BENSON - The Morris/Chokio-Alberta volleyball started strong and the Tigers’ pace never relented in a dominant performance in the Section 3AA-North championship match on Thursday.
The Tigers eliminated top-seed New London-Spicer 25-19, 25-17, 25-16 at Benson High School.
“That was one of our best matches of the year,” said Tigers head coach Kristi Fehr. “Being able to find holes and just the confidence they had. They went into the match never thinking they were going to lose.”
The Tigers made just two service errors and everyone at the net contributed.
Sydney Engebretson finished with a team-high 12 kills and she also had two of the Tigers’ 10 ace blocks.
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Terianne Itzen had 9 kills, a block and 25 digs, Paige Schieler had 6 kills, 2 blocks and 9 digs, and Nicole Strobel, Kayla Pring and Lacee Maanum combined for 11 kills, 5 blocks.
Haley Erdahl and Chelsey Ehleringer combined for 25 set assists.
NLS’ Sydney Stone finished with 11 kills, 1.5 total blocks and 11 digs and Kelsie Rustad had 23 set assists and led the Wildcats with 16 digs.
Morris/CA coaches and players understand that, as well as the team played Thursday, the Tigers will need to up their game to an even higher level in Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. section title match at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall.
Marshall won Section 3AA-South in four games over Jackson County Central on Thursday.
Marshall (28-3) is the two-time defending Class AA state champion, and the Tigers will be playing for a 13th straight state tournament berth.
They’ve won five state championships - three since 2007 - and they’ve been runners-up five other years.
The Tigers enter the section final on a 15-match winning streak, and in their 28 victories they have allowed opponents to win just three games.
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“We’ll have to go in believing we have a chance and play our game,” Fehr said. “It’s the playoffs so anything can happen. Hopefully we can get some momentum going and go from there.”
Morris/CA 3, NL-Spicer 0
Morris/CA (19-5) 25 25 25
NL-Spicer (18-12) 19 17 16
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Morris/Chokio-Alberta
Serving: Hunter Mundal 11-11-0, Beth Holland 18-18-1, Haley Erdahl 11-12-1, Terianne Itzen 15-15-0, Sydney Engebretson 17-17-1, Chelsey Ehleringer 6-7-0 … Setting: Erdahl 13, Ehleringer 12 … Hitting: Nicole Strobel 6-7-3, Paige Schieler 27-30-6, Lacee Maanum 13-14-5, Itzen 27-29-9, Engebretson 26-29-12, Kayla Pring 10-11-3 … Blocking (aces): Strobel 2, Schieler 2, Maanum 1, Itzen 1, Engebretson 2, Pring 2 … Digs: Mundal 6, Holland 16, Erdahl 8, Schieler 9, Itzen 25, Engebretson 5, Ehleringer 9
New London-Spicer
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Serving: Olivia Setterberg 1 ace … Setting: Kelsie Rustad 23 … Hitting: Sydney Stone 11 kills, Rustad 1, Setterberg 7, Petra Lothert 4, Kabrie Weber 1, Megan Thorson 5, Linday Vagle 1 … Blocking (total): Stone 1.5, Thorson 2.5 … Digs: Stone 11, Rustad 16, Lothert 5, Bri Fredrick 15, Shelby Stehn 12, Vagle 9
