-game victory over Litchfield on the Dragons’ home court.

Morris/Chokio-Alberta won 19-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-13 and 15-8.

The No. 3-seed Tigers play for the Section 3AA-North title against top-seed New London-Spicer at 7 p.m. Thursday in Benson.

Litchfield held a 2-1 edge before the Tigers’ defense took command of the match.

Terianne Itzen had 18 kills and Sydney Engebretson had 12.

Lacee Maanum had 9 kills and Paige Schieler collected 8 kills and 3 steals.

Itzen led the Tigers with 36 digs, Beth Holland had 30 and Hunter Mundal had 29.

Morris/CA (17-5)............19 25 17 25 15

Litchfield (15-14)..........25 17 25 13   8

(Key: good-attempts-aces)

Morris/Chokio-Alberta

Serving: Hunter Mundal 17-17-1, Beth Holland 18-18-0, Haley Erdahl 21-22-1, Terianne Itzen 8-9-0, Sydney Engebretson 15-18-1, Chelsey Ehleringer 17-17-1 … Set assists: Erdahl 13, Ehleringer 22 … Hitting: Nicole Strobel 15-16-5, Paige Schieler 27-34-8, Lacee Maanum 31-33-9, Itzen 53-62-18 Engebretson 39-45-12, Kayla 13-14-3 … Blocking (aces): Schieler 3, Maanum 2, Itzen 1, Pring 2 … Digs (5 or more): Mundal 29, Holland 30, Erdahl 12, Schieler 9, Itzen 36, Engebretson 15, Ehleringer 10, Pring 5

Litchfield

Statistics not available.

Section 2A-North

BLHS 3, NU Cathedral 2

The top-seeded Mustangs (18-11) outlasted New Ulm Cathedral to advance to Thursday’s sub-section final at the Mankato West High School. BLHS will meet No. 2 BOLD (18-8) at 7:45 p.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday’s section final at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

The Mustangs beat BOLD in five games on Oct. 1 in Hector earlier in the season.

Three BLHS players reached double figures in kills Tuesday with Hannah VanderVoort leading the way with 19. Maddie Ludowese followed with 18 and Kiana Johnson 11. The Mustangs had 65 kills as Ashley Tintes (30) and Ashley Peterson (21) combined to collect 51 set assists.

Johnson also had 4 ace blocks and Ludowese 26 digs.

NU Cathedral (16-9-1)    25 23 25 19 13

BLHS (18-11)     23 25 16 25 15

(Key: good-attempts-aces)

New Ulm Cathedral

Statistics not available

Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart

Serving: Ashley Tintes 14-14-0, Hannah VanderVoort 22-23-2, Carley Klabunde 9-9-0, Maddie Ludowese 24-24-1, Alesha Paulson 5-7-1, Ashley Peterson 17-18-2, Kiana Johnson 8-9-0 … Set assists: Tintes 30, Jacey Nelson 6, Becca Ebbers 3, Peterson 21 … Hitting: Tintes 8-8-1, VanderVoort 61-66-19, Nelson 7-10-0, Klabunde 29-39-8, Ebbers 29-35-7, Mara Olinger 5-5-1, Ludowese 47-53-18, Kelsie Dascher 2-2-0, Peterson 6-6-0, Johnson 41-47-11 … Blocking (aces): Johnson 4 … Digs (5 or more): Tintes 17, VanderVoort 18, Olinger 19, Ludowese 26, Peterson 14, Johnson 5

BOLD 3,

Mankato Loyola 1

The No. 2-seeded Warriors will be playing for a sub-section title for the fourth straight year after bouncing back from a Game 1 setback. BOLD (18-8) will play top-seeded Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (18-11) in the North final Thursday at 7:45 p.m. at the Mankato West High School.

BLHS beat BOLD in five games earlier in the season.

Baylie Kubesh had 16 kills and Carly Sigurdson another 15 to pace the BOLD offense Tuesday. Kubesh, Mallarie Steffel and Allison Krause added 2 ace blocks each with Kubesh adding a team-high 4 blocks.

Steffel sparked the defense with 22 digs. Sigurdson added 19, Paige Larsen 17 and Kubesh 16.

Mankato Loyola (22-8)     25 19 16 17

BOLD (18-8)        22 25 25 25

(Key: good-attempts-aces)

Mankato Loyola

Statistics not available

BOLD

Serving: Baylie Kubesh 15-18-2, Paige Larsen 15-17-1, Carly Sigurdson 16-17-0, Mallarie Steffel 17-19-2, Andrea Maher 4-5-0, Bailey Elbert 5-5-0, Allison Krause 13-13-2 … Set assists: Kubesh 7, Larsen 5, Sigurdson 1, Steffel 1, Kiah Morse 1, Krause 16 … Hitting: Kubesh 47-51-16, Larsen 14-14-1, Sigurdson 29-36-15, Steffel 12-16-4, Maher 17-19-3, Elbert 2-2-0, Morse 6-7-1, Whitney Haney 4-8-1 … Blocks: Kubesh 4, Larsen 3, Steffel 2, Maher 1, Morse 1, Haney 2 … Digs (5 or more): Kubesh 16, Larsen 17, Sigurdson 19, Steffel 22, Maher 7, Elbert 7, Krause 7