Close play defines Sleepy Eye victory

By DAVE CLARK

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- The bottom lines after Thursday night's volleyball match between the Sleepy Eye Indians and the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds is that the Indians are 3-0 and the Greyhounds are 0-3.

Read between the lines, however, and there were only 12 points separating the winners from the losers in the Indians four game victory, 25-18, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22.

It was a chance for Sleepy Eye coach Kris Bloedel to try some new things and the Greyhounds to redeem themselves from being swept by Sleepy Eye St. Mary's on Tuesday night in what was an uneven effort.

"It's early in the season so we're trying some different things," said Bloedel. "We have to stay aggressive, though. When we don't, we get in trouble."

NUC's effort was a welcome sight to coach Karan Whitmyer. "We were competitive," said Whitmyer. "We're coming around. Overall, we'll take this. This is a step up."

The beginning of game one was certainly a step up as they ran off to a 5-0 lead behind two aces by Nikki Fischer and three fast Indians miscues. But after Bloedel called a timeout, it was all Sleepy Eye as they outscored the Greyhounds 9-1, helped by four kills from Jessie Zuhlsdorf.

Sharon Wurtzberger rallied the Greyhounds with two straight kills, but the first of three out of bounds serves in the first game by NUC tied the score at 9-9. It went back and forth until the score reached 13-13. Then the Indians steadily increased their lead.

Another Zuhlsdorf kill make it 21-17, with three of the final four Sleepy Eye points coming from Greyhounds errors.

Game two looked like it was going to be a runaway for the Indians as they ran off to a 11-3 early lead. But a Greyhound run that included consecutive aces by Angela Long and Kristen Dietz cut the Sleepy Eye lead to 12-11.

The key play of the game may have been a kill by Zuhlsdorf after a long volley that featured great defense on both sides but made it 20-16 Indians. But the game ended with four of the last five points scored on kills by the Indians instead of NUC unforced errors.

On Tuesday, the Greyhounds weren't able to rally from a two-game deficit. Last night, they led for all but four of the 25 points. They had two aces from Melissa Kraus and one each from Chelsey Hillesheim and Toni Hall. The Greyhounds had the Indians on the defensive most of the game, the result being ten unforced errors by the Indians.

Game four looked good for the Greyhounds in the early going as the Indians didn't look like they were in sync, and NUC kept up the offensive pressure. Knotted at 12-12, the Indians hit three balls into the net and out of bounds and the Greyhounds had kills by Dietz and Katie Beranek.

But the Indians were then helped by four errors by the Greyhounds and suddenly it was tied again, this time at 18-18. The Indians held a narrow 23-22 lead when Sleepy Eye's Kristi Schieffert nailed a kill that was just on the line and the Greyhounds hit the ball into the net, giving the Indians the narrow victory.

The Indians were led offensively by Zuhlsdorf, who had 21 kills and ten service points. Allie Deibele contributed nine kills, Schieffert had eight and Trista Belseth and Charlotte McCullen each had seven. Schieffert also had 37 set assists and 24 digs. Ashley Roiger had 15 service points.

For NUC, Fischer had 24 set assists and Beranek had eight, while Long and Kraus each had six ace hits. Hall had three ace tips and three ace blocks, while Hillesheim was 8-for-8 from the service line with six service points and Dietz was 12-for-13 with seven service points and five aces.

The Indians will host a tournament Saturday, while the Greyhounds will play in the Mankato Loyola tournament, also on Saturday.

In "B" squad action, Cathedral won 25-17 and 25-13, and in "C" squad action, Sleepy Eye won 25-21, and Cathedral took the second game 25-23.