St. Mary's picks up sweep over Sleepy Eye

SLEEPY EYE -- The Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Knights got their serving and defense together while the Sleepy Eye Indians are still looking for momentum and consistency.

That was the message sent Monday night as the Knights swept the Indians 25-20, 25-13, 25-23 to move their record to 10-6 overall.

"One of our goals was to get our serving percentage over 90 percent," Knights coach Stef Whittet said of her squad's improved performance. "Our back row played great. They're starting to watch hitters move and recognize angles and know where they need to be."

For Indians coach Kris Bloedel, it was a night where the offense struggled.

"We just couldn't get any momentum tonight. Our passing wasn't very good. If we're not passing, our offense is going to struggle. We're just trying to be competitive instead of mean. We just didn't do it tonight."

Game One was nip-and-tuck early as the two teams felt each other out and no real movement happening until it was 9-9. At that point, Sleepy Eye's Charlotte McMullen had a kill and tip kill and the Knights had a ball hit out of bounds to give the Indians a temporary lead at 12-9.

But a kill by Stephanie Krzmarzick plus three bad hits in a row by the Indians gave St. Mary's a lead they would keep the rest of the game.

The Indians did get within one, 19-18, after a Knights net serve, but Molly Mathiowetz had a kill and an ace while teammate Krista Armbruster had two big kills to give the Knights their final two points in the 25-20 win.

It could be argued that game two was decided by the margin of unforced errors between the two teams, with Sleepy Eye guilty of eleven versus just three by the Knights. It was close early, but after a 5-5 tie, St. Mary's started to roll, going on a 12-5 run.

In that run, the Knights got defense and offense from Armbruster, who had two kill blocks and three kills, while Jamie Lilleodden had an ace and Laura Huiras had two kills, including the game winner.

It looked like the Indians might recover in game three as they took an early 8-3 lead, mainly because of two tip kills and two aces by Jessie Zuhlsdorf and a kill by Allie Renberg. But the Knights rallied, going on a 7-0 run that included two aces by Huiras and a kill and kill block by Mathiowetz.

There were two more comebacks by Sleepy Eye with ties at 12-12 and 13-13, but it wasn't until the Knights had a 22-17 margin that the Indians staged their last run for a win. Renberg had a kill and an ace while the Knights had two straight unforced errors and suddenly the Indians were within one, 22-21.

At that point, the teams traded kills, setting up what might have been the play of the night. Mathiowetz was in the back row and dove for the ball, which made it over the net and fell between three Indians for the 24th point. Armbruster than sent everyone home with a kill for the Knights sweep.

Armbruster led the Knights with 11 kills, while Krzmarzick and Mathiowetz each had five. Lilleodden had 13 set assists and 20 service points, while Krzmarzick had 15 digs. Armbruster also had four ace blocks and six blocks while Mathiowetz had three ace blocks and seven blocks.

For the Indians, Zuhlsdorf had eight kills, 10 service points, two ace blocks and eight digs. Renberg had six kills, 10 service points, four ace serves, two ace blocks and ten digs, while McMullen six kills, two ace blocks and eight digs. Kelly Gieger had 13 service points and Courtney Hammerschmidt had 14 set assists and ten digs.

In B-squad action, the Lady Knights won 25-20, 25-21, while the Indians took the C-squad 15-21, 25-20, 15-13.

The Knights travel to play Buffalo Lake-Hector tonight, while the Indians play Springfield tonight.