PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Worthington wins conference match

PIPESTONE — Mandi Vote and Anna Koepsell combined for a perfect 47-of-47 serving performance Thursday evening, helping the Worthington Trojans open their Southwest Conference high school volleyball season with a closely-contested 3-1 match victory over the hosting Pipestone Area Arrows.

Game scores were 25-22, 25-23, 24-26 and 25-20.

Vote was 25-of-25 from the serving line with two aces and also had six digs for the Trojans (2-2, 1-0), while Koepsell never missed a serve in 22 attempts and recorded a pair of aces.

“The serving was good,” WHS head coach Melissa Schutz said. “They were concentrating when they’d go back there and were serving clean. As a team we got 11 service aces.”

Taylor Heidebrink distributed 25 set assists for Worthington, feeding Kristen Andersen (six digs) for 15 kills, while Angela Robinson also played well at the net, contributing six kills. Heidebrink also recorded six kills and Morgan Johnson contributed five of her own.

“We started off without hitting again and game after game we started to hit the ball more, so that helps get the kill and terminate the play,” Schutz said.

Johnson (three) and Tara Svalland (two) combined for five blocks for the Trojans, who play in the Mankato West Invitational on Saturday.

WHS will play Windom, Austin and Sibley East in the tournament’s pool play.

“This win gives us a little confidence going into (the tournament),” Schutz said. “There will be lots of teams that we don’t normally see, so it will be fun just to play different teams.”

Maggie Perkins put up 20 set assists for the Arrows (1-4, 0-1), while Amanda Haupert came up with a match-high 20 digs and also served a pair of aces.

Taylor Kruisselbrink and Megan Remund drilled nine and seven kills, respectively, for PA, while Mikayla Enger was charted with nine digs.

The Arrows will compete in the Luverne Tournament Saturday.

RRC 3, Edgerton 0

JEFFERS — Getting key contributions from several players, Red Rock Central won its Red Rock Conference opener, sweeping Edgerton at home.

Game scores were 25-15, 25-10 and 25-13.

Chloe Arfsten had nine digs, six kills and was a perfect 14-of-14 serving for the Falcons (3-1, 1-0), while Brooke Rasmussen (seven digs, 14-of-16 serving) and Tegan Derickson (10-of-10 serving) each delivered a pair of ace serves.

Alison Kircher had a match-high 28 sets for RRC, while Klarissa Larsen contributed 12 kills, six digs and two blocks.

Edgerton (1-1, 0-1) was led at the net by five kills each from Jessica Menning and Lindsey Drooger, along with five blocks by Sarah Post.

Tara DeKam had a trio of blocks and Post came up with four digs for the Flying Dutchmen, who play in the Luverne Tournament Saturday.

RRC travels to Worthington for its next match on Tuesday night.

SSC 3, ML/B-O 0

OKABENA — Jennifer Schmidt tagged 11 kills and recorded six blocks to help Southwest Star Concept sweep Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin in the Red Rock Conference opener for both squads.

Game scores were 25-11, 25-17 and 25-20.

Courtney Place was a perfect 16-of-16 at the serving line with 10 points, including three aces, for the Quasars (2-1, 1-0), who also received solid serving performances from both Jordin Elness (13-of-14, eight points, three aces) and Schmidt (10-of-13, eight points, two aces).

Mandy Henkels and Elness had 11 and seven set assists, respectively, for SSC, while Maddie Rasche contributed with nine digs.

Place (seven kills, three blocks), Autumn Hinkeldey (four kills) and Alyssa Hendrickson (three blocks) gave the Quasars a well-balanced attack at the net.

Janessa Peters (six kills), McKenzie Hopwood (three blocks, including one solo) and Briana Wolff served for 10, nine and eight points, respectively, to lead the Wolverines (2-2, 0-1).

Rachel Dukes (11 set assists), Laura Romsdahl (five kills) and Lounee Soutthivong (three digs) were also among the statistical leaders for ML/B-O, which plays in the Sleepy Eye Tournament Saturday.

The Quasars play tonight in the Marshall Tournament, tangling with Wayzata (a AAA school) in their opener at 6 p.m.

SWC 3, Adrian 0

EDGERTON — Southwest Christian remained undefeated on the young season by sweeping Adrian in Red Rock Conference action, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-13.

The Eagles (3-0, 1-0) were led by Megan De Ruyter (seven kills, nine digs), Hanna Bosma (six kills, three blocks), Emaleigh Vreeman (nine set assists) and Michaela Zeinstra (eight set assists and 14 good serves, including an ace).

Leading Adrian (2-1, 0-1) was Sydne Springman (eight kills, eight-of-eight serving, three aces), Nichole Loosbrock (10 set assists) and Corie Reckamp (eight digs).

Adrian plays in the Westbrook-Walnut Grove Tournament Saturday, while Southwest Christian plays in the Luverne Tournament.

