Quantcast
skip navigation

Class 1A: Waterville-Elysian-Morristown to meet defending champ Bethlehem Academy

By Star Tribune, 11/13/15, 4:45PM CST

Share

The Buccaneers defeated Tracy-Milroy-Balaton in four sets while the Cardinals cruised past Heritage Christian Academy.


Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 3, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 1


Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's Evelyn Dolan (10) and RaeAhna Harmon (10) of Waterville-Elysian-Morristown go up for the ball in the Class 1A semifinals. Photo: MATT BLEWETT • matt@mattebphoto.com, special to Star Tribune (click on photo to see more)

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown needed late rallies in the first two sets, including a come-from-behind victory in the second after trailing 24-20, en route to a 26-24, 27-25, 24-26, 25-21 victory over Tracy-Milroy-Balaton on Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

Senior Kamryn Kendall led all players with 24 kills, and junior Kate Masberg added 17.

Syndey Lanoue had 21 kills for Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.

It was a decisive victory, but little came easily for the Buccaneers.

“You live for these moments when you can compete against the best in the state and see how good you are and see what it brings out in you,” Waterville-Elysian-Morristown coach Crystal Lamont said. “These girls just kept on battling.”

The Buccaneers, playing in their first state tournament, will take on Gopher Conference rival Bethlehem Academy for the championship on Saturday.

That may have been on their minds Friday when, one point away from advancing, they watched a 24-20 lead evaporate in the third set, which was eventually won by Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.

“It’s always in the back of your mind,” Kendall said with a laugh, “but we’re told to just play the next point.”

 

FIRST REPORT

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown dispatched Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 26-24, 27-25, 24-26, 25-21 on Friday, but despite advancing to Saturday's championship match in their first-ever trip to state, the Buccaneers are learning quickly that nothing comes easily at Xcel Enery Center.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown needed late rallies in each of the first two sets, including a come-from-behind victory in the second set after trailing 24-20. Then the Buccaneers watched their own 24-20 lead slip away in the third set.

The fourth set looked to be heading the same way, as Tracy-Milroy-Balaton went on a 6-1 run to cut the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown lead to 23-21.

But a kill from Kamryn Kendall and a misplayed attack from Tracy-Milroy-Balaton sent the Buccaneers into the title match.

Most of Waterville-Elysian-Morristown’s success came on the precise play of seniors Kendall, Kate Masberg and RaeAhna Harmon.

Kendall led all players with 24 kills, while Masberg added 17.

Harmon served for four consecutive points during the Game 2 rally and finished the match with 18 digs and 13 kills.

For Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, last year’s Class 1A runner-up, took Game 3 with a rally of its own, winning 26-24 after trailing 24-20. But with just one senior and five sophomores on its nine-player roster, the Panthers had a difficult time closing out the Buccaneers.

Syndey Lanoue led Tracy-Milroy-Balaton with 21 kills.


Bethlehem Academy 3, Heritage Christian Academy 0


Bethlehem Academy's Keely Skluzacek dove for the ball to set up a return in the Cardinals' match with Heritage Christian Academy. Photo: MATT BLEWETT • matt@mattebphoto.com, special to Star Tribune (click on photo to see more)

 The defending champion Cardinals cruised in their 25-11, 25-17, 25-19 semifinal victory over the No. 4 seed Eagles.

The Cardinals didn’t let up, with 43 kills as a team compared to 28 for Heritage Christian. Even after taking the first set, encouraging phrases like “don’t let up” could be heard from the Cardinals as the teams switched sides.

“We only have one game today, so we may as well just leave everything on the floor,” sophomore Mary Campbell said.

The top-seeded Cardinals started with a 7-0 run and controlled play from there.

“We wanted to take as much of their (the Eagles) emotion out of it as we could,” coach Franz Boelter said. “Fortunately we were able to do that.”

That set the tone for the match.

“It’s the intimidation factor right away,” senior Madi Strodtman said. 

The Cardinals had no errors on the attack in the first set. In the second set, the Eagles held a lead before the Cardinals rattled off a 6-0 run to get them back in it.

 

FIRST REPORT

The defending champion Cardinals just kept on cruising in a 25-11, 25-17, 25-19 victory over the No. 4 seed Eagles.

Bethlehem Academy started with a 7-0 run and controlled play from there.

The Cardinals did not make any errors on the attack in the first set. They had 43 kills as a team, with 17 from Payton Nutter, 14 from Madi Strodtman and 10 from Mary Campbell. 

Most Popular