Chargers falter against Jaguars; RCW drives past MVL for second year

By DAVE CLARK

Journal Sports Writer

REDWOOD FALLS -- There's no way to sugarcoat some losses.

That was the case Tuesday night as the second-seeded Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers were swept in three games by the Renville County West Jaguars 25-16, 25-20, 25-20 in the Section 3AA volleyball tournament.

It was little consolation to the Chargers that the Jaguars were the defending AA champions or that RCW was ranked sixth in the state. Quite simply, the Chargers did not bring their best game to the gym.

"We did not play anywhere near what we were capable of playing," Chargers coach Julie Detjen said. "We did not give our setters much to work with at all. We put the ball into the net too many times. Our blocking wasn't effective. We just didn't get it done. We're kicking our selves a little."

The Chargers showed some early fight as they fell behind 12-7 early in the first game, but came back to tie it at 13-13 behind two kills by Jessica Beckendorf, kills by Holly Enter and Kelsey Black, plus a kill and an ace by Nicki Flygare.

But the Jaguars then flexed their muscle and outhit the MVL defense, outscoring the Chargers 12-3, with eleven of the points coming from kills. MVL held the lead through most of game two, at one point holding a 16-13 lead after a 13-13 tie by taking advantage of two miscues by the Jaguars and a kill by Eva Voss.

Once again the Chargers couldn't hold the lead. RCW took a timeout and MVL proceeded to hit the ball in the net twice in a row then get called for a lift. After a kill by the Jaguars' Kayla Maurice, the Chargers committed four more unforced net errors and were hit with an ace by Joellen Johnson. Suddenly, MVL found themselves down 22-16 as RCW scored nine unanswered points.

An ace by Black plus kills by Flygare and Voss and two errors by the Jaguars brought the Chargers to within three at 23-20, but the Chargers hit the ball into the net twice more to wrap up game two for RCW.

MVL started strong in game three and took advantage of four bad Jaguars serves to hold a 13-10 lead. RCW got their serves in order and scored on a tip kill by Johnson and a block kill by Katie Loe plus another net ball by MVL. But after a 14-14 tie, it seemed as if the Jaguars smelled blood and the Chargers just bled.

MVL fell behind 21-15 with the last two Jaguars points coming from the Chargers nemesis all night, a ball out of bounds and a ball in the net.

"We were going for balls we shouldn't have," Detjen said. "It's hard to take that we didn't make more of a fight. We didn't play with intensity."

The Chargers finish their season with a 19-2-1 record. They were led by Enter, who had 11 set assists and Black's nine kills. Beckendorf had five kills, while Voss added four. Black also had 12 digs, while Flygare added six digs and two blocks.

RCW plays Tracy Area Thursday for the subsection championship.