Windom 3, RV 2

REDWOOD FALLS — Windom was very nearly untouchable in three of the five sets in its match against Redwood Valley, but the Cardinals forced the Eagles to fight to the end in a five-set victory.

The game scores were 21-25, 25-9, 25-10, 20-25 and 15-6.

Hali Tasler and Abby Hayenga led Windom by each excelling in a pair of categories. Tasler was 19-for-21 at the service line with three service aces and also co-led the team with 15 kills, while Hayenga registered team highs in set assists with 20 and digs with 13.

Amber Eigenberg was 20-for-22 at the service line for the Eagles with four aces, Holly Larson had three solo blocks and three block assists, Kelsey Hanefeld had 15 kills and Jasmine Carlson contributed 11 digs.

Windom (2-0, 1-0) will play in the Mankato West Invitational on Saturday.

W-WG 3, Fulda 1

FULDA — Westbrook-Walnut Grove’s matchup against Fulda was close in every set, but the Chargers pulled out a victory with game scores of 30-28, 23-25, 25-23 and 25-22.

W-WG received strong all-around performances from Dayna Comnick and Paige Erickson. Comnick was 15-for-18 with an ace from the service line, led the team with 13 kills, had two set assists and also registered two and a half blocks. Erickson was 13-for-16 serving with an ace, recorded nine kills, led the team with 11 digs and also had two set assists.

Anne Woelber was 24-for-25 serving with two aces for the Chargers and also had 29 set assists. Kelsi Wahl was 13-for-16 serving with four aces and also led the team with three and a half blocks, Karley Deprez had seven kills and two-and-a-half blocks, while Darian Gilb and Maddie Frank each had nine digs.

The Raiders received 42 set assists from Courtney Hulstein, who also went 15-for-21 from the service line with four aces and 11 service points. Silvia Zanini led the team with 13 kills and also went 19-for-22 from the service line with two aces and 13 service points, Rachel Cheadle contributed 12 kills and seven ace blocks, Brittney Hermeling had 10 kills and Dani Hermeling had a team-high 18 digs.

W-WG (3-1, 1-0) hosts its home tournament on Saturday.

Fulda (0-2, 0-1) will also play at the tournament.

MCC 3, Ellsworth 0

SLAYTON — Kristi Bose and Makenzie Giese had big games to lead Murray County Central past Ellsworth by game scores of 25-10, 25-17 and 25-11.

Bose had 11 service points with six aces and added eight kills and a block. Giese had 12 service points with three aces, tied Bose with a team-high eight kills and also had five digs.

Taylor Schreier had nine service points and an ace for the Rebels, Ashley Woldt had five kills, Macy Halbur had four kills and Brooklyn Schmitz recorded 20 set assists.

Abby Drenth led the Panthers with 14 hits for three kills and also was 11-for-11 serving for five points. Emily Timmer had five hits for one kill, was six-for-seven serving with one service point, recorded one block and also had 13 digs. Kadie Werner had a block and 13 digs and Bridget Kramer contributed six set assists.

MCC will host Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Tuesday.

Ellsworth (0-2, 0-1) will play at the Central Lyon Tournament on Saturday.

JCC 3, Luverne 0

LUVERNE — The Cardinals scored more points against the state’s top ranked volleyball team than any other this year, but came up short in a three-game sweep.

Game scores were 25-14, 25-12 and 25-14.

JCC (3-0), which gave up 40 points to Luverne, had given up 34 and 28 in its other two contests.

For Luverne, Ellen Dahl had six digs and was 9-for-11 serving.

Chelsea Curtis had five digs, five kills and a solo block, while Taylor Stratton was 10-for-11 serving with five block assists.

Cheyenne Hemme had seven set assists, while Nicole Hoff had three kills and a solo block.

The Cardinals (0-5) will host a tournament on Saturday.

H-BC 3, RL-B 1

ROUND LAKE — After losing the first game, Hills-Beaver Creek rallied for three straight victories to win a Red Rock Conference match against Round Lake-Brewster.

Game scores were 10-25, 25-15, 25-23 and 25-19.

Meghan Leuthold had nine kills to lead the Patriots (1-0, 2-0), while Haley Van Wyhe and Natalie Leuthold each had five kills.

Paige Leuthold added two blocks, while Katlyn Sandbulte had eight digs to lead H-BC.

For the Raiders, Kailey Wendland had nine kills, two blocks and was 20-for-22 serving with two aces.

Sarah Baumgard added eight kills, five blocks and 12 digs, while Sonja Peters had a team-best 15 digs.

Zoe Baerenwald had 15 set assists for RL-B (0-1, 1-2), which will travel to Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Thursday.

Tags: pipestone area, red rock central, southwest star concept, mountain lake/butterfield-odin, southwest christian, westbrook-walnut grove, murray county central, jackson county central, hills-beaver creek, round lake-brewster, sports, prep, volleyball, worthington, trojans, edgerton, adrian, windom, fulda, ellsworth, luverne