St. Mary's sweeps Wabasso

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Usually, seeing Wabasso on the schedule is intimidating enough to make some opponents' stomachs churn, but not Sleepy Eye St. Mary's.

St. Mary's may have gotten the shot in the arm that it needed to rebound from an up-and-down first half and defeated the Rabbits 25-19, 25-6, 25-20 Tuesday in Tomahawk Conference volleyball action.

The win also included a dominating performance by the Knights in Game 2 in which Molly Mathiowetz picked apart the Wabasso defense for 14 straight service points and Laura Huiras set the ball up to Krista Armbruster, who delivered kill after kill to keep the ball on St. Mary's' side of the court.

"I was just feeling it and they couldn't get the short serve, and then they started subbing and they couldn't get my serve, and we just did good in the front row," Mathiowetz said.

Huiras, who finished with 17 set assists, six digs, and four service aces of her own, said that Mathiowetz's serving got the Knights fired up.

"It was huge," Huiras said. "We needed an inspiration, and we definitely got it."

The Knights improved their record to 6-5 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

"This was a huge confidence boost for us," St. Mary's coach Stef Whittet said. "They're No. 2 in our conference, and they have all-around players. We came out pumped and we played the level we know we can."

Mathiowetz finished with 12 kills, four ace serves, seven digs, two tips, and two blocks.

"She's a sophomore and plays like a senior," Whittet said. "She's a very confident player in the back row serving, and she came out and played well."

Armbruster also had a good game up front for the Knights, finishing with 10 kills, five ace blocks, three blocks, and six digs.

"My hitters hit their spots every time," Huiras said. "I set them the ball, and they know where to go with it."

In Game 1, the Knights trailed 14-11, but Armbruster's service ace tied the game at 14 and the Knights went up 18-14 before a Wabasso timeout.

Huiras' service ace ended the game at 25-19.

In Game 2, the Knights led 10-6 before they got the ball back and into the hands of Mathiowetz. Mathiowetz proceeded to pick on the Wabasso defense, picking up three service aces en route to the 14-point explosion for the Knights.

After the second game win, the Knights decided that they wanted to play only one more game and get it over as soon as possible.

"We wanted to get this in three, definitely," Huiras said. "We were pumped."

It looked like that wish wouldn't be granted when Schumacher's kill gave the Rabbits an 8-3 lead.

St. Mary's responded with a four-point rally, and the game was neck and neck until Armbruster's tip gave the Knights a little bit of a cushion at 15-12.

Whitney Haala's service ace ended the match 25-20 for the sweep.

Afterward, Huiras was thrilled to be on the winning side.

"This was absolutely, tremendously exciting," Huiras said. "We are so happy We couldn't have asked for anything better. We've come over a lot of things, and I think this win is really big."

Jaime Lilleoden had eight set assists and two digs for the Knights and Stephanie Krzmarzick had seven digs, two kills, and one block.

"Our setters did an excellent job of spreading the ball around," Whittet said. "We used all three of our hitters effectively. If you can use all three of your hitters effectively, you're really going to make the defense on the other side scramble."

For the Rabbits (12-6, 4-2) Jessica Dallman had 15 set assists and went 10-for-10 with one ace. Emily Vogel had seven digs and Andrea Fennern had six digs. Schumacher went 10-for-11 and one ace. She had seven kills and one block. Jamie Guetter went 7-for-8 with three aces and four kills.

The Knights B-squad won 21-25, 25-6, 15-13.

Wabasso hosts McLeod West Thursday and St. Mary's is at MVL.

Jeremy Behnke can be reached at jbehnke@nujournal.com.