i love morris: Jaguars of volleyball finish fourth in state

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Jaguars of volleyball finish fourth in state

The BBE Jaguars were up against Mabel-Canton Saturday in the match to determine third in state Class A. The state's best in volleyball were showcased at the place they call "the X." That's Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul.

What a long and exciting road the Jaguars were down. They valiantly battled Mabel-Canton in the season's final match for the squads. The match stretched to the maximum five games. The Jags just could not eke out Game 5. So BBE can relish being Class A's fourth best team, still a thrill to achieve. Mabel-Canton achieved its 36th win of the season. BBE finishes with a 26-8 record.

The Cougars of Mabel-Canton were "pushed to the limit," stated the Post Bulletin website article. (No paywall.) Here's a review of the scores with BBE numbers first: 20-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-27 and 11-15. You can imagine how long this match lasted. BBE was seeded No. 5, M-C No. 3.

M-C presented some very effective young talent. Consider the sophomore setter, all-stater Sahara Morken. Morken's proficiency was with 49 assists, 13 digs, five ace serves. Then there's the freshman middle hitter, Kinley Soiney, who achieved 28 kills, two digs and two blocks.

The coach of the M-C Cougars is Lonnie Morken who's been at it a long time. Getting the Jaguars fired-up was coach Alanna Hunter. Mabel-Canton might be more of a juggernaut next season, as only two seniors are departing, and there were no juniors this year!

The five-game marathon affair saw the Jaguars produce lots of impressive stats. Harley Roering performed 26 digs. Brooklyn Fischer pounded 13 kills and complemented that with 22 digs. Adley Hagen came on strong with 11 kills and 22 digs. Then we see Abby Berge with nine kills, 28 digs. Allison Dingmann came through with four kills and two digs.

Ava Mueller was a force with 25 kills and 26 digs. A five-game match is a stamina test for the setter, so we see Kylie Weller respond with 54 assists and 26 digs.

Let's acknowledge the players who produced the winning chemistry for the Cougars. The setter was Sahara Morken with 49 assists, 13 digs and five ace serves. That's a neat name, "Sahara." Makenzie Kelly dug up the ball 13 times. Kailey Ingvalson had seven kills, 13 digs and two aces. Sophie Morken produced six kills and 21 digs. Lydia Vatland added two digs to the mix.

Saijal Slafter's impact was with 12 kills, seven digs and two aces. Then we see Hope Erickson with eight digs and one block. Kinley Soiney had 28 kills, two digs and two blocks.

So many rich memories tucked away for the fans of both teams. M-C's previous state appearance was in 2001. Based on the underclassmen, surely they'll make a strong bid to return next year and henceforth. BBE has a long history of volleyball excellence going back to the mid-'80s when Belgrade made state on its own.

It's crazy to remember this, but I remember writing an article on BBE long ago in which I erred by referring to the school as "B-E-B." Name must have been new at the time. I suppose the error is stupid but sportswriters have to process so much data all the time. Often as you're typing along, you'll pull a fact or two from your memory bank. Not infallible, to be sure. You have to give us guys a break.

Randy Olson is the indefatigable newspaper sports guy on behalf of the Jaguars. He goes well beyond the newspaper realm now. He is quite into the new media, does not feel threatened by it at all. His attitude contrasts with the Morris newspaper management: website here appears to be token, vestigial, whatever. That's a shame.

Randy shoots video and has even done video podcasts. I'd like to see the vaunted MAHS "YouTube geniuses" get into video podcasting. Have a "news anchor" sit there for sports. C'mon guys. The new media forges ahead and waits for no one.

I have personally enjoyed writing about BBE volleyball the last couple weeks. I suppose my friendship with Randy was a factor. Hopefully, at least a handful of BBE-oriented folks have discovered one or two of my posts, or all of them! If not, I at least put them out there. It is in my DNA to do this.

The state tournament gets to be a frenetic experience for all, including the media folks. My current experience brought back memories from when I was in the corporate media. So I shared on this in an email with a friend yesterday. Here it is:

Writing about a team that gets high in state tournament makes me stressed and nervous, and there is no logical reason for that, because as a blogger absolutely nothing is expected of me. These teams play game after game, day after day sometimes, and as a writer I get this panicky feeling that nothing I do is good enough to satisfy the core of parents and other fans. I give 100 percent but I feel uncomfortable. I blog about the BBE volleyball team, and they just finished fourth in state. You give 100 percent to write a particular piece, and then they play again the very next day. The fans become like a pack of hyenas. I have a theory that the parents expect the media to fill an emotional need that the media cannot fill. I have long asserted this.

Economists are saying that the public will start panicking about inflation in January and February. So, Trump is announcing for president on Tuesday.

- BW

Ava Mueller was named to the Wells Fargo All-Tournament team. "This is a terrific honor for the senior who is signed with Jamestown College in North Dakota," Randy writes.

(image from facebook)

Again, a hearty congratulations to the BBE student-athletes. I told Randy in an email that "I will never forget this team."

From Randy's blog about the Saturday match:

This match started at 12:38 p.m. and by the time the fourth set was complete it was 2:28 p.m.

A tough start in game five was difficult for the Jaguars to overcome. After falling behind by scores of 4-1 and 6-2, the Jaguars scored two straight to make it a two-point game. Later trailing 11-5, the Jaguars again rallied with a streak of two straight points and then three straight points to narrow it to a 13-10 deficit. The Cougars then closed out the win by earning 2 of the next 3 points scored. Final: #5 Mabel-Canton 15, #11 B-B-E 11. The match lasted a full 2 hours and 15 minutes.