The run through the playoffs has ended for the Minnewaska Area volleyball team.  The Lakers, seeded sixth in their half of Section 3AA, beat third-seeded Eden Valley-Watkins in four games to open up the tournament and then edged second-seeded New London-Spicer in the second round last Tuesday at NLS High School before losing in four games to top-seeded Paynesville in the sub-section finals, Thursday at NLS.

The Lakers ended the season with a 13-15 overall record, but the good news for Laker volleyball fans is that the team does not graduate any players from this year’s team.

Paynesville went on to face Pipestone Area for the section championship, Saturday with the winner moving on to the State Volleyball Tournament this weekend in the Twin Cities.

The Lakers went 7-20 overall last year and 2-10 in the WCC before turning things around this year to go 13-15 overall and 8-6 in the WCC to place third behind undefeated Sauk Centre and runner-up BOLD.

Minnewaska 3, NLS 2

The Lakers earned their second-straight upset win with a five-game victory at NLS High School last Tuesday night, 25-23, 25-22, 8-25, 23-25, 15-12.

After winning two close games to open up the contest, the Lakers were routed in game three.  NLS also won the fourth game, earning one of its final two points on a controversial call, but the Lakers didn’t flinch, coming back to earn a win in the final game, 15-12.

It was time for the team, coaches and fans to celebrate!

The Lakers led early in the first game, 8-3 as NLS started off slow, but the Wildcats rallied to tie up the game 8-8 and the score was 13-13 when Dreya Barsness gave the Lakers the lead for good with one of her 24 kills on the night.

After an ace-tip by Haley Shea and another kill by Barsness put the Lakers up 24-21, NLS scored the next two points before Barsness hammered down one more kill to give Minnewaska the 25-23 first-game win.

The teams were never separated by more than three points in the second game as Minnewaska fell behind 1-3, pulled ahead 7-6 on a kill by Miaya Guggisberg, but then fell behind 11-14 before going ahead for good at 16-15 on a block by Guggisberg and Haillie Schultz.

The Lakers had a 18 percent kill percentage for the match, including 26 percent in the second game, 31 percent in the fourth game and 29 percent in the final game, but the third game was all NLS, which led early 6-1 and 10-3 before eventually winning 25-8.

Momentum was clearly on the Wildcats’ side.  And, when NLS led early in the fourth game, 8-2, things didn’t look good for the Lakers.

However, kills by Guggisberg, Dacia Fleury and Barsness during a 7-0 service run by Avery Fier put the Lakers up 9-8.  A little later, the Lakers trailed 20-15, forcing a timeout.

Minnewaska won five-straight points coming out of the timeout to tie up the game at 20-20, but a missed serve gave NLS the lead again.  An ace-tip by Shea tied up the game, but NLS won the next point and then earned its 23rd point on a controversial call.

It appeared the Lakers had won the point with a kill and touched ball by the Wildcats, but the officials failed to see the “touch,” putting the Wildcats up 23-21 instead of tying up the match at 22-22.

Schultz had a kill to close the gap to 23-22 and a kill by Barsness kept the Lakers close at 24-23, but NLS got the final point to win game four and force a fifth and deciding set.  That was okay for the Lakers, who were 3-0 in five-game matches this season.

It was a tense battle in the fifth game, with no more than three points separating the teams at any point.

Three-straight kills by Fier, Schultz and Barsness put the Lakers up early, 4-2, and a kill and block by Guggisberg increased the lead to 6-3.  A couple missed spikes helped tie up the match at 6-6, but an ace-tip by Guggisberg put the Lakers up 7-6 and a kill by Guggisberg moments later kept Minnewaska ahead, 9-7.

An ace-block by Fier followed by another kill by Barsness gave the Lakers their biggest lead of the fifth game at 12-9, but the Wildcats won the next two points, forcing Minnewaska to call a timeout.

Barsness had her 23rd kill to put the Lakers up 13-11 and her 24th kill gave Minnewaska a 14-12 lead before the Lakers ended the match on the next point to complete the exciting five-game win.

The Lakers had 55 kills for the night, including 24 by Barsness, nine by Fier, seven from Guggisberg and six each from Fleury and Schultz.

