Ella Johnson notches one of her kills through the block attempt of Lac qui Parle Valley's Paige Meyer last Thursday. Taya (Kockelman) Lindahl, former Minneota standout, is the head coach of the Redwood Valley volleyball team that played in Minneota Tuesday night.

Top-ranked Vikings outlast MACCRAY

Minneota, the No. 1-ranked team in Class A, fended off an upset attempt by MACCRAY Tuesday, outlasting the Wolverines 25-13, 23-25, 25-14, 21-25, 15-7 in a Camden Conference match in Clara City.
The Vikings improved to 5-0 on the conference and 11-1 overall going into a strong Class A Showcase tournament Friday and Saturday in Burnsville.
The Vikings started out strong against MACCRAY in the opening set before the Wolverines tightened up their defense.
Ella Johnson paced Minneota's hitting attack with 16 kills. Ireland Stassen and Elivia Faris notched 14 kills apiece.
Stassen also had 44 assists, two blocks, an ace, and 19 digs. Dakoda Hennen aced three of her 24 serves. Faris, Megan Krog and Emma Bottelberghe had three stuff blocks each. Johnson and Abby Rolbiecki had 1 dig each.

Minneota 3, MACCRAY 0
MACCRAY.......12 25 14 25 7
Minneota.........25 23 25 21 15

MINNEOTA STATISTICS
Serving (aces): Lyzah Sussner 10-11-1, Ireland Stassen 16-18-1, Dakoda Hennen 24-24-3, Ella Johnson 17-17-1, Abby Rolbiecki 15-15-1, Grace Hennen 19-19-0

Setting (assists): Ireland Stassen 33, Nevaeh Hennen 12

Kills: Ella Johnson 16, Ireland Stassen 14, Elivia Faris 14, Emma Bottelberghe 2, Megan Krog 1, Nevaeh Hennen 1, Kenadi Arndt 1

Blocks (aces): Megan Krog 3, Emma Bottlberghe 3, Elivia Faris 3, Ireland Stassen 2

Digs: Ireland Stassen 19, Abby Rolbiecki 12, Ella Johnson 12, Nevaeh Hennen 4, Dakoda Hennen 4, Kenadi Arndt 3, Megan Krog 2, Lyzah Sussner 2, Emma Bottelberghe 1, Elivia Faris 1

Minneota 3, Redwood Valley 1
(Result Monday, Sept. 19)
The Vikings (10-1) utilized another balanced attack to chalk up their 10th win of the season.
Emma Bottelberghe, who shared team-high kill honors with Ireland Stassen with eight, is the fifth player for the Vikings to lead the team in kills this season. Ella Johnson, Megan Krog and Elivia Faris had six kills apiece. Kenadi Arndt added one kill.
Stassen also notched 29 assists, 10 digs, three blocks, and two aces.
Redwood Valley, a Class AA team coached by former Minneota Viking Taya (Kockelman) Lindahl, played well in the first two sets before the Vikings took over in the final two sets.
Leading 22-18 in the opening set, the Vikings closed it out by scoring the final three points on a kill by Bottelberghe, a Redwood net violation and a kill by Megan Krog.
The Cardinals led most of the way in the second set and closed it out 25-20 on a passing error by the Vikings.
In the third set, the Vikings won 25-16, the final point coming on another Bottelberghe kill.
Minneota jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the fourth set and never looked back. Leading 17-9, Minneota notched the final eight points for the win. Match point came on an ace serve by Stassen.
Dakoda Hennen and Ella Johnson also had two aces each as the Vikings amassed eight on the night in another strong showing from the service line. Lyzah Sussner and Abby Rolbiecki had the other two.
Sussner led with 14 digs, while Grace Hennen had seven.

MINNEOTA 3,
REDWOOD VALLEY 1
RV...........................18 25 16 9
Minneota...............25 20 25 25

MINNEOTA STATISTICS
Serving (aces): Lyzah Sussner 13-14-1, Ireland Stassen 23-25-2, Dakoda Hennen 13-15-2, Ella Johnson 14-15-2, Abby Rolbiecki 10-10-1, Grace Hennen 10-11-0

Setting (assists): Ireland Stassen 29, Nevaeh Hennen 6

Kills: Emma Bottelberghe 8, Ireland Stassen 8, Ella Johnson 6, Megan Krog 6, Elivia Faris 6, Kenadi Arndt 1

Blocks (aces): Megan Krog 4, Kenadi Arndt 4, Ireland Stassen 3, Elivia Faris 1, Ella Johnson 1

Digs: Lyzah Sussner 14, Ireland Stassen 10, Grace Hennen 7, Ella Johnson 5, Emma Bottelberghe 3, Nevaeh Hennen 3, Megan Krog 2, Elivia Faris 2, Dakoda Hennen 1

Minneota 3, LQPV 0
(Result Thursday, Sept. 15)
Ireland Stassen had a solid all-around match with 10 kills, 21 assists, two ace blocks, nine digs and an ace serve as the Class A No. 1-ranked Vikings improved to 9-1 before a nearly packed house.
The Vikings got off to an unfamiliar slow start as the Eagles' serving posed some problems in the first set. LQPV maintained a small lead through much of the opening set, leading by as many as four points before Minneota fought back to take a 13-12 lead and never trailed after that.
Leading 23-20 after an Eagle hitting error, the Vikings closed out the set with Lyzah Sussner serving on kills from Megan Krog and Elivia Faris.
Leading 4-3 lead in the second set, the Vikings scored four straight points on blocks and never looked back although LQPV played well again and stayed within striking distance. Leading 24-17, a kill by Stassen clinched the set.
Minneota went on a 6-0 run for a 9-1 advantage in the final set with Dakoda Hennen serving. During that stretch, Ella Johnson had a kill and a block, Dakoda Hennen an ace and Stassen a kill.
With the score 23-12, Dakoda Hennen served out the match with the final two points coming on a Johnson kill and an attack error by LQPV.
Johnson finished with nine kills and three blocks. Faris added eight kills and Krog seven. Sussner had 14 digs and Abby Rolbiecki 11.

MINNEOTA 3, LQPV 0
LQPV...........................20 17 12
Minneota.....................25 25 25

MINNEOTA STATISTICS
Serving (aces): Ireland Stassen 1, Dakoda Hennen 1, Abby Rolbiecki 1

Setting (assists): Ireland Stassen 21, Nevaeh Hennen 8

Kills: Ireland Stassen 10, Ella Johnson 9, Elivia Faris 8, Megan Krog 7, Emma Bottelberghe 1

Blocks (aces): Ella Johnson 3, Kenadi Arndt 3, Ireland Stassen 2, Elivia Faris 1

Digs: Lyzah Sussner 14, Abby Rolbiecki 11, Ireland Stassen 9, Ella Johnson 6, Nevaeh Hennen 5, Dakoda Hennen 3

Minneota senior Ireland Stassen puts up a set against Lac qui Parle Valley last Thursday in Minneota. Mascot photo by Brian Jeremiason

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