Staff photo by Ali Servey Sleepy Eye During the second round of volleyball, St. Mary’s Morgan Mathiowetz (3) and Kylie Nelson (14) stand up to attack the ball while Sleepy Eye’s Jaylin Schaumann, 11, and Kayla Hecht (bottom right) play defense during Monday’s tournament game at St. Mary’s High School.
SLEEPY EYE — For the third year in a row, 4th-seeded Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s and 13th-seeded Sleepy Eye Public faced off in Section 2A of the volleyball tournament, with the Knights coming out victorious as they had the previous two seasons. To advance in the tournament.
St. Mary’s went 3-1 the past two years, but this time they defeated the Indians 25-17, 25-14, 25-18 on Monday at St. Mary’s High School for a convincing sweep. I was able to do that. .
“It’s always a big game.” said St. Mary’s setter Josie Helget. “We want to come out with energy, because if you get down you can lose quickly, so we just have to come out with energy and really play our game and use everything we can.” Please take care of our team and take care of the ball.”
Helget had 25 set assists and four aces for the Knights, who had seven aces as a team.
“I was struggling with my serve at the beginning of this season and definitely last year as well.” Helget said. “That was my goal this season, to improve my serve and be more consistent for the team. That was my personal goal, but to improve my serve and be more consistent for the team. It has always been my goal to provide.”
St. Mary’s head coach Kari Hoffman said the team was focused on serve entering the match, knowing they could find value in a good serve.
“I knew the serve was going to be a big part of the game.” Hoffman said. “So we really focused on hitting really good serves and making sure we were ready, and it paid off.”
Also for St. Mary’s, Morgan Mathiowetz had 10 kills and 10 digs, and Reece Hoffman had eight kills and 10 digs. Amelia Schwartz added four kills for the Knights.
For Sleepy Eye, Sam Price had seven kills and two blocks, and Paige Harla had five kills and nine digs. Eva Kunkel had 12 assists and four digs.
Both teams started the match with plenty of energy and after St. Mary’s took an initial lead, the two rivals battled to a 12-12 draw.
“I thought they (St. Mary’s) came out relaxed, played relaxed and played like they were having fun.” Director Hoffman said. “What we’ve said from the beginning is this group is very cohesive. They play really well as a team. When we bring that energy, they play it well. I will master it.”
Meanwhile, Sleepy Eye matched the energy at first, but that energy started to wear off after St. Mary’s went on a 5-0 run in the first set to take an 18-14 lead and forced the Indians to take a timeout. Ta.
“In the beginning, we were strong and we got hot.” Sleepy Eye head coach Sidney Geiger said. “I started to lose a little bit of it, but I found a way to get back up. Then it was over, and it kind of faded from there. I had it for a while, but I just couldn’t find it again. I think that was the biggest reason we couldn’t be consistent.”
Kunkel’s kill kept Sleepy Eye within 21-17, but St. Mary’s closed out the set with a 4-0 run led by Schwartz’s kill to take control of the match.
St. Mary’s carried that momentum into the second set, with three aces from Helget giving the Knights a 6-0 lead. Jaylin Schauman and Price each had kills for the Indians and a Sleepy Eye timeout stopped the bleeding, but the Knights continued to press. Reese Hoffman’s three kills and Schwartz’ one kill helped the Knights extend their lead to 13-4. Sleepy Eye got some relief with kills from Makayla Strong and Harla, but St. Mary’s also scored with a block from Reese Hoffman and a kill from Mathiowetz to make the score 18-8. The Indians were unable to return two of Ella Pollard’s serves, and St. Mary’s held that lead until the end of the set.
Sleepy Eye found some success early in the third set, scoring the first point on a block by Price, then getting a kill from Price to protect an 8-6 lead. St. Mary’s was led 11-1 with kills by Reese Hoffman, Helgett and Mathiowetz. Sleepy Eye called a timeout as Harla got two kills to stay in the game, but Mathiowetz helped push St. Mary’s all the way with three kills until the Knights completed the sweep.
Sleepy Eye finished the season with a record of 12 wins, 13 losses, and 1 draw, despite battling injuries and illness.
“We have really overcome a lot this season.” Geiger said. “Between injuries and illnesses and everything in between, there were a lot of lineups we had to put together. I give these girls a lot of credit for their ability to adapt on the fly. Sometimes the game’s At the last minute, I thought, “I have to change the lineup because the disease is progressing.” So it’s a credit to them that they were able to do that and still push through and play well overall.
“We finished the season at just about .500, but I think it’s because of these seniors that they really grew this year and stepped up. They knew they really had to do it this year. I’m proud of all four of them for their efforts on and off the floor as they have stepped up even more.”
Sleepy Eye will lose four graduating seniors from this year’s team: Nora Coulson, Harla, Jace Schauman and Kayla Hecht.
Meanwhile, St. Mary’s improved to 22-5 on the year and will play fifth-seeded Cedar Mountain in the quarterfinals of the Section 2A tournament Thursday at 7:45 p.m. at St. Peter High School. The last time the teams met on Oct. 8, St. Mary’s defeated Cedar Mountain in five sets.
“We have to play our game and stay calm.” Helget said. “We know we’re going to play some tough teams as we move into the playoffs. Just stay calm, have fun and play our game.”
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