Girls overpower Litch, to face NL-S next

The Tigers shone in sub-section volleyball play Tuesday night (10/29) at Litchfield.

Playing on the road meant the Tigers were the lower seed. But the Tigers looked like anything but the lower seed, as they applied a tight defense in turning back the Dragons. The Dragons were the No. 2 seed while MACA occupied the No. 3 spot. The No. 1 seed is New London-Spicer.

Those Wildcats of NL-Spicer are the Tigers' next challenge. The Tigers will surely need a good defense along with other attributes to win again. The Tigers will battle the Wildcats for the Section 3AA-North title at 7 p.m. Thursday in Benson. It's a convenient drive for the Motown fans. A healthy number will surely make the trip.

Fan support had to be deemed a factor in the Tuesday success, based on sounds coming from the radio! Fans of the orange and black have had a wealth of opportunity to cheer over the course of the 2013 fall. We're now up to 17 wins total on the season, against five losses.
Coach Kristi Fehr is smiling along with everyone else in the MACA fold.

Will we all be smiling at the end of Thursday? It would certainly be a delight.

Don't get the impression the win over Litch was a waltz. The Tigers were actually down 2-1 at one point. It was at that stage that the Tigers' defense bore down. The Tigers were going to be unyielding.

We ended up winning 3-2 (not 3-1 as was reported in a subhead in the Willmar newspaper).

Here's a complete review of the scores with MACA numbers first: 19-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-13 and 15-8. Note how Morris Area Chokio Alberta took charge toward the end. We only allowed 21 points over those last two games. MACA got in the driver's seat in game 5.

Four Tigers each had one serving ace: Hunter Mundal (17 of 17 in good/attempts), Haley Erdahl (21 of 22), Sydney Engebretson (15 of 18) and Chelsey Ehleringer (17 of 17). Beth Holland was a perfect 18 of 18 in serving, and Terianne Itzen was eight-for-nine.

Ehleringer raced around to produce 22 set assists. Erdahl came through with 13 set assists.

Paige Schieler went up to execute three ace blocks. Lacee Maanum and Kayla Pring each performed two ace blocks, and Itzen one.

In the digs department, Itzen topped the list with her 36, followed by Holland (30), Mundal (29), Engebretson (15), Erdahl (12), Ehleringer (10), Schieler (9) and Pring (5).

Let's move on to hitting: Here it was Itzen showing force with 18 kills and 53 of 62 in G/A. Engebretson slammed down 12 kills on 39 of 45. Maanum was a cog with her nine kills as part of 31 of 33 good/attempts.

Schieler added to the mix with eight kills and 27 of 34 in G/A. Nicole Strobel had five kills and 15 of 16 G/A, and Pring produced three kills on 13 of 14.

Litch closes out the 2013 season with a won-lost of 15-14. I'm not sure why they were the higher seed - must have something to do with strength of schedule. It would have been nice to have the Tuesday match here.

At least the upcoming Thursday match will be a comfortable traveling distance from here (to Benson, home of a Burger King).

Go Tigers! The top seed New London-Spicer advanced Tuesday with a 3-1 win over Redwood Valley. Sydney Stone is a premier hitter for the Wildcats.

 

An exhibit of nature

I was walking across the field north of Shopko about a week ago when I was surprised by a brilliant rainbow. I'm certain it was the finest rainbow I've ever seen. I was on a non-maintained road that hasn't changed in the 50-plus years we've lived in Morris. The property is owned by the University.

A very light rainfall was coming down. The sun peered out from the clouds. It was a perfect mix of conditions for such a wondrous display of color via the rainbow.

We all know about the "pot of gold" myth. In South Dakota there's an old legend about the giant pheasant whose colors were so striking, they gave the impression of a rainbow. Stories of the giant pheasant go back to when the first settlers came to the Dakota Territory in the early 1880s.

You've heard of the "Jersey Devil" or "Champ" the lake monster of Lake Champlain? South Dakota has its own history of a mysterious creature inspiring awe.

The legend of the giant pheasant (with anthropomorphic traits) is represented by the majestic sculpture of a pheasant, in Huron. According to legend, the actual bird froze in place there after its encounter with an amazed boy hunter.

"Why not kill me," the giant bird asked the boy. The boy responded "You are a magnificent bird."

Then the pheasant pledged that if his life would be spared, he would stay at that perch "until everyone in the world has seen my family of pheasants and me."

The pheasant requested a pledge which would be a gesture of honoring him. That pledge would be to honor the code of good sportsmanship in hunting. Seek roosters only. Harvest only in fall and winter.
The boy agreed to such sensible hunting guidelines and to see they got promoted widely.

The grand pheasant also asked that a ritual be enacted, that of releasing a single ringneck to gauge how the hunting season would go, and that if this ringneck flew toward the James River, a bountiful early season would result, and that if the flight is away from the river, the late-season will be best.

South Dakota thus has its own version of the celebrated "Groundhog Day," the vehicle for the classic movie starring Bill Murray. Perhaps Murray should have gotten stranded in South Dakota instead of Pennsylvania. South Dakota has tourist draws many of which might not be familiar to those out East.
Legend has it that the giant pheasant caused the creeks and river valleys to form, thanks to his footprints. Paul Bunyan might have done the same in Minnesota (along with "Babe").

Since pheasants literally "run," that giant pheasant must have been a real spectacle when doing so. Enough to cause the prairie winds? No doubt.

Legend and myth give tapestry to our lives and our history. Today the giant pheasant story is celebrated by Huron SD's "world's largest pheasant."

Wheaton MN has the "world's largest mallard." There is a town that has the "world's largest ball of twine," and another with the "world's largest bullhead."

So, what might our Morris come up with? Our iconic symbol could be placed where the highways meet in front of McDonald's. Let's imagine something there and then let's do it. We once had the "alfalfa arch" but that's history.

How about a big replica of that well-known "Stop and Smell the Roses" sign which has been well-known for years between Morris and Cyrus? There was once a sculpture there but it got stolen. The sign is associated with the late Dan Helberg. It's the cheeriest message you can imagine. It could be our signature.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com