Photo gallery: Class 1A semifinals
“We just go out there and play,” Nihart said.
The Tigers came back from losing the first set, sending the ball back over the net during long rallies and sticking with the Jaguars throughout the match. Junior Emma Kniefel had a match-high 19 kills and 14 digs. Luebbe and sophomore Kinsey Cronin added 11 kills each. For the match, the Jaguars led 60-49 in the kill category.
The first set was competitive until the last point, with neither team getting much of a run going. Medford went up 17-14 before the Jaguars won the next four points out of the timeout, the longest run of the set, to go up 18-17. The score was tied four more times before the Jaguars closed out the set with a kill from senior Emily Knight.
Though Medford came out flat in the first set, coach Missy Underdahl said, she talked with her team at the break about swinging the ball more.
“’We have to be the aggressors in this game,’” Underdahl said.
The Tigers used 5-0 and 6-0 runs in the second set to maintain a bigger lead. The Jaguars tried to come back with a 6-1 late rally and saved three set points. But the deficit was too much and the Tigers knotted the match at one set apiece. The Jaguars had nine service errors in the match, including one on set point in the second. Missing serves is something that can’t happen in such a tight match, coach Kevin Weller said.
Medford used an 8-2 run to close out the third set. Junior Izzy Reuvers ended one of the longest points of the match with a kill to take a 5-4 lead in the third. On the point, Medford stayed alive by getting to a ball that went over near its own bench area.
Medford pulled away in the fourth set with a 10-1 run. They won the last four points with a kill from Kniefel and three consecutive kills from Luebbe.
“We played aggressive ball, and then we took the momentum away from them,” Underdahl said.
Weller couldn’t say enough about Medford.
“They just played lights out,” Weller said. “They kept us out of system. Anything we put at them, they dug up.”
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa sophomore setter Karsee Kampsen tallied 49 set assists in the match. She came in needing just two more to reach the 2,000 mark for her career.
“That’s quite an accomplishment for a sophomore,” Weller said after Thursday’s quarterfinal victory.
Knight led the Jaguars (27-5) with 15 kills, followed by senior Allison Gruber and junior Brittany Berge with 14 and 13 kills each. One of the differences in the match was Medford constantly attacking, according to Knight.
“When our momentum was away from us, we struggled a little bit,” Berge said.
Medford will face last year’s runner-up Minneota in Saturday’s Class 1A championship match.