"You'll never get ahead if you don't take care of what you have." - Doris Waddell, RIP

The late Ralph E. Williams with "Heidi" - morris mn

The late Ralph E. Williams with "Heidi" - morris mn
Click on the image to read Williams family reflections w/ emphasis on UMM.

Monday, November 9, 2015

We're on to state! Tiger volleyball shines

The Tigers are in the spotlight of state volleyball. This year's high-flying edition of the Tigers is the first-ever to represent the school in state volleyball. Ecstasy was high Saturday night at the Southwest State University gymnasium, Marshall. We're tops in Section 3AA!
We came out of the North as the North's top seed. Our Saturday foe was the No. 2 seed out of the South, Martin County West. Not only did we win, we were dominant. The orange and black cause prevailed by sweep. Scores were 25-22, 25-21 and 25-16. It was our 24th season triumph.
Now the focus is on the elite state level. Our next assignment is to play Rocori out of Cold Spring. Match time is 7 p.m. Thursday at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul. The bumping, setting and spiking promises to be entertaining under those bright lights.
The Tigers asserted themselves right away in the Section 3AA title match. We bounded out to a lead. The Mavericks of Martin County West rebounded to get the score tied at 14-14. Later the scoreboard showed 22-22 numbers, so the match had entered a pivotal point. Karly Fehr, normally a cog with her setting skills, got a key kill, and then MACA parlayed that spurt into two more points. So we took that first game 25-22.
MACA continued having a superior sheen with their balance of weapons in games 2 and 3. On to state! The team celebrated in a big huddle. Teams must be careful doing this type of thing. Remember when the Minnesota Twins' Denny Hocking got injured in this kind of celebration after a playoff win at Oakland?
Coach Kristi Fehr was excited about the quality of her team's passing. A team must function as a well-oiled machine, and coach Fehr's Tigers did just that. I used to work with coach Fehr when she coached for Hancock. That's where she cut her teeth in the craft. I wrote sports for the Hancock Record for 15 years. I miss it.
Coach Fehr, reflecting on the Saturday win for the Willmar newspaper, said "Martin County West ran kind of a slow offense so a lot of their hitters we got to. We played aggressive and composed. We never had the look like we were going to lose."
Martin County West closes out its season with the abundant win harvest of 24.
Brooke Gillespie slammed two serving aces at the Mavericks. Riley Decker had one serving ace. Karly Fehr in her specialty of setting had 34 set assists. A pair of Tigers achieved eleven kills in the hitting department: Jenna Howden and Brooke Gillespie. Three Tigers each pounded five kills at MCW: Fehr, Lindsey Dierks and Ashley Solvie. Carly Maanum had four kills, Haley Erdahl two and Koral Tolifson one.
Solvie executed five ace blocks to lead in that category. Howden had two ace blocks and Gillespie had one. Gillespie dug up the ball 21 times. Dierks and Decker each had 16 digs. Karly Fehr and Tolifson each had 15, and Erdahl added 12 digs to the mix.
Attention will be riveted on this group of student-athletes again on Thursday. What a ride!
 
State cross country
Maddie Carrington of the MACA Tigers was the top runner from our area in the state girls cross country meet. Vying in the Class 'A' race, Maddie placed 30th in this elite field with her time of 19:55.7.
Kurt TeBeest of Montevideo placed 23rd in the boys race, time of 16:48.5.
Cross country leaves us with lots of great memories from 2015.
 
Girls hockey: Park Rapids 4, MBA Storm 1
Hollie Christians scored the only goal for Morris Benson Area in this early-bird ice contest, played at the Morris rink. The Thursday action ended with Park Rapids on top of our Storm 4-1.
Christians' goal came in the third period. Hallie Watzke assisted. It was a power play goal coming at 16:21 of the third.
The first period was scoreless, after which Park Rapids took charge with three goals in the second. Each team had one third period goal. Tayah Otterness scored the game's first goal. Lexi Hinkley-Smith scored the second, and Tara Johanning the third. Park Rapids' third period goal was scored by Otterness.
Abby Hoffman was the Storm's goalie and she picked up 19 saves.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

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