Volleyball team adds Dawson-Boyd to the hit list

NOTE:  ABC TOURNAMENT at Midewest Volleyball Warehouse Friday and Saturday includes: Academy of Holy Angels, Belle Plaine, Canby, Cannon Falls, Concordia Academy-Roseville, Greenway, Jackson County Central, Jordan, Kasson-Mantorville, Kenyon-Wanamingo, Kittson Central, Lewiston-Altura, MACCRAY, Mabel-Canton, Maple Lake, Mayer Lutheran, New Life Academy of Woodbury, Norwood Young America, Park Rapids Area, Rocori, Rush City, Southwest Christian, Stephen-Argyle Central, Underwood, Wabasha-Kellogg, Wabasso, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, Windom @ Midwest Volleyball Warehouse.
MINNEOTA PLAYS: Friday: (4:30 pm Crt #1 vs Stephen Argyle) - (6:30 pm Crt #1 vs Underwood) Saturday: (9 am Crt #1 vs Mabel-Canton) Saturday's tournament play starts at 11am or 12pm

Minneota drove its record to 12-1 with a 3-0 win over Dawson-Boyd Thursday night.

They won, 25-18; 25-9; 25-12.

Usng the strong hitting of Lizzy Gillingham with 11 kills, Lydia Sussner with 10 and Nattalee Rolciecki with eight, the Vikings coasted to yet another victory. Morgan Hennen hit 21 of 22 serves with three aces as she led the team at the serving line.

Minneota 3, Dawson-Boyd 0

Minneota    25 25 25

Dawson    18 9 12

KILLS: Minneota (Gillingham 11, Sussner 10, Rolbiecki 8); Dawson-Boyd (Dahl 7).

SERVING: Minneota (M. Hennen 21-22-3, Rolbiecki 10-10-0, Gillingham 10-10-0); Dawson-Boyd (Johnson 6-8-1, Aafedt 6-7-0).

DIGS: Minneota (M. Hennen 14, A. Hennen 8, Rolbiecki 6); Dawson-Boyd (Dahl 7, Johnson 6).

SET ASSISTS: Minneota (Kockelman 33); Dawson-Boyd (Aafedt 13).

BLOCKS: Minneota (Sussner 3); Dawson-Boyd (Dahl 2-2, Mamer 0-4, Bartunek 0-3, Bothun 0-1).

Other Thursday results included:

Yellow Medicine East 3, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 0

Lakeview 3, Renville Co. West 1

Canby 3, Kerkhoven-M-S 1

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 3, Lac qui Parle Valley 2

Minneota 3, Lac qui Parle Valley  0
Tuesday night the Vikings conducted yet another, “Typical day at the office,” downing Lac qui Parle Valley quickly and easily, 25-10, 25-13 and 25-5.
It drove the Minneota record to 11-1 on the year and 4-0 in the Camden Conference.
No doubt, the Vikings have taken a firm hold on the conference and haven’t been letting up.
One of the things Coach Hayley Fruin is seeing is “consistency,” a word that fits her squad.
Although the competition has pushed them to the brink often, they keep coming up with solid and spirited performances.
Tuesday night was no exception.
The three-headed hitting monster created by Fruin landed solid shots against Lac qui Parle Valley all night.
Let by Lydia Sussner with 13 kills, the Vikings were on the offensive most of the night.
Lizzy Gillingham contributed eight kills to the effort and so did Natalee Rolbiecki.
Of-course, you don’t get that kind of production without a setter and Morgan Kockelman continued to solidly distribute the ball to her front line, to the tune of 39 set assists.
Lac qui Parle Valley fell off to 1-5 on the year.
One of the Vikings strong suites all year has been at the serving line. Their top three servers were 53 of 54 at the serving line with two ace serves.
Leading the way was Kockelman, who landed all 21 of her serves. What makes this so important is the fact the serving team gets a chance to score a point — while an errant serve gives one to the other team.
Lizzy Gillingham, who has been steady as a rock in all areas contributed 18 of 19 serves and landed one for an ace while Ellie Pesch hit on 15 of 15 with an ace serve.
In the back row, their top specialist Abby Hennen came up with 17 digs with sister Morgan contributing 10 and Kockelman six more.
“Everyone on the floor can dig well and that’s helped us a lot,” Coach Fruin has said.
When the top three need help up front, along comes Sydney Larson. The senior front specialist contributed a block to the two landed by Sussner.
Larson, who missed early games for the Vikings due to injury, has been working her way back into the lineup.
Minneota is still ranked No. 2 in Class A behind Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, who up to last week was undefeated at 11-0
In the area, Wabasso, which Minneota defeated earlier in the year is ranked sixth and BOLD is No. 10 in the Class A rankings.
The Vikings will do battle in the Midwest Volleyball Warehouse Tournament in Burnsville this week and will come back for a Tuesday match in Canby.
It will prove to be a busy week that should tell Fruin and her staff a lot more about her Viking squad.

Minneota            25    25     25
LqPV                  10    13     5
KILLS-Lydia Sussner 13; Lizzy Gillingham and Natalee Rolbiecki 8 each.
DIGS: Abby Hennen 17; Morgan Hennen 10; Morgan Kockelman 6.
SERVING: (No., good, aces) Ellie Pesch 15-15-1; Gillingham 19-18-1; Kockelman 21-21-0.
BLOCKS: Sussner 2; Sydney Larson 1.
SET ASSISTS: Morgan Kockelman 39