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East Ridge earns decisive road victory against Rosemount

By Ellis Williams, SportsEngine, 09/21/17, 10:30AM CDT

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The Raptors defeated the Irish in four sets.


East Ridge freshman Jadyn Garrison spike the ball over the net during their match against Rosemount. The Raptors beat the Irish 3-1. Photo by Meagan Lynch, SportsEngine


East Ridge junior Maddie Knupp tips the ball over their net in their match against Rosemount. The Raptors beat the Irish 3-1. Photo by Meagan Lynch, SportsEngine

When East Ridge junior Maddie Knupp heard the news, she could not help but feel a rush of excitement.

Then came the nerves. Knupp, a player of the Raptors' junior varsity team, quickly flushed her worries as she was ready for her moment. Due to an injury to East Ridge’s starting middle, first-year coach Steve Anderson decided to put Knupp into the lineup.

It was time for Knupp to make her first varsity start and the 5-foot-11 middle had four kills and three blocks in the Raptors 25-22, 15-25, 25-17, 25-18 win at Rosemount High School on Thursday. 

“I’ve been in these high pressure situations before,” Knupp said. “I was ready to play. My teammates helped me out and encouraged me a lot.”

With her teammates behind her, Knupp started the game as if she was a polished senior. She showed explosion in attacking the ball and recorded three kills in the Raptors 25-22 opening game win.

It would’ve been impossible to tell she was making her first varsity start because it was clear Knupp felt at home in the starting lineup.

“She is positive and a great leader,” Anderson said. “She has a great relationship with the varsity girls so we knew if we plugged her in there we would not skip a beat.”

East Ridge (8-5) dropped only one game, and Rosemount coach Smokey Vitek said the Raptors had better ball control and communication throughout the game and blamed a lot of the Irish’s mistakes on themselves.

Rosemount’s inability to return simple volleys showed and Vitek felt that the Irish (9-5) did not play sound defensively.

“Our floor defense was horrible,” Vitek said. “We missed digs. There were balls that were one foot away from us and we didn’t get them. We were undisciplined in court position and slow on our block.”


Rosemount junior Jenna Grutzmacher spikes the ball over the net at their match against East Ridge. The Irish lost to the Raptors 3-1. Photo by Meagan Lynch, SportsEngine

First report

East Ridge defeated Rosemount 25-22, 15-25, 25-17, 25-18 at Rosemount High School on Thursday.  

The Raptors, ranked No. 10 in the Class 3A coaches’ poll, were lead by junior Kate Reimann’s eight kills, and junior Maddie Knupp’s four kills and three blocks while playing in her first varsity contest.   

Rosemount (9-5) bounced back after dropping the first match 25-22 and won the second game 25-15, but failed to mount a comeback after trailing the Raptors (8-5) late in both the third and fourth game.

For the Irish, Kaitlyn McLean and Abigail Campbell each had seven kills.

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