Hounds sweep Cleveland

By PAUL DUNLAP

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- It wasn't pretty, but a win entering sub-section play is always a positive step.

The New Ulm Cathedral volleyball team did what it needed to do Monday night, holding off Cleveland for a 15-13, 15-8, 15-6 nonconference win at CHS gym.

"We were ragged in spots -- playing not to lose instead of playing to win," Greyhound coach Karan Whitmyer said. "There are some things we still need to work out."

One is getting that killer instinct to put away teams that are down. Liesl Genelin served Cathedral to a 7-1 lead, and Deanna Wilfahrt's two ace serves increased that edge, but the Clippers were able to battle back by taking 10 of the next 15 points before a Prairie Hady kill ended game one with the Hounds hanging on.

"You could see points where we just stopped," Whitmyer said. "That first game, it was 11 points and we just stopped playing and allowed (Cleveland) back in the game. We had a lot of missed opportunities, they had a lot of missed serves ... we just couldn't put it down."

The second-game win can be attributed to the serving of Kristin Beranek, who had four ace serves in a six-point run that turned a 4-4 tie into a 10-4 Cathedral lead. Tessa Hodapp helped with four more consecutive points, and after four straight Clipper points a net call gave the Hounds a commanding 2-0 game edge.

"In the second game Kristin Beranek really gave us a lift with her serving," Whitmyer commented. "She really had (Cleveland) baffled, and that really gave us a boost. It was a nice momentum-builder for us."

Game three would begin slow on both sides, but a Hodapp ace spurred a 5-0 run that put Cathedral in charge at 9-4. A pair of Jill Struck aces stemmed the tide, but a Hodapp ace tip and kill got the offense going. The match would end on three straight kills from Chandra Petersen, Mary Sue Miheve, and Jessica Lewis.

"Neither team did much to start with," Whitmyer said of game three. "But we got a couple of tips here and there, and then we started hitting the ball a little better toward the end."

Beranek ended the match with 15 service points, five ace serves, and 15 set assists while Hodapp finished with 11 points, two aces, six kills, five ace tips, and two ace blocks. Wilfahrt had seven points and three ace serves, Genelin ended with eight set assists, and Hady contributed four kills.

The fifth-seeded Greyhounds (8-13, 3-5 Tomahawk) will begin sub-section play Thursday, traveling to Brownton to face fourth-seed McLeod West.

"We played well enough to win, but we're still not up to where we should be," Whitmyer said. "We have a couple of days to straighten some things out before sub-sections."

The Cathedral B- and C-squads also won, with the B-squad taking a 15-4, 15-12 decision and the C-squad winning 11-2, 11-8, 11-3.