The success started with a hard-fought win over a stubborn
Wheaton-Herman-Norcross team at Wheaton, Monday. That win went into the books
3-2.
Then came Tuesday (10/8), when the home gym was the site for a match vs.
Minnewaska Area. The Lakers proved to be not so stubborn and this win went into
the books 3-0. The Tigers enter mid-week with a 15-4 overall record, 8-3 in
conference.
Tigers 3, Minnewaska 0
Game scores in the success vs. Minnewaska were 25-23, 25-14 and 25-19.
Haley Erdahl put up 16 set assists while Chelsey Ehleringer had 14.
Nicole Strobel had an ace block. Terianne Itzen led on the digs list with
24, followed by Beth Holland (18), Hunter Mundal (11), Ehleringer (10), Erdahl
(8), Paige Schieler (6) and Kayla Pring (6).
Four Tigers each had one serving ace: Mundal, Itzen, Ehleringer and Pring.
Here's the good/attempts rundown on the four: Mundal (14/16), Itzen (10/10),
Ehleringer (13/13) and Pring (6/7). Holland put up 16 serve attempts and was
good on all. Erdahl was good on all of her ten. Sydney Engebretson was two of
two.
We'll wrap up this report with hitting. Here it was Itzen setting the pace
with her 13 kills on 34 of 36 good/attempts. Schieler came through with 11 kills
and 24/33 good/attempts stats. Engebretson slammed down eight kills on 20 of 28
in G/A.
Three Tigers each slammed three kills: Strobel (eight of eight G/A), Erdahl
(15 of 16) and Pring (14/16). Lacee Maanum added a kill to the mix, going six of
seven in the process.
Minnewaska Area came out of the night at 9/12 in overall W/L, 3-8
conference. Emma Middendorf and Ariel Ostrander both had seven kills for the
visiting Lakers.
Tigers 3, W-H-N 2
The Tigers traveled west for non-conference action vs. the Warriors of
Wheaton-Herman-Norcross on Monday evening. W-H-N was going to give the Tigers a
good test. The Warriors are way over .500 in won-lost. Their win total surpasses
the Tigers.
On Monday the teams looked very evenly matched, and the full five-game
match developed with neither team able to firmly seize momentum.
The deciding game #5 had Morris Area Chokio Alberta in good position much of the way. But the
Warriors made a game of it before MACA was finally able to put finishing touches
on the win. The game #5 margin of success was four points.
Here's a complete review of the night's scores: 17-25, 25-19, 25-19, 12-25
and 15-11. The Warriors had lost for just the third time this season.
Meanwhile coach Kristi Fehr's orange and black squad stayed very much on a
roll. They had enough left in the gas tank to polish off Minnewaska in three
games the next night.
Chelsey Ehleringer put up 17 set assists in Monday's five-game marathon.
Haley Erdahl put up 15. The stamina of setters means a lot in five-game matches.
Beth Holland had two serving aces while going 20 of 23 in good/attempts.
Also performing two serve aces was Erdahl whose G/A stats were 14 of 15. Hunter
Mundal had 16 good serves in 17 attempts. Terianne Itzen was a flawless 12 of
12. Sydney Engebretson's numbers: 9 of 11. And Ehleringer's: 16 of 16.
Maanum led the way in ace blocks with four. Engebretson had three ace
blocks, Nicole Strobel two and Itzen one.
A five-game match will have lots of players on the digs list. Itzen topped
this list Monday for MACA with her 28. She was followed closely by Holland with
25. Mundal came through with 12, followed by Erdahl and Ehleringer each with
eleven, Engebretson with eight, Strobel with six and Schieler and Pring with
five each.
In hitting it was Schieler leading the way with her 15 kills on 36 of 45 in
good/attempts. Itzen pounded down eleven kills on 46 of 51 in G/A. Engebretson
came at the Warriors with nine kills on 31 of 35 in G/A. Kayla Pring's numbers
were eight kills and 23/25 G/A. Lacee Maanum went 16 of 21 and had six kills.
Strobel's numbers: 14 of 19, five kills.
A theory on coach Kill's absence
Is it possible that coach Jerry Kill of the Gophers didn't really have a
seizure Saturday morning? It was reported that his health situation acted up
again over the weekend, preventing even his appearance at the U of Michigan
stadium where the Gophers were playing football.
The Gophers and Michigan Wolverines played for the Little Brown Jug. As the
Gophers have been weak for all of the adult life of Minnesota's boomer
population, there has been little suspense or drama over where the jug is going
to go. In a bygone age there definitely was suspense. But the Gophers faded once
the pro Vikings became the darlings of Minnesota's boomer sports fans.
So, should we buy the fact coach Kill had a seizure Saturday morning? Is
there room for a conspiracy theory here?
Here's my theory: Coach Kill may in fact have been as stable as he normally
is, but the powers-that-be at the U of Michigan may have had concerns.
Over 100,000 fans can show up for Michigan's home games in Ann Arbor. It's
hard to visualize such a turnout. I don't think I've ever seen one over 50,000.
At our old Metropolitan Stadium, the place looked like it was full any time the
turnout was over 35,000. My God, over 100,000 fans? Can they all get a decent
view?
Anyway, the U of Michigan administration may have become concerned about
the possible spectacle of coach Kill having a seizure during the game. We all
understand this is an unfortunate health circumstance. We all feel sympathy and
empathy and all those warm qualities.
However, the sight of this man writhing cannot be described as pleasant. A
large portion of those 100,000-plus fans would have no background knowledge.
Not wanting the fans to be unreasonably traumatized - after all, this is an
entertainment event - the U of Michigan leadership may have asserted itself.
Maybe they said that in order for Kill to come, a large statement would have to
be placed on the front of the game program, stating that Minnesota's head
coach had a handicap and to be aware and advised of such. Perhaps the Minnesota
administration then balked at that.
At loggerheads, maybe everyone concerned decided it would just be best
that Kill not be there.
Sometimes conspiracy theories are correct, Kemosabe.
- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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