Less than five minutes after being eliminated from the championship bracket at the state volleyball tournament, Sauk Rapids-Rice already hit the reset button on its goal.
“Consolation champions sounds pretty good to me,” Storm head coach Gail Bialke said.
The attitude adjustment proved necessary and became seemingly inevitable as their quarterfinal match against Cretin-Derham Hall played out Nov. 5 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. The Raiders matched SRR’s height, talent and athleticism, but it was their blocking game that ultimately proved the difference as the Storm was sent to the consolation bracket with a 3-1 loss.
Scores were 25-18, 29-27, 19-25 and 25-18. SRR played Big Lake (13-18) in the consolation semifinals Nov. 7 at Grand Casino Arena. The consolation championship is at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8. Sixth-seeded Mahtomedi and seventh-seeded Grand Rapids played in the other consolation semifinal.
Top-seeded Marshall, which has won three of the past four state titles, breezed past Big Lake, while No. 2 Benilde-St. Margaret’s swept Grand Rapids and No. 3 Stewartville defeated Mahtomedi in four sets.
“That was definitely the toughest block we’ve faced,” said Aubrey Marketson, Storm senior setter. “They take up so much space on the net, so you have less space to hit behind them. The bigger the block, the harder it is for our hitters to adjust to bad sets. Even if we did put up an OK ball, it was hard for our hitters to hit around it.”
The Raiders out-blocked the Storm 21-10 and had a hitting percentage advantage of .263 to .222.
“That was a lot of fun — Sauk Rapids is an amazing team,” CDH coach Erin Horn said. “They battle, and they’re super defensive. We knew what to expect, but at the same time, you never know what they’re going to come out with or how they’re going to run their plays. Their middles were on fire, and we had to try to balance who we tried to take away. They were an incredible opponent, and we’re thankful we won.”
The match had the makings of a quick one as the Raiders controlled the opening set and led 10-2 in the second before SRR found its game, scratching its way back to a 20-18 lead. The teams traded leads the rest of the set, with the Storm having two set points they did not convert. Set 3 saw SRR jump to a 16-9 lead before holding on to force Set 4.
“We just started putting the ball away more,” said senior Wendi Peterson, who had five kills. “We were serve receiving great passes, playing great defense and we had great sets. I also think we started using our energy to our advantage to help us get some momentum back.”
The Storm got no closer than 18-14 in the fourth set. Junior Josie Anderson had 12 kills, and senior Stella Lambaere had 11 kills, 41 serve receives and 22 digs. Emma Sundby added a team-best 18 set assists, with Marketon finishing with 16. Claire Rogholt had seven kills and four blocks, and Abbey Meinert had 25 serve receives and 18 digs.
“In the first set, we were nervous,” Lambaere said. “It was a completely new atmosphere with the lights and the crowd, and I think that affected us early.”
Cretin-Derham Hall 3, SRR 1
(25-18, 29-27, 19-25, 25-18)
SRR: Anderson 12 kills, 2 service aces, 18 serve receive, 19 digs and 3 blocks; Ruby Gustofson 4 kills, 1 serve receive and 5 digs; Lambaere 11 kills, 41 serve receive and 22 digs; Marketon 1 kill, 16 set assists, 2 serve aces and 8 digs; Meinert 3 set assists, 25 serve receives and 18 digs; Peterson 5 kills, 1 set assist and 1 dig; Rogholt 7 kills, 2 digs and 4 blocks; and Sundby 18 set assists and 7 digs.
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