Cardinal serving stops struggling Eagles

Redwood Valley serving lends strength to team; New Ulm lags

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- For Redwood Valley, the volleyball match Tuesday ended on a positive note; for New Ulm, it did not.

The Eagles were able to take the first nonconference game 25-23, but the Cardinals took over in game two and just gained steam until the end, winning the last three 25-16, 25-11 and 25-9.

And Cardinal coach Lael Dornseif was pleased with the effort, giving credit to the team's serving and serve receive.

"Our serve receive definitely improved, and we are being more aggressive," Dornseif said. "And serving is definitely one of our assets. The only thing we need to work on is being aggressive in the front row, who will stand out as an aggressive hitter."

In the first game, the Cardinals pulled ahead 8-4 with an ace block by Tara Christensen and a Brianna Spielmann ace serve before New Ulm battled back. Eagle Mary Otis had a big ace hit to tie the game 9-9, and although the score was close after that, New Ulm controlled the game, winning 25-23.

"I think we were ahead, but they got back at us, and we got down a little, got frustrated," Redwood Valley's Tiana Panitzke said. "Our passing wasn't there."

"They came out a little slow, but worked through it," Eagle coach Becky Otte said. "I saw some good things; they had good communication, and it was the best they passed all year. The serve receive was finally there."

But after the first game, the Eagles seemed to lose something. They began the second game trailing Redwood Valley by a couple of points. Coresa Leighty's two ace serves, along with two blocks by Mary Otis, gave the Eagles a short lead before the Cardinals took it back. After the Eagles let the Cardinals tie the game at 14, the Cardinals gained momentum, making 11 of the last 13 points.

"They got overconfident after winning the first game," Otte said. "And once they got rattled they just didn't recover."

The Cardinals dominated the third and fourth games, jumping ahead early in both and allowing the Eagles 20 points between the two games. In game three, Sarah Winkleman started it out right for the Cardinals with two straight ace serves; on the night, Winkleman went 14-of-16 serving with five ace serves. Brianna Spielmann was 19-of-20 with four aces.

"We had some strong serving," Dornseif said. "We had 16 ace serves; throughout the match, the gaining momentum was the ace serve."

The Cardinals ended the game with solid serving by April Myers, including one ace. They got the last three of the last four points on Eagle mistakes. And while the communication and play continued to elevate for the Cardinals, the mistakes endured for the Eagles.

"We definitely got better [from our last game]," said Panitzke, who had 25 ace assists. "Our passing was up, and we were ready to kill the ball.

"We were ready for everything that came back at us -- we had sloppy plays, but we were ready," she said.

The Cardinals' Kristi Curry led the team in digs with 13, and Panitzke and Dani Omtvedt each had nine. Melissa Karsky had 11 kills, Curry had eight, and Omtvedt had seven.

For the Eagles, Ashley Hoffmann had 13 set assists, and Mandy Blank had 10.

Otte said that the team's biggest worry is their consistency looking toward their next game.

"Even when we played terribly, individual people made good plays, but we couldn't get together as a team," Otte said. "Our serve receive pass was positive -- we can build on that from here."

The Cardinals (2-1) play at the Mankato West tournament at 9 a.m. Saturday. The Eagles (0-3) play their first conference game at St. James Thursday.