MACA girls start post-season strong

Special note: On this date, October 26, in 1960, Calvin Griffith decided to move his Washington Senators to Minnesota, where they were re-named the Twins.

   

The MACA girls hit the gym floor running on Friday (10/25), winning by sweep in their first post-season match.

The Tigers are in for the Section 3AA semis. The 3-0 success on Friday, here, was over Montevideo. A balanced hitting attack had the Thunder Hawks overwhelmed.

MACA hopes to show such strong suits when action resumes on Tuesday. The Tuesday foe will be Litchfield at Litchfield. Litch is called the "Dragons."

Fans at our Morris Area High gym on Friday saw teams going in opposite directions. Coach Kristi Fehr's orange and black crew came out of the night with a 17-5 record. Monte's mark: 7-13. Monte is done for the season.

Scores in the 3-0 MACA success were 25-10, 25-22 and 25-16.

That balanced hitting attack had four individuals sharing the wealth. Here they are: Sydney Engebretson (nine kills, 22 of 26 in good/attempts), Terianne Itzen (eight kills on a perfect 22 of 22), Lacee Maanum (seven kills, 17-for-18) and Paige Schieler (seven kills, 23-for-26).

Kayla Pring had three kills on nine of ten G/A, and Nicole Strobel added two kills to the mix on five of six.

Maanum and Engebretson each had two ace blocks followed by these Tigers each with one: Strobel, Scheiler, Itzen and Pring.

Itzen was the top contributor in digs with 19 while Beth Holland had 17, Haley Erdahl nine and Engebretson eight.

Erdahl and Chelsey Ehleringer were proficient in setting, posting 12 and 10 set assists, respectively.

Holland sent two ace serves at the T-Hawks. She was a perfect 18 of 18 in good/attempts. Itzen picked up a serving ace while going eight-for-nine in G/A. Hunter Mundal was 14 of 15 in serving. Erdahl was nine of ten, Engebretson eight of eight and Ehleringer 11 of 12.

Montevideo had no serving aces. They had a very active setter in Tori Kuhlmann who performed 24 set assists. They had two hitters each with eight kills: Alyssa Stern and Abby Olson. Jessie Janisch had 14 digs and Olson had 13.

 

Hunting vs. the pacifist philosophy

I occasionally wear camouflage clothing but I'm not trying to fool wildlife.

Hunting clothing is popular among many people who don't seek to hunt. For one thing, manufacturers of hunting clothing know how to keep people warm. There certainly is a need for that even when you're not out in a duck blind or up in a tree stand.

I haven't hunted since my early 20s. The pastime is reportedly not as popular today. One columnist has complained that the regulations have gotten too complicated. Onerous regulations will certainly push the participation down.

The inherent "fun" in hunting seems hard to find, at least in my perception. The idea of a bunch of guys together with loaded guns seems dangerous on the face of it. Going out on a body of water seeking ducks seems dangerous. The water is mighty cold.

Watching a wounded duck in its death spasms doesn't seem pleasant. Retrieving a bloody duck from the water doesn't seem pleasant. Deceiving ducks with decoys seems cowardly. It's a mismatch.

For what end do we engage in this activity? To each his own, I guess.

I comment as someone with experience doing it. I have been to Wyoming where shooting a deer can seem a little like shooting cattle. Hunters there tend to raise the bar and seek a trophy.

I have been in the north woods where the sheer splendor of the pristine surroundings - and that occasional call of a raven - seem fully like a reward without firing a shot.

A day on a deer stand can get you acquainted with the resident red squirrel.

Locally I hunted ducks at Frog Lake (a.k.a. Gorder Lake), Flax Lake and Mud Lake. The memories are remote.

I'm not going to suggest that hunting be outlawed. But it seems an anomaly within our safety-attuned culture of today. It seems to be declining on its own, just like smoking declined before the law started closing like a vise on it.

It seems rather base and barbaric, going out with a gun to seek wild game. Shooting for food? That's what Jed Clampett did. No one has a need to shoot game for food.

My father said late in his life that he had drifted away from hunting, and that he now believed in "live and let live."

Getting out in nature is wonderful. I don't visit duck hotspots any more, but I'd love to observe that "northern flight" again from close range, where I could appreciate the sound of a tightly-grouped flock of bluebills coming overhead and sounding literally like a jet plane!

I love seeing the deer out by the Pomme de Terre River. The wildlife around us are an aesthetic pleasure, a celebration of God's creation.

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