Confidence carries Eagles to win

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- A little bit of confidence can go along way. Just ask the New Ulm volleyball team.

The Eagles dropped the first two games of their final regular season game, but somewhere in that second game, the Eagles realized that the match was still winnable.

Fairmont won the first two games 25-11, 25-20, but New Ulm wasn't about to let its seniors end the regular season on a losing note as the Eagles won the last three games 25-23, 25-21, 15-7.

"We stepped up and realized that we could play with this team," Tiffany Hoffmann said. She finished the game with 15 kills and 15 blocks, said. "We ended the match real well."

"All season long we've been notoriously slow starters," Eagles coach Rebekah Otte said. "The last time we played them, we lost in four, and in the three games that we lost, we gave them eight-point leads and lost by two."

Mary Otis led the Eagles attack with 16 kills and Ashley Hoffmann had 33 set assists and 26 digs.

Libero Amanda Waibel finished with 41 digs and Abby Bernard went 22-of-24 from the line with two ace serves.

"I think the seniors really stepped it up, especially Mary," Otte said. "I think that's her best game all year. Waibel also really stepped it up. I think they just wanted to get one last win going into the playoffs."

"Amanda Waibel, she did excellent," Krysta Wieland said. "We dug, we were reading their shoulders. We wanted this win so bad."

The Eagles came out flat the first game and hitting errors helped the Cardinals win 25-11.

"We gave them that game," Wieland said. "They had killer blocks. They had that 6-foot tall girl on the right, and we started just getting around her."

The Cardinals had an early lead in Game Two at 8-4, but the Eagles kept the match neck-and-neck. Fairmont eventually won 25-20.

Late in the third game, Otis unleashed a kill down the baseline that spotted the Eagles a 23-18 cushion. Fairmont battled back, but the Eagles held on for the 25-23 win.

The win in the third game gave the Eagles the shot in the arm they needed.

"I think the whole year, we've had the same thing," Wieland said. "We've had the same emotion, it just got to us after the second game."

Fairmont looked like it was going to win the fourth game and led 4-0 and 6-1 later, but the Eagles fought back and eventually tied the game at16 on Bernard's tip. Fairmont got the momentum in its favor, but the Eagles turned to their sophomore hitter Tiffany Hoffmann.

She was feeding off the passes from setter Ashley Hoffmann and fired hits at the Cardinals that couldn't be returned as the Eagles won 25-21.

"It's just a matter of working with that quick offense we've been talking about," Otte said. "She's really comfortable with it now and she and Ashley are really connecting. You can see that they're having fun out there."

"After we stepped it up in the third game, we just finally realized we could pull this one off," Tiffany Hoffmann said.

In the decisive game, the Eagles again turned to their two ace hitters as Otis and Tiffany Hoffmann kept the ball on their side of the net with their attacks.

"I got more kills [later in the match] and she just kept setting me," Tiffany Hoffmann said.

The Eagles went up 8-5, forcing a timeout, and following the timeout, Bernard delivered an ace serve.

New Ulm won 15-7 to complete the come-from-behind win.

"We always seem like, when we're down, we push it, and we kill 'em when they're not ready for it," Wieland said.

New Ulm (7-11) waits to see who its first-round opponent will be in the Section 2AAA playoffs. A bracket of the Section 2AAA was not available until a later date.

Both the New Ulm B- and C-squads beat Fairmont.

Jeremy Behnke can be reached at jbehnke@nujournal.com