Staff photo by Ali Selby: New Ulm Cathedral’s Olivia Maccio (1) and Shay Wilfert (9) step up to block Minnesota Valley Lutheran University’s Olivia Hammer (far left) during a non-conference volleyball match at MVL High School on Tuesday.
NEW ULM — Despite a close game, New Ulm Cathedral emerged victorious, defeating Minnesota Valley Lutheran University 25-23, 25-14, 28-26 in a non-conference volleyball match on Tuesday at MVL High School.
“After the first set, I thought we did a much better job of moving the ball offensively.” “We’re thrilled to be a part of this team,” Cathedral head coach Becky Wilfert said. “I found some open spots there and got around the block. I thought I did a good job distributing the ball to the other guys. Same with my serve. I thought my serve was the key. I was able to get out of their system a lot, which helped us offensively.”
Shay Wilfert led the Greyhounds in the match with 20 kills and 13 digs. Jaylyn Hartness added 10 kills, 12 digs and two ace serves while Ava Kruger had seven kills and 10 digs. Madeline Harla totaled 32 set assists and 17 digs in the match.
MVL displayed strong front row defense in the match, totaling eight blocks for the team. Jenna Bates had four blocks and four kills, Marley Schauer had 12 kills, four digs and one block. Olivia Hammer added four kills, 23 digs, three blocks and two aces, while Eden Grubbs had 11 set assists, eight digs and one ace. Avery Fryer had nine set assists, seven digs and one ace.
MVL head coach Johanna Kettner said front-row defense is something the team has been working on since the beginning of the season.
“That’s something we definitely wanted to improve on from the last game.” She said. “We’ve been working on that in practice and we knew coming into this game that they have a strong outside and middle. They have some heavy hitters, so we knew we had to contain them somehow. Use our height to our advantage and move well and get the job done. That was one of our big focuses and I think we did a good job of it.”
MVL had four blocks in the first set, three by Bates, but Cathedral was able to start the set on a 6-0 lead thanks to two kills from Shay Wilfert and one from Krueger. MVL fought back, with blocks from Schauer and Bates sparking an 8-2 run that included kills from Bates and Hammer. Another kill from Hammer tied the game at 9-9 before an ace by Grubbs put the Chargers up a 10-9 lead.
The teams traded points on several serves before a Hartness kill gave Cathedral an 18-15 lead, forcing an MVL timeout.
MVL used a timeout to tie the score again and a kill by Schauer made the score 20-20. Cathedral also took a timeout and two straight points to retake the lead. The teams traded points, but Shay Wilfert got the set-clinching kill to give Cathedral the win, 25-23.
Cathedral adjusted to the MVL defense in the second, spreading the ball around the perimeter and attacking the spacing of the Chargers’ defense.
“We knew they would block well.” That’s what coach Wilfert said. “We had a scrimmage just now and part of it was our hitters looking at the blocks, seeing what they’re taking away and what they’re giving us. Just finding those spots and not necessarily hitting the ball full out every time, just putting the ball down and being a little more strategic.”
The Greyhounds led 7-2 behind three kills from Cathedral’s Shay Wilfert, and an MVL timeout couldn’t slow the onslaught, as an ace from Abby Hillesheim put the Greyhounds up 17-6.
The Chargers took another timeout, this time regaining their composure and tying the score with Cathedral, but the deficit was too big to overcome, as Shay Wilfert scored another set-winning point to take the 25-14 victory.
In the third set, MVL took the early lead with a kill from Bates putting the Chargers up 8-6. Cathedral fought back with an 8-2 run on kills from Harla and Wilfert to take a 14-9 lead. Both teams traded points on several serves before MVL took a timeout at 19-15.
After a timeout, MVL got within one point, cutting Cathedral’s lead to 21-20. This time, the Greyhounds took a timeout to regain their footing. MVL led 26-25 on kills from Bates and Claudia Weisensel Schauer. The match turned around as Cathedral scored three consecutive points on Sophia Netzke’s serve to seal the win.
Cathedral (2-1) opens conference play on Thursday with a home game against Wabasso, while MVL (0-2) hosts Lake Crystal Welcome Memorial in conference action on Thursday.
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