See which St. Cloud-area volleyball teams have advanced in section tournaments
SAINT CLOUD – Unlike earlier this season, it only took the St. Cloud Cathedral volleyball team three games to down Pierz in the opening match of the Section 6-2A tournament Thursday in St. Cloud.
Despite some illness, the Crusaders swept the Pioneers, 25-21, 25-13 and 25-17, to advance to the quarterfinal round. In September, Pierz pushed Cathedral to a fifth game.
“We’re a whole new team,” Cathedral coach Heidi Schloe said after the playoff win. “Some girls weren’t feeling very well so we just needed to get it done so they can get home and get some rest.”
She expects the team to show its improvement even more when her players are healthy for the quarterfinal match at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Sauk Centre after the Mainstreeters (17-5) beat Osakis (8-17) in straight sets. Cathedral (18-9) has not played Sauk Centre yet this year, but the Crusaders have played in two straight section semifinals and have a lot of experienced seniors.
Cammy Sand is one of those seniors and she had 23 assists, six kills and seven digs against Pierz. Several of those sets went to junior Ellie Voth, who had 17 kills, moving her career total past 500. She also had two blocks and 17 digs, matching senior Sydney Wahlin.
“They’re used to playing together, they’ve played together for a few years,” Schloe said of her team’s chemistry, “They’re very good at connecting with one another."
She said Voth’s defense has also improved this season.
Voth agreed that Sand and the other seniors’ guidance has been helpful in her development and said she is looking forward to extending their playing career as late as possible this season.
To win against the Mainstreeters Voth said, “I think everybody, our whole team — on the bench or on the floor, just need to really talk to each other and keep our energy up.”
Check below for section scores from around Central Minnesota.
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Section 6-2A
Top-seeded Albany (24-3) had a bye to the quarterfinals and will host Holdingford (17-9-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. In the first round Thursday, the ninth-seeded Huskers beat the eighth seed, Royalton (14-13), 3-1. They beat the Royals 25-20, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23 after losing the regular season contest on Oct. 5.
Section 5-2A
On Wednesday, No. 9 seed Kimball (14-12) beat 16-seed Brooklyn Center (6-18) in three sets to play Maple Lake (13-13-1) in the second round. Against the Centaurs, senior Allison Leither had 16 kills and junior Jocelyn Zoller had 34 assists for the Cubs. Leither also had eight digs and four aces in the 25-8, 25-15, 25-12 win. The Irish are seeded eighth and will host the second-round match at 7 p.m. Saturday. They beat Kimball in five sets on Oct. 17.
Section 8-3A
Top-seeded ROCORI (24-3) swept Little Falls (1-20). The Spartans won 25-11, 25-11, 25-10 and next host Becker (10-12) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. In their quarterfinal, the fourth-seeded Bulldogs swept the No. 5 seed, St. Cloud Tech (6-19), 25-22, 25-21, 25-14.
On the other side of the bracket, St. Cloud Apollo’s (1-17) season came to a close vs. 2-seed Detroit Lakes (22-7). The Eagles lost in three games, 25-12, 25-5, 25-11.
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud-area high school volleyball results in Minnesota playoffs
