BLH holds off Underwood

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

ST. PAUL -- Buffalo Lake-Hector regained its composure to grab third place from Underwood 25-27, 25-18, 25-21 and 25-13 in the State Class A volleyball tournament at the Xcel Energy Center.

To begin the day, it looked as if BLH was going to continue its woes as it had troubles with passing and errors. Four of Underwood's first five points came on BLH mistakes.

Underwood (28-4-1) went up 15-11 after Ashley Samuelson and Liz Glesne made kills for the Rockets. Samuelson had 13 kills and five blocked shots, and Glesne had 15 kills and three blocks.

The Mustangs tied it up at 24 with a hard-hit Burgstahler kill.

"We shouldn't have let up," Kayla Ilgen said. "We beat ourselves with errors."

"We started playing today, but we still didn't play like we can," she said. "We got flustered. We are not used to playing in close matches."

Two BLH mistakes and a Glesne kill gave the Rockets the 27-25 win.

"I don't really know what was going on there," Burgstahler said. "I think we were still nervous from yesterday."

In Game 2, the Mustangs worked from behind to take the lead when Leah Ashburn pounded quick back-to-back kills at Underwood. The Mustangs took off, winning 25-18.

"I think we played a lot better today; yesterday we played a good passing team," Leah Ashburn said. She led the team with 29 kills. "It was easier to find the holes today; we played a lot better passing."

To start the third game, errors threatened the Mustangs, but with three Underwood errors and kills by Leah Ashburn and Ilgen, BLH went up 8-5. The Rockets tied it at 19 and 21 before the Mustangs pulled away for the 25-21 win.

"We started out with bad passing," Burgstahler said. "But at the end [of the match], we were digging up everything; our defense really clicked."

It wasn't until the fourth game that the Mustangs looked comfortable, consistently passing and cut down on unforced errors.

"We finally came out and relaxed and played our game," Burgstahler said. Burgstahler ended up with 14 kills, three blocks and 14 digs. "We knew we had to come out and win. We had to come out with confidence and play harder."

Both teams came out in Game 4 digging up a storm, but then BLH's determination kicked in, and Monica Ashburn tipped it over to tie the game, and Kristen Raitz made two straight kills.

Raitz finished with seven kills and 14 digs, and Monica Ashburn had 49 set assists and 11 digs.

The Rockets tied the score again, but Burgstahler connected with a low set on the far left and pounded it down with her left hand to take a 10-8 lead.

"[I don't hit with my left hand] very often, but I worked on it this year, so it was a lot of fun to do it," Burgstahler said.

Again, the Rockets tied it at 11-11, but Leah Ashburn made seven kills in the last half with the Mustang offense finally clicking.

"We weren't talking today still," Kayla Ilgen said. "But some people started; it's contagious and it comes around."

The Mustangs ended their season 32-2 with the win.

"It would have been nice to be in the one-two match," Leah Ashburn said. "But a lot of teams are just happy to be here, so we can't be disappointed."