Tiger football plays today but it's hard to be sure of game-time. The radio station site reported 2 p.m. which would be great: sun shining, chance for MACA fans to drive home in sunlight. I'm sure the radio station got its info from somewhere, at some time.
The school website along with "Minnesota Scores" had us playing at 7 o'clock.
Maybe post-season game times are just not etched in stone. In fact I know that for a fact, from my background with the Morris newspaper. Can you believe: I once drove over to 'Waska for a game based on the start time that our paper had published twice. (Well, we were a twice-a-week paper then.)
I got there, noticed the place looked pretty well deserted and came back, informed Jim Morrison at the newspaper office of the obvious confusion, whereupon Jim himself picked up the phone to call the Witts. One of the Witt sons answered and informed that game-time had been changed to evening.
Mary Holmberg later explained to me: "ACT tests." To which I would have liked to say: "sc--w the ACT tests." But that's history.
Today we have an interim coach leading the Tiger volleyball team. Should be past tense, "led," because unfortunately our season ended Friday night in an all-out heartbreaker. The Tigers were one point away from upsetting the third-seeded New London-Spicer Wildcats, at New London. We were No. 6.
The Tigers had an erratic season, at first struggling rather badly. Finally in the season's final phase - the last four regular season matches - we caught fire! I don't know at which point "interim" coach Fehr was installed. Back in my paper days I'd know all these details and the background behind them. Not today, so even though I've had a large cup of Caribou Coffee this morning at Willie's, I can't tell you any more.
I remember some past times of sports controversy in our Motown, when an administrator tried to settle things down by saying it was bad form to make a coaching change at mid-season. People were scolded for even suggesting it. We're talking the late 1980s. Controversy was pretty intense and in the end, really damaged the whole community. But who wants to hear about that now?
Wildcats 3, Tigers 2
I'll bet MACA volleyball fans could have just cried last night, so close was their team to a monumental upset win. A hair's breadth.
Game 1 of the match did belong to the host Wildcats. But wow, Games 2 and 3 went into the win column for our Tigers. Our kmrs-kkok site reports that, "up two sets to one, the Tigers had match-point in set four, leading 24-22 and needing one point to pull off the upset, but the Wildcats responded by scoring four straight points to seal the set victory, then went on to dominate set five for the match win."
I personally wonder why Kristi Fehr left the MACA volleyball coaching position she once held. She coached our Tigers to state. I worked with her when I wrote for the Hancock Record newspaper and she coached the Owls. I think she left the MACA job after her daughter Carly, the setter, graduated. I wish she had kept it all along. Will she stay now?
Brienna Dybdahl contributed 38 assists and three aces Friday. Maddy Grove's contributions: 13 kills, 18 digs. Brianna Marty came through with ten kills and 24 digs. Then there's Cam Ostby: eight kills.
Our final won-lost certainly does not seem reflective: 6-18. During regular season play, MACA was swept twice by the Wildcats.
The NL-Spicer coach cited an injury on his team as forcing some adjusting for Friday. Shudder - I remember catching absolute hell from a parent once for reporting an injury and how it might affect an upcoming event. It was in cross country and the injury/illness was among the Paynesville runners. Ever since then, when I touch on something like this, I shudder.
A review of the Friday scores with MACA numbers first: 12-25, 27-25, 25-22, 24-26 and 7-15.
NL-Spicer will now play Eden Valley-Watkins in the sub-section quarter-finals, 7 p.m. Monday in Eden Valley.
I have more stats available for NL-Spicer than for MACA, sorry. Kendra Gerhardson and Olivia Mages each had two serving aces, and Avery Rich had one. Nyla Johnson was the go-to setter with 38 assists. Ellary Peterson, Gerhardson and Mages each had one assist. Here's the kills department: Peterson 12, Gerhardson 11, Mages 10, Rich 8, Avery Newman 4, Grace Truscinski 2, Johnson 1.
In ace blocks, Peterson was a dominating force with six while Gerhardson had two and Newman and Johnson one each. The digs list: Rich 27, Johnson 21, Mages 15, Gerhardson 12, Peterson 10, Newman 9, Rich 9.
Click on the link below to read about the 37-0 win by MACA football over Montevideo. Also: the Tiger tennis team's state experience. Plus: some thoughts on local sports media, and finally some covid-related observations. This post is on my companion site, "Morris of Course." God bless you all for finding my writing. The permalink:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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