Girls not only beat NL-Spicer, they sweep!

Wow! Wow! Wow! Be honest, how many of you were expecting an MACA volleyball win Thursday night in the sub-section finals?

The Tigers were up against the top seed in sub-section. They would have to try to get past New London-Spicer. Not only were the Wildcats the top seed, the NL-S programs in general have been kind of a stone wall for MACA athletic teams over the past few years.

To the extent a sort of "hex" has developed, the Thursday (10/31) success did a lot to wipe that away.

Leave it to a former Hancock coach to coax the Tigers to new heights. In all the years I was with the print media, Hancock had kind of a magical way of achieving success beyond what that school's enrollment might indicate was possible. Hancock coaches knew they had to do some special things. Put those special things at work in Motown - the area's "big school" - and my, we could end up amazed.

The fans who attended the Tigers' win over Litchfield on Tuesday were probably not amazed or surprised at what they saw Thursday. Coach Kristi Fehr's Tigers upset second-seeded Litch at Litch.

The next test would be those Wildcats of New London-Spicer. The Tigers and Wildcats would meet Thursday on the neutral court of Benson.

I don't think many fans would have bet on a Tiger victory. But win the Tigers did! Not only did the Tigers win, they did it with a real dominating flourish, via sweep!

The Morris Area Chokio Alberta girls won by the following scores: 25-19, 25-17 and 25-16.

We won with just two serving errors - very crisp execution. Coach Fehr was quoted in the media saying of her squad: "They went into the match never thinking they were going to lose."

A balanced attack at the net complemented that sharp serving. If these attributes continue, odds will at least be decent we'll find more success on Saturday (11/2), when the foe will be Marshall. Marshall is also known as the "Tigers." Who'll have the more fierce claws on Saturday?

Marshall will be playing in its own backyard: Southwest MN State University. Marshall advanced Thursday with a four-game win over Jackson County Central.

Marshall has other credentials besides won-lost where the numbers are 28-3.

If the Tigers weren't fazed by New London-Spicer, they'll pay no mind to whatever resume Marshall brings into the Saturday competition. Marshall is the two-time defending Class AA state champion. The Tigers of Marshall have been in state time and time again. Marshall's resume includes five state championships. Three of those have come since 2007. Oh, and in five other years they've been state runners-up.

But the Tigers of Motown have a background that indicates they won't have to take a back seat to anyone. We're on a 15-match win streak.

Coach Fehr has coaxed lots of winning ingredients into place. We have a 19-5 season record.

Fehr in her media quotes stated the truism: "It's the playoffs so anything can happen." She continued: "Hopefully we can get some momentum going and go from there."

My previous post said keep an eye on Sydney Stone of the New London-Spicer Wildcats. Stone had her moments Thursday in her team's loss, with eleven kills and eleven digs, but MACA had the firepower to overcome, like with Sydney Engebretson and her 12 kills and two ace blocks. MACA had ten ace blocks total.
Engebretson had 26 good hits in 29 attempts. Terianne Itzen came through with nine kills on 27 of 29 in good/attempts. Then we have Paige Schieler with her six kills on 27 of 30 in G/A.

Lacee Maanum showed power with five kills on 13 of 14. Two Tigers each had three kills: Nicole Strobel (six-for-seven) and Kayla Pring (ten-for-eleven).

Engebretson was one of four Tigers with two ace blocks. She was joined by Strobel, Schieler and Pring. Maanum and Itzen each had one ace block.

Haley Erdahl and Chelsey Ehleringer were busy with assists, setting up that hitting attack with 13 and 12 set assists respectively.

Itzen was tops in digs: 25. Beth Holland came through with 16 digs. The list continues with Ehleringer (9), Schieler (9), Erdahl (8), Hunter Mundal (6) and Engebretson (5).

Three Tigers each had one serving ace: Holland (18/18 in G/A), Erdahl (11/12) and Engebretson (17/17).

Mundal had eleven good serves in as many attempts. Itzen was perfect on her 15 serve attempts. Ehleringer finished six-for-seven.

Surely the Wildcats weren't expecting their season to end Thursday. But it did, with a won-lost mark of 18-12.

MACA will enter the weekend with a goal of competing beyond the weekend. Coach Fehr told the media: "We'll have to go in believing we have a chance and play our game."

For sure, our Tigers will "have a chance."

MACA ought never feel intimidated by New London-Spicer again. NL-Spicer doesn't win because of the uniforms. The old Hancock teams were never intimidated by anyone. Go Tigers! Coach Fehr is complemented nicely by those orange and black colors. We're on top of 3AA-North.

Did the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper have a representative present for the historic Thursday win? I'd like to attend a match myself but I'm not sure how people would take that (i.e. since I'm not in the legacy media anymore). I'm not sure how the newspaper would take that.

I have put together an MACA Tiger football photo album for each of the past four seasons. How many online photo albums on Tiger sports has the Sun Tribune done? I'm just curious.

As for my football album, maybe someone could sponsor having a link placed on the radio station website. Whatever, I'll continue showing enthusiasm about MACA Tiger sports.

 

Cross country: Aaron Goulet makes state

The Section 6A cross country meet included a top runner named Ali McGraw. An actress with that name was popular back when I was in high school.

Runners from around Section 6A gathered at Long Prairie on Thursday, Oct. 24, for the big spectacle of the section meet. Ali McGraw of Litchfield was a top runner in the girls race.

Aaron Goulet of the MACA boys team placed 12th and this was good enough to qualify for state. Congrats to Aaron. Goulet covered the 5K route in 17:36 for his No. 12 showing. The medalist was Nick Golebiowski of St. Cloud Cathedral with his time of 16:23.

The Willmar newspaper reported that a Tiger runner named "Aaron Gray" had a 19:05 time, but I think they mean "Ryan Gray." Jon Jerke's time was 19:27. The two other Tiger runners were Eric Staebler (20:36) and Travis Ostby (20:41).

The top female runner was McKenzie Holt of St. Cloud Christian (time of 15:09 over 4K).

Savannah Aanerud led the MACA Tigers with her 16:17 time. Lauren Reimers had a 17:39 clocking. Becca Holland covered the course in 18:09. Kindra Cannon ran an 18:52 time, and Kali Berlinger had an 18:53 performance.

St. Cloud Cathedral had the top team in both boys and girls.

Our Aaron Goulet will vie in state on Saturday at St. Olaf College, Northfield.

Oh, Litch's Ali McGraw placed fourth in section with her time of 15:34.

Thanks to Sharon Ehlers for loaning me her Oct. 25 Willmar newspaper, because someone walked off with the copy at the Morris Public Library.

Special note: On this date, November 1, 1991, Minnesotans were dealing with the "Halloween Blizzard" which started the day before. A record snowfall of 24 to 36 inches blanketed the area from Duluth to the Twin Cities, the state's largest recorded snowfall in a single storm. One month previous, the Minnesota Twins with Jack Morris won the World Series.

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