The Minnewaska Area volleyball team improved to 15-6 overall with two more conference wins last week over Morris Area last Tuesday night and at BOLD, Thursday.  Both matches went four games with the opponents winning the second game and the Lakers pulling out victories in close fourth games.

The Lakers also competed at the Alexandria Tournament, Saturday, Oct. 5, placing third overall with a 2-2 record.

Sauk Centre continues to lead the WCC with a 12-1 record, followed by West Central Area (11-2), Minnewaska (10-3) and BOLD (8-5).

In the Section 6AA race, the Lakers are currently ranked fifth of the 14 section teams.  Minnewaska Area could move up one spot over the next week of the regular-season, possibly passing fourth-ranked Pequot Lakes (14-8), but Staples-Motley (17-8) and Milaca (15-6) are also both right behind the Lakers.

This week, the Lakers close out the regular season with a match at Benson, Tuesday (tomorrow) followed by the Fergus Falls Invitational, Thursday.

The start of the Section 6AA Tourney is set for Wednesday, Oct. 23 and the Lakers appear set to host a first-round match.  The quarterfinals are set for Friday, Oct. 25 at the higher seeded team and the semifinals and championship match are set for Oct. 29 and 31 at Sauk Rapids High School.

Alexandria Tourney

The Lakers competed at the Alexandria Tourney, Saturday, Oct. 5, going 2-2 to place third overall.

In pool play, Minnewaska Area fell to BBE (2-1) and Fergus Falls (2-1) while also beating BOLD (2-0).

Fergus Falls beat the Lakers, but also lost to BBE and BOLD to finish pool play 1-2 while the Lakers  were also 1-2 in pool play, but went 4-4 in games played compared to 3-5 record for Fergus Falls.

BBE went on to win the 8-team title with a two-game sweep of Alexandria in the finals, while BOLD swept Ada Borup in two games to place seventh,   Fergus Falls topped Morris Area in three games to place fifth and Minnewaska swept Maple Lake in two games to earn third.

Waska 3, Morris Area 1

The Lakers and Tigers split the first two games of a WCC match last Tuesday at Minnewaska Area High School before the Lakers took control of the match and went on to a 25-22, 17-25, 25-14, 25-20 victory.

Minnewaska Area earned the first-game victory despite trailing late 21-20 and Morris Area led for most of the second game.  From that point on, the Lakers starting clicking, ending the match with 43 kills, nine ace-serves, 8.5 blocks and 108 digs.

The Tigers put up one of the best blocking defenses the Lakers have seen all season, but by the third game, the Lakers had figured things out and ended the match with a nine percent kill percentage.

Dacia Fleury had a monster match with 19 kills and a 19 percent kill percentage.  She had 69 chances with only six errors.

Haillie Schulz added seven kills with only one error, while Mya VanLuik also had seven kills, Addy Kath had four, Avery Lewison had three, Emma Hellermann pounded down two and Eliana Marthaler had one kill.

Lewison led the blocking defense with 3.5 blocks, while Schulz had 1.5 and Kath, VanLuik and Berlynn Green each added one ace-block.

The Lakers served at a 98 percent clip, while the Tigers struggled serving, putting numerous serves into the net.  That was one of the keys for the Laker win.

Overall, the Lakers had nine ace-serves with Emma Poegel recording three and Green and Marthaler both adding two.

On defense, five Lakers had double-digit digs, including Green with 21, Fleury with 18, Poegel with 17, Brooklyn Noyes with 16 and Marthaler with 11.

Minnewaska 3, BOLD 1

Dacia Fleury pounded down 24 kills and the Laker team had a kill percentage of 25 percent during a 25-20, 14-25, 25-16, 29-27 win at BOLD, Thursday night.

Fleury had a kill percentage of 40 percent and also had one ace-serve, 1.5 blocks and 16 digs as she continues to prove she’s one of the best players in the area.

Mya VanLuik also had a monster match with 15 kills, a kill percentage of 29 percent and nine digs.  Those two combined for 39 kills with only six errors.  Wow!

Avery Lewison added five kills and 3.5 blocks, while Haillie Schulz had four kills, 13 digs and team-highs of 43 set assists and four blocks, and Addy Kath chipped in with three kills and 2.5 blocks.

Overall, the Lakers combined for 13 blocks against the feisty BOLD team, which came within a couple of points of sending the match into a fifth game.

The Lakers served at a 96 percent clip with two ace-serves. Berlynn Green ended the match with 14 digs, while Emma Poegel had four set assists and 12 digs, and Eliana Marthaler had a kill and 11 digs.

at Waska 3, Morris Area 1

Morris Area 22 25 14 20

Minnewaska (14-6) 25 17 25 25

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving (aces):  Emma Poegel 3, Berlynn Green 2, Eliana Marthaler 2, Haillie Schulz 1, Brooklyn Noyes 1 . . . 98% . . . Set assists:  Schulz 33, Dacia Fleury 3, Marthaler 2, Poegel 2, Green 1

Hitting:  Fleury 63-69-19, Mya VanLuik 23-33-7, Schulz 20-21-7, Addy  Kath 15-16-4, Avery Lewison 10-13-3, Emma Hellermann 9-13-2, Marthaler 8-10-1, Green 9-9-0 . . . 9%teamkill% . . . Digs:  Green 21, Fleury 18, Poegel 17, Brooklyn Noyes 16, Marthaler 11, Schulz 7, VanLuik 7, Lewison 5, Kath 4, Hellermann 2 . . Blocks (aces):  Lewison 3.5, Schulz 1.5, Kath 1, Green 1, VanLuik 1, Fleury .5

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Minnewaska 3, at BOLD 1

Minnewaska (15-6) 25 14 25 29

BOLD 20 25 16 27

WASKA STATS  (good-attempts-aces):  Serving (aces):   Dacia Fleury 1, Eliana Marthaler 1 . . . 96%. . . Set assists:  Haillie Schulz 43, Emma Poegel 4, Brooklyn Noyes 3, Fleury 2, Berlynn Green 1

Hitting:  Fleury 49-52-24, Mya VanLuik 39-42-15, Avery Lewison 13-14-5, Schulz 14-14-4, Addy Kath 13-14-3, Marthaler 1-2-1, Emma Hellermann 7-11-1 . . . 25%teamkill% . . . Digs: Fleury 16, Green 14, Schulz 13, Poegel 12, Marthaler 11, VanLuik 9, Noyes 7, Kath 3, Lewison 2, Hellermann 2 . . Blocks (aces):  Schulz 4, Lewison 3.5, Kath 2.5, Fleury 1.5, Hellermann 1.5

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