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Rosemount volleyball readies attack game for playoffs

By BRYCE EVANS, Special to the Star Tribune, 10/21/14, 6:56PM CDT

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Showing flashes of its attack game, the Rosemount volleyball team eyes playoff success.


Rosemount senior, Ellie Vraa goes up for a spike during practice Thursday morning, October 16 at Rosemount High School. ] (SPECIAL TO THE STAR TRIBUNE/BRE McGEE) **Elie Vraa (yellow shirt, senior)

For roughly a game and a half in its match with South Suburban Conference power Lakeville South on Oct. 14, the Rosemount volleyball team finally looked like the squad it knew it could be.

The Irish’s young players were attacking the net, transitioning quickly to offense and imposing “their game” on the Cougars. Rosemount won the first game 25-17 and led early in the second.

Then the wheels came off. Lakeville South rebounded in the second game, winning 25-23, and took each of the next two games to close out the match.

“We played really well, really strong for two games,” Rosemount Coach Smokey Vitek said. “And we kind of let up, and it got away from us.

“But our team saw what it can do. That’s what they’re capable of, and they showed it.”

The Irish (16-8) have had those moments frequently this year. Rosemount defeated a strong Waconia squad a few days before that Lakeville South match. The Irish defeated Shakopee in a four-setter on Sept. 11. The team wound up fourth in a strong South Suburban.

And now, as the Irish open the Class 3A, Section 3 tournament Thursday — the team has a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed — players are hoping for everything to come together for a deep playoff run.

“We have the skill and drive and desire, but we just have to get out there and do what we know we can do,” senior Ellie Vraa said.

Rosemount has just three seniors on its varsity roster, which also has five juniors, two sophomores, two freshmen and eighth-grader Marissa Hinkle.

The range in experience and ages, Vitek said, has led to inconsistent play. A challenge has been to find balance — from match to match, game to game and point to point.

Consistency has proved difficult through the regular season. Rosemount had a stretch when it won five of six matches. It also lost four of six at one point.

The challenge of integrating so many young players into the team, though, has been “great,” Vraa said.

“It brings a totally different perspective to practice and to everything. We’re really learning as we go,” the co-captain said. “It’s fun to be in a position where they look up to you, and it’s fun to see everything grow and learn as the year’s gone on.”

If Rosemount is to keep its season going, Vitek said, the Irish need to play like the team in that first stretch against Lakeville South. Attack — that’s the key, she said. It’s a matter of believing in themselves.

“I think it’s more of a confidence thing against better teams, and we need to adjust quicker to playing them,” said junior Brittany McLean, the team’s top hitter. “We’ve learned from it, though, each time.”

“We’re close to doing it and putting it all together,” Vraa said. “We just need to focus on the little things and apply all [the lessons] we’ve learned and go out there and play like we can.”

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