Chargers outbattle

stubborn Cathedral

BY BENJAMIN TOMCZAK

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- "I thought our kids played with a lot of heart tonight, a lot of emotion, a lot of intensity. They really stood their ground."

These words from New Ulm Cathedral coach Karan Whitmyer could easily have been uttered by Minnesota Valley Lutheran coach Ron Ohm Thursday as MVL gutted out a 15-11, 15-11, 16-14 Tomahawk Conference win over the Greyhounds.

New Ulm Cathedral (2-5, 0-2) set out to end the Charger winning streak at six matches and looked at times like they might do it, getting out to identical 3-0 leads in both games one and two before the Chargers (7-1, 3-0) managed to score.

In game one it was Danielle Kramer notching two of her 10 kills. In game two it was Emily Buck and Leah Morgan coming up with kills to grab the momentum.

The Hounds even took an 8-5 lead in the opening game, before Charger sophomore Kelsey Black put them on their heels with a monstrous kill for a side out. MVL then rattled off eight straight points to take a 12-8 lead.

Cathedral battled back to 12-11, but was overpowered by a Morgan ace and two soft kills by junior Jessica Merseth.

Ohm was impressed with Morgan.

"She stepped up with some nice spikes," he said.

Morgan, a senior, pounded the ball mercilessly at the Hounds, totaling five kills, five blocks, three ace serves and eight digs.

Morgan wasn't the only Charger putting some hurt on the ball. Juniors Kramer and Buck, along with sophomore Black smoked the ball into the Greyhounds court. But the Hounds answered with some great defense, responding to the Chargers' hitting with digs and blocks.

Kristin Beranek had 10 digs and Jessica Lewis totaled eight. Prairie Hady had four ace blocks along the net.

"That's the best net game we've played in terms of blocking," Whitmyer said. "MVL comes with some pretty big hitters and it's consistent, you don't get a break against them."

Ohm was also impressed by the Hounds' hustle, commenting, "When you're used to hitting the ball and it not coming back and it does come back, you begin to think, 'What do I need to do differently?'"

Games two and three saw the same type of see-saw action. The Hounds came out strong, then MVL rebounded, ripping off consecutive points and putting together rallies.

In game two, after falling behind 3-0, MVL took a 12-5 lead behind the accurate and powerful serving, and setting and killing of Morgan, Kramer, Buck (20 set assists on the night) and Merseth. Cathedral took advantage of some Charger errors to bring it to 13-10 before falling 15-11.

Game three was more of the same. MVL fell behind 9-7, but then Morgan stepped up again with some strong serving, taking MVL to a 14-9 lead.

After MVL gave up a side out, Beranek took the ball and using some MVL errors, a Mary Hazuka kill and an ace tied the game at 14.

The teams traded serves before Kramer finally broke the Greyhound defense with her only serve of the night to win the game 16-14 and end the match.

MVL will host Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Tuesday. New Ulm Cathedral will also be home Tuesday to take on Cedar Mountain.

MVL's junior varsity improved to 4-1 with a 15-10, 15-12 win over the Greyhounds.