The Minnewaska Area volleyball team fell twice last week in a pair of WCC matches.  The Lakers lost at Melrose in three games, Tuesday, and fell in four games at home to Sauk Centre, Thursday.  The Lakers have a 3-5 overrall record after going 1-2 to place fourth at Saturday’s 29th annual Minnewaska Invitational. 

Full results of the Laker Invitational will appear in next week’s paper.  On tap this week are a pair of home WCC matches against Morris Area-CA, Tuesday (tomorrow) and versus Benson, Thursday.

Melrose 3, Minnewaska 0

The Lakers lost at Melrose Area last Tuesday night in three games, 25-23, 25-15, 25-19.  Minnewaska’s attack game was effective, but the Lakers struggled at the service line and on defense.

Dreya Barsness had a good night on offense, hammering down 12 kills on 40 attempts for a 20 percent kill percentage.  Miaya Guggisberg added seven kills on only 10 attacks, while Dacia Fleury had five kills, Haley Shea had three and Haillie Schultz had two.

Overall, the Lakers had 14 errors and 30 kills with their attack game on 103 attempts for a 15.5 kill percentage for the team.  The Lakers served at a 86 percent clip, going 51-for-59 with three aces.  Schultz was 9-for-9 from the service line, while Brooklyn Meyer, Grace Zenk and Haley Shea were all 10-of-11 with Zenk recording two ace-serves and Meyer one.

Schultz also led the Lakers with 14 digs and one block, while Shea had 10 digs, Barsness and Meyer both had seven digs, Shea also had a team-best 23 set assists and Fleury was successful on 23 pass attempts with Barsness good on 21.

Sauk Centre 3, Waska 1

The Lakers had a kill percentage of 15 percent, served at a 90 percent clip and got 31 combined kills from Dreya Barsness and Dacia Fleury, but it still wasn’t enough as Sauk Centre edged the Lakers in four games, Thursday, 25-12, 25-15, 19-25, 25-20.

After losing the first two games by wide margins, the Lakers won the third game thanks to 14 kills and only three errors during the game, including at least five kills by Barsness, who had a team-best 20 kills on the night, and three more by Fleury, who ended the match with 11 kills.

Sauk Centre, which was the strongest attacking team the Lakers have faced this season, came back to win the fourth game for the 3-1 victory.

Haillie Schultz added five kills for the Lakers and Miaya Guggisberg had four kills and a block.  Barsness was also the top server for the Lakers, going 14-for-14 with an ace, while Schultz was 13-for-14, Brooklyn Meyer was 13-for-15 with two aces, Grace Zenk was 11-for-12 and Haley Shea was 7-for-7 serving in addition to putting up 35 set assists.

Four Lakers had double-digits digs for the night with Barsness leading the way with 29, followed by Meyer with 20, Fleury with 15 and Shea with 11, while Fleury had a team-high 1.5 blocks and Barsness and Fleury led the Lakers in successful passes with 34 and 26, respectively.

at Melrose 3, Minnewaska 0

Minnewaska (2-3) 23 15 19

Melrose 25 25 25

WASKA (good-attempts-aces):  Serving:  Brooklyn Meyer 10-11-1, Grace Zenk 10-11-2, Haley Shea 10-11-0, Dreya Barsness 8-10-0, Haillie Schultz 9-9-0, Emma Poegal 4-6-0, Dacia Fleury 0-1-0 . . . Assists:  Shea 23, Schultz 4, Barsness 2

Hitting:  Barsness 36-40-12, Miaya Guggisberg 9-10-7, Fleury 16-21-5, Shea 13-13-3, Schultz 11-14-2, Zenk 1-2-1, Meyer 3-3-0 . . . Digs:  Schultz 14, Shea 10, Barsness 7, Meyer 7, Fleury 6, Guggisberg 2, Poegal 1 . . . Blocks:  Schultz 1, Fleury .5, Guggisberg .5

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Sauk Centre 3, at Waska 1

Sauk Centre 25 25 19 25

Minnewaska 12 15 25 20

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving:  Brooklyn Beyer 13-15-2, Dreya Barsness 14-14-1, Haillie Schultz 13-14-0, Grace Zenk 11-12-0, Haley Shea 7-7-0, Dacia Fleury 4-6-1, Emma Poegal 2-3-1. . . Set assists:  Shea 35, Meyer 1, Fleury 1, Barsness 1, Schultz 1

Hitting:  Barsness 54-62-20, Fleury 35-37-11, Schultz 14-15-5, Miaya Guggisberg 19-24-4, Shea 17-17-1, Meyer 5-6-0. . . Digs:  Barsness 29, Meyer 20, Fleury 15, Shea 11, Schultz 7, Zenk 6, Guggisberg 2 . . . Blocks:  Fleury 1.5, Shea 1, Barsness 1, Guggisberg 1, Schultz .5