Minnewaska also got 43 set assists from Shea, 2.5 blocks from Fier and another 1.5 blocks from Guggisberg, and a team-best 20 digs from Fleury.  In addition, Fier had only one error in 50 pass attempts.

The Lakers also went 81-for-90 from the service line with four aces.  Haillie Schultz led the way, going 16-for-16 with two aces, while Brooklyn Meyer was 12-for-13, Dreya Barsness was 9-for-10 with two aces, Emma Poegel was 18-for-20, and Haley Shea was 8-for-9.

Paynesville 3, Lakers 1

The Lakers were eliminated in the sub-section finals, Thursday at NLS, losing in four games 25-20, 25-16, 24-26, 25-9.  Minnewaska struggled from the service line, going 59-for-73, and also had a kill percentage of 10 percent for the match.

Minnewaska had its chances in games one and two, but couldn’t contain the Bulldogs’ Emma Flanders, who ended the match with 22 kills, or Kyleigh Tangen, who added 13 kills.

The Lakers finally broke through in game three.  The two teams were tied at 3-3, 6-6, 10-10, 14-14 and 18-18 before Haley Shea served the Lakers into a 20-18 lead, causing Paynesville to call a timeout.

The Bulldogs won the next two points to tie up the game again, but a kill by Dreya Barsness put the Lakers up 21-20.  However, Minnewaska missed the next serve and Paynesville went on to a 23-21 lead on an ace-serve, moving two points away from the match victory.

The Lakers won the next point and an ace-tip by Mya Guggisberg tied up the game again at 23-23.  Paynesville won the next point to go up 24-23, but a kill by Barsness tied the score at 24-24 and an ace-serve by Haillie Schultz put the Lakers up 25-24.

Following another Bulldog timeout, the Bulldogs misfired on a spike for point No. 26, giving Minnewaska the 26-24 win and forcing a fourth game.

The final game of the season went all the Bulldogs’ way as Paynesville led 9-3, 16-5 and 23-8 before ending the match with a 25-9 fifth-game win.

Barsness and Avery Fier both had 11 kills to lead the Lakers’ offense, while Mya Guggisberg added eight kills and a block and Haley Shea added 33 set assists.  Fier had a team-high 18 digs and had only one error in 51 pass attempts, while Dacia Fleury had 15 digs and the top servers were Schultz (8-for-8 with an ace), Shea (13-for-15 with an ace) and Fier (18-for-20 with an ace.

Minnewaska 3, at NLS 2

Minnewaska (13-14) 25 25 8 23 15

NLS 23 22 25 25 12

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving:  Avery Fier 18-22-0, Emma Poegel 18-20-0, Haillie Schultz 16-16-2, Brooklyn Meyer 12-13-0, Dreya Barsness 9-10-2, Haley Shea 8-9-0 . . . Set assists:  Shea 43, Fier 6, Meyer 2, Barsness 2, Poegel 1

Hitting:  Barsness 56-65-24, Fier 32-38-9, Miaya Guggisberg 16-19-7, Schultz 15-18-6, Fleury 32-32-6, Shea 14-14-3 . . . Digs:  Fleury 20, Shea 14, Fier 12, Meyer 10, Barsness 10, Guggisberg 5, Schultz 5, Poegel 4. . . Blocks:  Fier 2.5, Guggisberg 1.5, Fleury .5, Barsness .5, Schultz .5, Shea .5

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Paynesville 3, Minnewaska 1

Minnewaska (13-15) 20 16 26 9

Paynesville (21-5) 25 25 24 25

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving:  Avery Fier 18-20-1, Haley Shea 13-15-1, Dreya Barsness 8-11-2, Brooklyn Meyer 9-11-1, Haillie Schultz 8-8-1, Emma Poegel 2-6-0, Olivia MacDonald 1-2-0 . . . Set assists:  Shea 33, Schultz 2, Barsness 1, Fier 1

Hitting:  Barsness 26-32-11, Fier 33-40-11, Miaya Guggisberg 17-21-8, Fleury 22-28-6, Shea 4-4-2, Schultz 9-12-1 . . . Digs:  Fier 18, Fleury 15, Meyer 9, Barsness 8, Schultz 3, Shea 3, Guggisberg 2. . . Blocks:  Schultz 1, Guggisberg 1