PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: MCC earns key conference win

JEFFERS — A big night at the net by senior outside hitter Makenzie Giese propelled Murray County Central to a 3-1 victory over Red Rock Central in Thursday evening’s volleyball match, handing the Falcons their first Red Rock Conference loss of the season.

The Falcons won the first game by seven points, but the Rebels — paced by Giese’s 20 kills and eight digs — prevailed in a trio of close games to claim the match win.

Game scores were 25-18, 21-25, 25-23 and 25-22.

“They were all closely-contested, tough games,” exclaimed RRC head coach Sara Arfsten. “There were lots of long rallies and scrappy play by both teams.”

In addition to the stellar play of Giese, the Rebels (5-2, 3-1) also had solid contributions from middle hitter Kristi Bose (13 kills, six blocks, seven digs), Brooklyn Schmitz (13 service points, one ace, 27 set assists) and Taylor Schreier (nine service points, including four aces).

RRC (6-5, 2-1) received a balanced attack at the net and was aided by the perfect 23-of-23 serving performance of Brooke Rasmussen, who scored 14 points, including four aces, while also coming up with a team-leading 18 digs.

Chloe Arfsten (16-of-19 serving, 10 points, four aces) had a team-high 13 kills for the Falcons, while also scoring on an ace block.

Klarissa Larsen and Fern Engen each had nine kills for RRC, which received a fine all-around night from senior setter Alison Kircher (14-of-15 serving, one ace), who had 14 digs and a match-high 38 set assists.

Katie Larsen came up with 14 digs for the Falcons, who travel to Fulda Thursday for their next conference match.

MCC is off until Tuesday when it hosts Southwest Christian.

T-M-B 3, MACCRAY 2

After Tracy-Milroy-Balaton took a 2-0 lead, MACCRAY wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

The Wolverines fought back to force a fifth set, but T-M-B earned a narrow victory in the set to earn a heart-pounding victory by game scores of 26-24, 25-15, 26-28, 22-25 and 15-12.

The Panthers were helped by an all-around defensive effort as seven of the team’s players ended up with double-digit totals in digs, led by Ashley Daniels (20), Kelli Soupir (18), Cassandra Hook (17) and Anna Peterson (16).

T-M-B also had a trio of perfect serving performances from Peterson (20-for-20, one ace), Tiffani Karbo (18-for-18, one ace) and Soupir (18-for-18). Hook also had a good night from the service line, finishing 20-for-22 with two aces.

Daniels led the Panthers with 20 kills, Kate Johnston and Jenna Stoneberg each had 10 kills, Karbo registered 41 set assists and Sammie Gervais led the team with two blocks.

T-M-B (7-8, 3-1) will be at home Thursday against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

Ellsworth 3, ML/B-O 0

ELLSWORTH — Abby Drenth was a perfect 21-of-21 from the serving line, which was good for 17 points, including four aces, helping the Ellsworth Panthers sweep Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin.

Game scores were 25-21, 25-21 and 25-14.

The Panthers (2-5, 1-2) also had solid serving performances from Bridget Kramer (12-of-13, 10 points, one ace), Emily Timmer (12-of-13, seven points, four aces) and Paige Meester (9-of-10, eight points, four aces).

Leading EHS at the net were Drenth (14 attacks, four kills) and Timmer (six attacks, three kills), while Kramer put up seven set assists.

Defensively, Kadie Werner came up with a team-high eight digs for the Panthers, while Meester and Timmer each had a pair of blocks.

Leading the Wolverines (5-5-1, 0-3) were Janessa Peters (17-of-20 attacking with 12 kills, eight-of-10 serving with four aces), Laura Romsdahl (13-of-14 serving), McKenzie Hopwood (four-of-four blocking with three solos), Brianna Wenner (seven digs) and Lounee Soutthivong (six digs).

ML/B-O hosts Hills-Beaver Creek Thursday and Ellsworth will host Round Lake-Brewster the same evening.

Fulda 3, RL-B 0

ROUND LAKE — The number 16 proved lucky for Fulda as team senior Silvia Zanini’s 16 kills and 16 digs helped lead the Raiders to a 25-21, 25-14, 25-5 victory against Round Lake-Brewster for their first win of the season.

Dani Hermeling also had a standout game for FHS with a 21-for-22 serving performance and 15 digs. Rachel Cheadle notched seven kills and seven blocks, Brittney Hermeling had seven kills, Courtney Hulstein recorded seven blocks and Sarah Strenge was 16-for-17 at the service line.

Sarah Baumgard (three kills and 11 digs) and Kailey Wendland (two kills, two blocks and 11 digs) led the Raiders on the night. Zoe Baerenwald was a perfect 10-for-10 at the service line.

RL-B (2-4, 0-3) will next play at Ellsworth on Thursday.

Fulda (1-4) will host Red Rock Central on Thursday.

H-BC 3, Edgerton 0

HILLS — Hills-Beaver Creek received strong performances from a trio of Leutholds in a 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 victory against Edgerton.

Natalie Leuthold finished with 10 kills and eight digs for the Patriots, Paige Leuthold had 25 set assists and was 16-for-16 serving with 10 service points and Meghan Leuthold was 12-for-13 serving with two aces and had a team-high three ace blocks.

Haley Van Wyhe had a team-best 11 kills for H-BC and Chelsi Kroon amassed six digs.

Lindsey Drooger had a good all-around match for the Flying Dutchmen by registering five service points, eight kills and two blocks. Sarah Post had seven kills and seven service points, Ciara Everett had a team-high eight digs, Brittani Roskamp had six digs, Tara DeKam contributed two blocks and Jessica Menning had 15 set assists.

Edgerton will play at Southwest Christian on Thursday.

The Patriots (3-5, 2-1) are at Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin on Thursday.

W-WG 3, Adrian 1

WESTBROOK — Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Adrian had a closely-contested match throughout, but in the end the Chargers prevailed with game scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-19 and 25-22.

Dayna Comnick had an outstanding match for W-WG, earning 20 kills, 16 digs and going 19-for-19 from the service line with three aces.

Paige Erickson was 18-for-19 serving with two aces and also had 15 kills for the Chargers, Hailey Osland was 12-for-13 serving with two aces and also had 17 digs and two and a half ace blocks, Anne Woelber had 22 set assists, Abby Herding had 16 set assists, Karley Deprez had six kills and Madison Takle contributed two and a half ace blocks.

The Dragons were led by Sydne Springman with 16 kills, eight blocks and a 16-for-17 serving performance with eight service points. The team also received top contributions from Nichole Loosbrock (18 set assists and four digs), Courtney Vaske (nine kills and three blocks), Nina Weidert (11-for-12 serving with 10 service points), Rachel Kontz (10 set assists) and Taylor Voss (four digs).

Adrian (4-5, 0-3) will play at Southwest Star Concept on Thursday.

W-WG (10-5, 4-0) will play on the road at Edgerton on Tuesday and will host Red Rock Central for its Homecoming game on Sept. 29.

Tags: murray county central, red rock central, tracy-milroy-balaton, mountain lake/butterfield-odin, round lake-brewster, hills-beaver creek, westbrook-walnut grove, sports, prep, volleyball, ellsworth, fulda, edgerton, adrian