Sibley East zaps Chargers

BY BENJAMIN TOMCZAK

Journal Sports Writer

New Ulm -- All the grit and courage in the world won't save you when you keep on making mistakes.

Minnesota Valley Lutheran gutted out four tough games against Sibley East but was unable to overcome its own mistakes on the way to a 15-9, 14-16, 15-8, 15-2 nonconference loss.

The Chargers were hit hardest in their season debut in three critical areas: scoring, serving and net play. In each of the four games, MVL dug itself a hole. It was 9-3 in the first game, 10-4 in the second, 9-3 in the third and 5-1 and 13-2 in the fourth.

The service game was also a bust. MVL coach Ron Ohm had as a team goal 90-percent accuracy, but early on it was evident that MVL would not match this goal as it continually hit serves into the net and long.

The final struggle that doomed the Chargers was their net play. Three times in the first game and twice in the second the Chargers were penalized for running into the net. According to Ohm, "Our setters were tight and were setting our hitters tight. We never really got into a hitting game."

Despite the negative outcome of the match as a whole, there were some Charger bright spots. One was the grit showed when faced with deficits. In game one, down 9-3, MVL managed to score five late points. Down 10-4 in game two, the Chargers really came together and played their best offense of the night, in addition to capitalizing on numerous Wolverine unforced errors to take a 14-12 lead and eventually win. Game three was highlighted by Karina Harstad's three service aces and solid serving by Leah Morgan and Katie Hermanson.

Prior to the game, Ohm identified those two seniors as key leaders who needed to step up to help fill the hole former Charger star Sarah Gronholz filled .

Both did step up, Morgan had five ace kills and was key in MVL's comeback in game two, serving four points and one ace. Hermanson had 12 set assists in the game and also had two service points in the second game.

Junior Emily Buck also made her presence felt and tried to fill some holes by leading the team in both set assists (14) and kills (7).

An underclassman also looks to have a bright future at MVL. Sophomore Kelsey Black is expected to see a lot of playing time and earned it Thursday with aggressive net play, resulting in five ace kills.

For the Wolverines (1-1) it was the first win of the year, after dropping a match to LeSeuer-Henderson Tuesday in four games. Wolverine coach Bryan Fideldy was satisfied with his team's play, though they did blow leads in the second and third games. "I was pleased with our back row play and our hitting up front. It's important to keep that momentum."

Part of that momentum building came from the play of some key players. One of the most important was the Wolverines lone senior Katie Anderson. Anderson closed out the crucial third game, scoring six straight service points after MVL had tied the game 9-9, including three ace serves.

Trica Uecker, one of ten juniors the Wolverine squad boasts, was also key, serving a perfect 19-for-19 with three aces, 13 service points and 21 set assists.

Up front, powering the attack were two big hitters, Astyn Bjorklund and Ebony Grochow. Bjorklund had 11 kills on the night, including three big smacks in the final two games. Grochow also had 11, though she did not hit as consistently as Bjorklund. When Grochow got her hand on the ball solidly however, she laid the smack down on MVL. Four of her kills came at crucial moments, two in the first game that silenced MVL surges, and two in game three that helped seal the deal.

MVL (0-1) will be in action again Tuesday when they travel to Nicollet. Sibley East will host Norwood-Young America Thursday.

Sibley East won the junior varsity match 2-1.