The Minnewaska Area volleyball team opened up the first full week of the season with a pair of five-game matches last week against Sauk Centre and Melrose Area.  

The Lakers fell to Sauk Centre in the home opener last Tuesday night, but Minnewaska came back two nights later to beat Melrose Area in five games, including an 18-16 win in game five.

The Lakers, 2-1 to start the season, were also set to compete at the Lakeview Tournament, Saturday, but results of that competition will be highlighted next week.

This week, the Lakers continue the season with a match at Morris Area-CA, Tuesday (tomorrow) and a match at home against BOLD, Thursday.

Sauk Centre 3, Waska 2

The Lakers lost a close five-set match with Sauk Centre in the home opener last Tuesday night, 19-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-17, 15-10.

Minnewaska played a great match and the action was fast and furious, but in the end, the Mainstreeters’ experience paid off against the younger Laker team.

Dacia Fleury and Mya VanLuik led the offense against Sauk Centre with a combined 30 kills.

The Lakers led for most of the first game with leads of 6-0, 9-4 and 14-8 before Sauk Centre cut the deficit to 20-18.  Minnewaska got a couple of kills from VanLuik and a kill and ace-serve from Fleury to go on a 5-1 run over the final few points to earn the first-game win.

The second game was dominated by Sauk Centre as the Lakers had a number of mistakes, errors and missed shots.  

The Lakers came right back with the third-game win, going up 11-5 on a kill by Berlynn Green and 17-7 on an ace-block by Avery Lewison before settling for the 25-20 victory.

Sauk Centre, which won the WCC title last year and was seen as the favorite again this year, took control in the fourth and fifth games, winning 25-17 and 15-10 to silence the pro-Laker crowd and go home with the 3-2 win.

Fleury had 17 kills to lead the Lakers, while VanLuik had 13 and Lewison, Green, Eliana Marthaler and Emma Hellermann all had three.

Haillie Schulz put up 35 set assists and also had two kills, while Green had a team-high four ace-serves and Fleury added two.

Leading the defense was Emma Poegel and Schulz with 18 digs each, while Green added 13, Brooklyn Noyes had 12 and Fleury saved 10.

In addition, Fleury and Lewison both had a team-high two blocks and Addy Kath, Hellermann and Schulz all had one.

Waska 3, Melrose 2

The Lakers rallied from a two games to one deficit to win at Melrose Area, Thursday night, 22-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-23, 18-16.

The win came only two nights after the Lakers lost a heartbreaking five-game match against Sauk Centre.

Dacia Fleury, Haillie Schulz and Emma Poegel were among the leaders for the Lakers.  Fleury pounded down 20 kills with a kill percentage of 16 percent, while Schulz had six kills, 31 set assists, two blocks and 14 digs, and Poegel keyed the defense with a team-high 26 digs.

Five Lakers had double-digits in digs as Berlynn Green had 17 digs, Eliana Marthaler had 16, Schulz had 14 and Brooklyn Noyes added 12.

Green also had a team-high two ace-serves, while Mya VanLuik had eight kills and a block, Emma Hellermann had four kills and a block, and Avery Lewison had three kills and a block.  Overall, the Lakers served at a 90 percent clip and had 43 kills with 37 attack errors.

Sauk Centre 3, at Waska 2

Sauk Centre 19 25 20 25 15

Waska (1-1) 25 16 25 17 10

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving (aces):   Berlynn Green 4, Dacia Fleury 2, Emma Hellermann 1, Emma Poegel 1, Haillie Schulz 1 . . . Set assists:  Schulz 35, Poegel 3, Eliana Marthaler 3, Fleury 2, Brooklyn Noyes 1, Green 1

Hitting:  Dacia Fleury 47-54-17, Mya VanLuik 30-41-13, Hellermann 15-17-3, Marthaler 7-8-3, Green 6-7-3, Avery Lewison 4-6-3, Schulz 8-10-2, Addy Kath 10-11-1 . . . Digs:  Poegel 18, Schulz 18, Green 13, Noyes 12, Fleury 10, Marthaler 9, VanLuik 5, Hellermann 4. . . Blocks (aces):  Fleury 2, Lewison 2, Schulz 1, Kath 1, Hellermann 1, VanLuik .5

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Waska 3, at Melrose Area 2

Waska (1-1) 22 25 18 25 18

Melrose 25 17 25 23 16

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving (aces):   Berlynn Green 2, Brooklyn Noyes 1, Eliana Marthaler 1, Haillie Schulz 1 . . . Set assists:  Schulz 31, Marthaler 4, Noyes 2, Emma Poegel 1, Green 1, Avery Lewison 1

Hitting:  Dacia Fleury 52-62-20, Mya VanLuik 23-30-8, Schulz 20-24-6, Emma Hellermann 17-21-4, Lewison 11-13-3, Addy Kath 14-18-1, Green 9-11-1 . . . Digs:  Poegel 26, Green 17, Marthaler 16, Schulz 14, Noyes 12, Fleury 9, Hellermann 7, VanLuik 3, Lewison 1. . . Blocks (aces):  Schulz 2, VanLuik 1, Hellermann 1, Lewison 1, Fleury .5

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