Tigers give undefeated Minnewaska a scare!

It's Wednesday morning which means not only can we feel good about the MACA volleyball team's performance last night (even in a loss), we can have breakfast with biscuits and gravy at DeToy's Restaurant! Yes, the Tigers lost but they challenged the Minnewaska Area Lakers more strongly than any of 'Waska's previous opponents. 

So I'd say it was an upbeat and encouraging evening for the orange and black. Volleyball enthusiasm is high this time of year. With the link below you can read about Minnewaska Area's win over Melrose, and the UMN-Morris Homecoming weekend triumph over North Central. I attended the UMM match and found it to be great fun. I actually attended Saturday too.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/10/waska-and-umn-morris-put-on-show-in.html 

 

Biscuits and gravy: the Wednesday morning feature at DeToy's in Morris!

All the Lakers could handle

What a volleyball match at Morris Area High School Tuesday night! The Tigers were up to their awesome challenge, even if victory in the end was elusive. Consider that we were hosting the awesome Minnewaska Area Lakers. Might this be considered a moral victory for the Tigers? Some coaches say there's no such thing as a moral victory. It's a matter of opinion. 

But consider this: the Tigers forced the Lakers to play their first five-game match of the season! I realize that many in the media use the term "sets" instead of "games." I started using "games" a long time ago, for lack of a better understanding I guess. Many of my critics would say I'm not the most refined sports person. However, I am refined and intelligent enough to know that MACA gets hosed by the West Central Tribune of Willmar. Are more people contacting that place to be a little confrontational? 

Here MACA takes Minnewaska to five games in a significant upset bid, and it means the Lakers can't assume anything about winning the sub-section or section. They might still be strong favorites. But the Lakers did not look like world-beaters Tuesday night at our gym. 

The Lakers did win 3-2 and kept their season record unblemished at 20-0. 

'Waska is enjoying their juggernaut team at the same time their community is preparing for a school referendum vote. Can the school get more $ out of the taxpayers? Of course, all schools everywhere will claim they need more money. 

Referendums here in Morris always pass. When I was a kid in the 1960s, the opposite was true. It was like pulling teeth to try to get a referendum passed. Eventually circumstances changed. I think what happened is that more $ was forthcoming from the state level. I recall the term "Minnesota Miracle" and how this idea remedied a lot. Governor Wendell Anderson was an architect. A Democrat of course. 

Democrats have fallen so way out of favor in the present time. Just look at our congressperson Michelle Fischbach. She'll say Republicans are responsible for all that is good while Democrats are responsible for all that is bad. That's the only worldview you need, according to her. She is rock-ribbed with devotion to Donald Trump. So she probably cheers for all the ICE raids, is a fan of the tariffs. 

Farmers in the end won't care about the tariffs if they just get a big "bailout" (again) from the government. Nice work if you can find it. And the tariffs are of course a consumption tax on all the American people. You all voted for this. 

Or let me suggest that many of you attend a church where you get the feeling that it's mandatory to vote Republican. Just disconnect your normal thought processes. Good Shepherd? Will the Christian church be the downfall of America? 

Well, the ELCA is no party to that. A friend emailed me the image below this morning. This is the same newspaper that gave our UMN-Morris a pretty serious black eye recently.

 

Not on the Trump/Republican bandwagon. Some people can think for themselves. They don't need Mark Levin et al.

I know, I get accused of having "Trump derangement syndrome." I was an ELCAer but I have had to discontinue my membership with First Lutheran in Morris due to the death signs of the church. First Lutheran has had to give up having a weekly Sunday service. We get sent to the Federated Methodist/UCC church every other Sunday. This was sprung on me too fast, for one thing. It started as a summer remedy for the problem of Morris going "dead" in summer. But then we got the surprise extension of nine months. That brings us to next summer. And what do you think will happen then? I attended Faith Lutheran last Sunday. But it's not my family church. I could never be a "true" member of Faith.
 

Minnewaska 3, Tigers 2

The Minnewaska Area volleyball Lakers are ranked fifth in Minnesota Class AA. They have wrapped up the West Central Conference championship. 

Let's get the scores from Tuesday. The MACA Tiger numbers are first here: 25-20, 11-25, 12-25, 25-20 and 9-15. So you can see that after the Lakers' "shock" of the Game 1 loss, they really bounced back with determination in the next two games. But the Tigers were hardly down for the count. They revved up their engines for Game 4. 

So it all came down to the fifth game where 'Waska showed their undefeated prowess. It would be neat to see a re-match of these teams. 

The West Central Tribune has a report on the match. The big downer is that they have "stats not available" for MACA. What gives? I know this happens a lot but it's still frustrating. Or maddening. Morris was once in the coverage territory of the Willmar paper. Now we're shut out even though we see an occasional exception for football. One can only speculate on what is going on. 

I have not been able to blog in detail about the MACA volleyball team all season. I have had much better luck with Minnewaska Area. I enjoy writing about the Lakers. I'd prefer that my main focus was on the Tigers. I know two of the MACA players personally. One is my next-door neighbor. Both of these girls incidentally were Homecoming queen candidates. Both are occasional servers at DeToy's Restaurant. 

The Willmar paper is owned by Forum Communications. The Forum failed in its ownership venture with the Morris paper. So are they bitter now? Is that the explanation? Of course they would deny it. But I think it's true. A very well-placed person in the newspaper industry informed me that the Forum had plans to close the Morris paper like they did with the Hancock paper. Then the Anfinsons came along to rescue the Morris paper. 

But with all the inflation going on, I wonder if an increasing number of people are going to cut out buying the paper. What do you think? The tariffs are a big reason for the inflation. 

I would love to report stats on the MACA individuals from Tuesday. I cannot. I can do my usual job reporting stats for Minnewaska Area. I am pleased to do so. 

Emma Poegel

So we see Emma Poegel supplying a push with serving aces with four. Eliana Marthialer had two, and these Lakers one each: Berlynn Green, Emma Hellermann, Haillie Schulz and Piper Barsness. 

Schulz was the go-to setter as usual and had 35 assists on the night. Green, Marthaler and Barsness each had two, while Hellermann and Taylor Schulz each had one. 

Green was at the fore in hitting with 12 kills. Here's the rest of that list: Avery Lewison 10, Mya VanLuik 7, Hallie Schulz 6, Hellermann 6, Taylor Schulz 3 and Marthaler 1. Let's take a look at ace blocks: Lewison 4, H. Schulz 2, VanLuik 2 and Hellermann 1. Poegel was sharp in digs where her total was 27. then we see H. Schulz 16, Barsness 12, Green 9, Marthaler 7 and Hellermann 5.

 

Image below shows the tribute to friendship represented by the statue of Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein. You have probably read about this in the news. Charming. Friendship is such an important element in life, n'est-ce pas?

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