The Minnewaska Area volleyball team played two of their best matches last week during shutout win over Morris Area last Tuesday and Benson, Thursday.

The Lakers, who also went 1-2 to place fourth at a home invitational, Saturday, Sept. 17, improved to 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the conference with their latest wins.

This week, Minnewaska Area has just one match scheduled at BOLD, Thursday.  The Warriors topped the Lakers in four games earlier this season.

at Minnewaska Tourney

The Lakers went 1-2 to place fourth at a home invitational, Saturday.  Minnewaska beat Ortonville (25-22, 25-15) and lost to Kittson County Central (24-26, 25-18, 15-13) in pool play before falling to Lac qui Parle in the third-place match, 25-17, 25-19.

NLS won the six-team title with a three-game victory over Kittson County in the championship match, 25-16, 22-25, 15-12, while Lakeview topped Ortonville in two games for fifth place.

•  During the win over Ortonville, Dacia Fleury had six kills, Dreya Barsness had five and Haley Shea and Miaya Guggisberg both had three kills to lead the offense.

Shea added 14 set assists and was 10-for-10 serving, while Barsness was 9-for-9 serving and Brooklyn Meyer was 10-of-11 with three aces.

Fleury (15 digs) and Barsness (10) led the Laker defense, while Meyer, Fleury, Haillie Schultz and Guggisberg each had a half block.

•  During the loss to Kittson County, the Lakers got 12 kills from Barsness, nine from Fleury and five more from Schultz, while Meyer, Fleury, Schultz and Guggisberg each had one block.

The Lakers were 53-for-56 serving with three aces.  Leading the way at the service line were Grace Zenk, Schultz and Shea, who were all 10-of-10 with an ace, while Shea also had 25 set assists and Barsness and Meyer led the defense with 12 and 11 digs, respectively.

•  In the third-place match, the Lakers fell to the Eagles in two games, 25-17, 25-19.  Minnewaska Area had 17 kills and nine attack errors, including seven kills by Guggisberg, six from Barsness and four more from Fleury.

The top servers were Barsness, who was 8-for-8 with an ace, Schultz, who was 7-for-8 with two aces and Meyer, who was 6-for-7.  Shea added 19 set assists and Fleury led the Lakers with eight digs.

Minnewaska 3, Morris 0

The Lakers played one of their best matches of the season during a 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 home win over Morris Area-CA last Tuesday night.

Minnewaska, which improved to 4-6 overall, was in control for the entire match as six Lakers had at least three kills each and Haley Shea did a great job setting up the offense, ending the match with 29 set assists.

“When a team can put all the skill components together and then sustain it through a 3-set match, it’s very memorable and that’s what I thought we did,” coach Michele Johnson said.  “A match like that should not be taken for granted, and it can also serve as a teachable moment for our team that teamwork, communication and focus are just as important as their measurable skill goals.”

In the first game, the Lakers were tied at 5-5 before going up 13-9 on a kill by Dreya Barsness.  Minnewaska increased its lead to 22-14 moments later and got game point on a kill by Haillie Schultz for a 25-17 victory.

The second game was pretty much the same as the Lakers held leads of 10-4, 12-6 and 15-8 on two-straight kills by Dacia Fleury.  Minnewaska led 19-10, but the Tigers cut the lead to 24-16 a few minutes later before the Lakers got game point on a miscue by Morris for a 2-0 lead.

The Lakers also dominated the third game as the offense continued its great play and the defense did not allow any easy points.

For the match, the Lakers had eight attack errors and 31 kills for a 27 percent kill percentage.  That included a 32 kill percentage in the first game alone.  “The team’s hit efficiency of 31 kills, distributed evenly, with only eight attack errors is incredible,” coach Johnson said.

Barsness and Schultz led the Lakers with seven kills each, while Miaya Guggisberg had six and Avery Fier and Fleury both had four.

Shea was perfect on 14 service attempts with one ace, while Fier was 12-for-12 with three aces and Brooklyn Meyer was 14-for-15 with three aces.  “Haley (Shea) did a fantastic job setting up her hitters and realizing they were all on and ready,” coach Johnson said.  “She was able to do this because our passing was spectacular. This match should be a reminder of what our team is capable of as we move through the second half of the season.”

Fier, who missed most of the previous week’s action due to prior commitments, was perfect on 18 pass attempts to lead the Lakers, while Barsness and Fier led the team with eight digs each and Schultz and Guggisberg both had one block.

Minnewaska 3, Benson 0

The Lakers earned their second three-game sweep of the week with a 25-22, 25-13, 25-12 home victory over Benson, Thursday.

Dreya Barsness led the onslaught, hammering down 18 kills on 38 attempts for a kill percentage of 34 percent.  Avery Fier added 10 more kills on only 15 attempts with just one error, while Dacia Fleury and Miaya Guggisberg both had four kills and Haillie Schultz had three.

The top servers were Haley Shea (14-for-14 with an ace), Schultz (22-for-23 with an ace) and Barsness (9-of-10 with two aces), while Shea had a team-high 28 set assists, Fier and Fleury both had solo blocks, and Schultz led the defense with 10 digs, followed by Fleury with nine and Barsness and Fier with eight each.

at  Minnewaska Invite

Team scores:  Minnewaska 2, Ortonville 0; Kittson Central 2, Waska 1; Kittson 2, Orton 0; LQP 2, Lakeview 0; NLS 2, Lakeview 0; NLS 2, LQP 0 . . . 

1st place-NLS 2, Kittson 1; 

3rd place-LQP 2, Minnewaska 0; 

5th place-Lakeview 2, Ortonville 0

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at Minnewaska 3, Morris 0

Morris 17 16 18

Minnewaska (4-6) 25 25 25

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving:  Dreya Barsness 13-16-4, Brooklyn Meyer 14-15-3, Haley Shea 14-14-1, Avery Fier 12-12-3, Haillie Schultz 8-9-0, Grace Zenk 2-4-0, Dacia Fleury 2-3-1 . . . Set assists:  Shea 29, Barsness 1

Hitting:  Barsness 21-24-7, Schultz 14-15-7, Guggisberg 11-12-6, Fier 13-15-4, Fleury 12-13-4, Shea 7-7-3 . . . Digs:  Barsness 8, Fier 8, Fleury 7, Shea 6, Guggisberg 3, Meyer 2, Schultz 1 . . . Blocks:  Schultz 1, Guggisberg 1

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at Minnewaska 3, Benson 0

Benson 22 13 12

Minnewaska (5-6) 25 25 25

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving:  Haillie Schultz 22-23-1, Haley Shea 14-14-1, Avery Fier 11-12-0, Dreya Barsness 9-10-2, Brooklyn Meyer 5-7-0, Grace Zenk 2-4-0, Dacia Fleury 2-2-0. . . Set assists:  Shea 28, Fleury 2, Fier 1, Barsness 1, Schultz 1

Hitting:  Barsness 33-38-18, Fier 14-15-10, Fleury 11-14-4, Miaya Guggisberg 11-15-4, Schultz 11-15-3, Shea 7-7-2. . . Digs:  Schultz 10, Fleury 9, Barsness 8, Fier 8, Shea 7, Meyer 2, Guggisberg 1 . . . Blocks:  Fier 1, Fleury 1, Shea .5, Guggisberg .5