Two area volleyball teams upset in section finals
SAUK RAPIDS – The season didn’t end how they wanted it to. The top-seeded Albany and ROCORI volleyball teams were upset in their section championships, both losing to teams they had beaten during the regular season.
Albany was upset in the Section 6-2A championship by two-seed Pequot Lakes, and ROCORI lost to two-seed Detroit Lakes in the Section 8-3A title game. It took four sets to down the Huskies and five for the Spartans.
Albany (25-4) beat Pequot Lakes (27-5) twice during the regular season and hadn’t lost a postseason game in its previous two matches against Holdingford (18-10) and Melrose (21-8). In the championship Saturday in Sauk Rapids, Albany won its first game against the Patriots, too. But it took a few extra serves to win 28-26. Pequot Lakes stormed back with 25-19 and 25-10 victories in the second and third games. Albany players fought hard in the fourth set, but eventually lost 26-24.
Albany coach Brian Hines called Pequot Lakes “A very, very good team,” after the Melrose win Thursday.
“They have another big block in the middle, really, really outstanding players,” he said. “They serve tough and have a great coach in Christine Ganley.”
Hines was named the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Section coach of the year.
Albany junior Hannah Klein had 25 kills and 16 digs in the loss. Classmate Ellery Ehresmann assisted most of those kills, she set up 46 total during the match. Paige Lauer led the team in digs. The junior had 22.
Lauer, Ehresmann and Klein were named to the all-section team.
Roundup on Tech, Apollo and other teams: See which St. Cloud-area volleyball teams have advanced in section tournaments
For ROCORI (26-4), the Section 8-3A championship Thursday against Detroit Lakes (25-7) was a battle. The Spartans lost the first game 25-17 before coming back to win the second 25-22. They traded games again with the Lakers, losing the third 25-20 and winning the fourth 25-21. In the deciding set, the Spartans came up short 15-11.
After beating Becker (10-13) in the semifinals, coach Heidi Willenbring said she wanted to see another fast start in the championship.
Cathedral's postseason win: GALLERY: St. Cloud Cathedral volleyball advances to section quarters with win over Pierz
“This team has to have fun right away and that loosens them up,” she said. “Otherwise we always start tense.”
The Spartans won ten more matches in Willenbring’s first year at the helm than in 2022 and she noted the team only loses two starting seniors: hitter Ava Stalboerger and setter Ava Hirschfeld.
“Playing in the championship has been our goal all season,” Stalboerger said. “The last three years we haven’t made it past the second round of playoffs, so at the beginning that’s been our biggest goal.”
Albany's tournament-opening win: GALLERY: Albany volleyball sweeps Little Falls
Section 5-2A
On Oct. 27, Kimball (14-13) was not able to come back against Maple Lake (16-12), losing 3-1 in the teams’ only meeting this year. The Cubs bounced back from a 25-13 opening-game loss to tie the match in the second game, winning 25-22, but only managed 14 points in the third set. The final game ended 25-19. Kimball junior Ellie Becker had 15 kills and senior Allison Leither had 10. Becker also led the team in assists with 33. Freshman Maize Jurek led in blocks with six and senior Natalie Lohrer had 27 digs. Maple Lake lost to Annandale (20-8) in the quarterfinals Oct. 31.
Section 6-2A
Holdingford kept its quarterfinal match against Albany on Oct. 31 close in all three sets. The Huskies won 25-22, 25-21 and 25-18. Husker senior Makenna Hohbein had 16 digs, the most on the court. Hohbein also had nine kills for the Huskers. Senior Maddy Mitchell had eight. The ninth-seeded Huskers had previously beaten eight-seed Royalton (14-13) in the first round.
On the other side of the bracket, sixth-seeded St. Cloud Cathedral (18-10) fell in three sets to three-seed Sauk Centre (23-6) on Oct. 31 in the quarterfinals. All three sets were close however, as the Crusaders’ fell 25-22, 25-20 and 25-21. Cammy Sand had 27 set-assists, many going to Ellie Voth, who had 17 kills for Cathedral. Voth also had 12 Digs, behind teammate Sydney Wahlin. The Mainstreeters were defeated by Pequot Lakes.
Section 8-3A
Like Albany, ROCORI lost its first postseason game in the championship round. It swept Little Falls (1-22) and Becker in the previous rounds. The Bulldogs showed heart in the semifinal, scoring 18 and 17 points in the second and third games while trailing most of the time. This year is the first season since 2019 the Bulldogs won double-digit matches. Coach Jess Vealetzek was happy with how her squad’s teamwork progressed throughout the year.
“We have more options, so we’ve been able to do more with our offense,” she said. “I feel like our back row has stopped up a ton and our defense and serve receive was heads above where it was last season.”
Section 8-4A
After sweeping Sauk Rapids-Rice (14-10) in the quarterfinal round Oct 28, three-seed Sartell (23-6) was the latest victim to seven-seed Bemidji’s (14-14) run to the section final. The Lumberjacks opened the tournament by beating one of the top seeds, St. Michael-Albertville (18-11), in four games and found themselves in the championship against the other side of the bracket’s one seed, Rogers (26-3).
In the semifinal on Oct. 31, the Sabres pushed Bemidji in the first set, eventually losing 26-24. They lost the next two 25-17 and 25-22. Sartell senior Abby Haus had 12 kills, 20 digs and 2 aces. Grace Schulte had 23 assists and 6 kills and another senior, Aubrey Flynn, had 24 digs.
Rogers swept Bemidji in the championship Thursday.
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: ROCORI and Albany volleyball lose in 2023 section tournament
