JOHNSON 7, BURNSVILLE 0
#1 Johnson swept #3 Burnsville Wednesday in St. Paul. When I departed four of the matches were over, all of them won by the Governors.
Doubles proved to be the most competitive with first and second doubles both going three sets. Johnson’s Dao Sangwang / Lena Nguyen at second doubles needed to rally to win the final two sets. Two of the sets in doubles went to extra points (as did the first set in first singles). All extra point sets went to Johnson.
Both teams were not a full strength. Johnson’s Birdy Xiong, a part of the Johnson first doubles team, was on a school trip. Burnsville’s number two singles player, Corinna Benson, is in Italy on a volleyball trip.
SINGLES
1. Sandy Vang, J def Maddie Blackbourn 24-22, 21-14
2. Ashley Her, J def Molly Murray 21-10, 21-8
3. May Xiong, J def Isabel Lange 21-7, 21-7
4. Savanna Yang, J def Burnsville 21-16, 21-?
DOUBLES
1. Faith Moua / Alexis Xiong, J def Jasmine / Sherlyn 21-11, 18-21, 21-14
2. Dao Sangwang / Lena Nguyen, J def Leah / Lisa 15-21, 23-21, 21-16
3. Stacy Xiong / Ruth Thaw Gyi, J def Katie / Natalie 21-9, 25-23
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Johnson 4-0 1.000
Games: Johnson 8-0 1.000
points: Johnson 171-100 .631
Set 1 points: Johnson 87-55 .613
Set 2 points: Johnson 84-45 .651
decided by 10+: Johnson 4-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Johnson 1-0 1.000
margin: Johnson 8.875
DOUBLES
Matches: Johnson 3-0 1.000
Games: Johnson 6-2 .750
points: Johnson 165-136 .548
Set 1 points: Johnson 57-41 .582
Set 2 points: Johnson 66-65 .504
Set 3 points: Johnson 42-30 .583
decided by 10+: Johnson 2-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Johnson 2-1 .667
margin: Johnson 3.625
FIRST SINGLES
SANDY VANG 2, MADDIE BLACKBOURN 0
(24-22, 21-14)
Johnson’s Sandy Vang, ranked #5 in the last poll, took down #3 Maddie Blackbourn in two sets. After a marathon first set, that lasted as long as yesterday’s first singles match, Vang closed the door on any Blackbourn offensive hope. Vang’s side out game in set two only allowed two Blackbourn points on her serve. Vang also had the advantage on winners (23-18) and comparing even stroke winners/errors 12-6 (+6) to 10-11 (-1) for Blackbourn.
Set one saw the most drama—extra points has a way of showcasing that. There were nine lead changes with the biggest lead, only three points, very early after Vang’s first run at 4-1. Blackbourn bounced right back with the first lead change after getting the bird back on a two stroke smash and then rattling off five straight points, the biggest run of the entire match to go up 6-4. There were two more lead shifts leading to 11 with Blackbourn up 11-10. Vang’s third run put her up 13-11. Blackbourn answered with her second run, and as it turned out last run of the day, to go up 15-13 thanks to two clears. Blackbourn maintained the advantage out to 19-17 after a nine stroke clear that also involved a couple of smash attempts and hand cuff blocks. The momentum disappeared on a missed serve, Blackbourn’s only miss of the day. It opened the door for Vang’s fourth run which put her up 20-19. A three stroke hitting error on a smash attempt tied it at 20. Now it was Blackbourn’s turn at set point after a three stroke clear. Vang held off that with a two stroke clear. Blackbourn got her second set point opportunity with a two stroke soft drive. But a trio of hitting errors fueled Vang’s fifth and final run and secured the victory. This set took 9:57, two seconds fewer than yesterday’s total first singles contest.
Set two did not provide the drama. Vang did not allow it. In this set she shut down Blackbourn on her serve eight straight times. Vang didn’t roll up the runs only notching two, but with Blackbourn sidelined, that was plenty. The first run of three put Vang up 7-4. The second gave her a hefty 17-10 lead. In this set Vang used her power game with seven smashes falling for winners. In set one Vang came up with one. If it wasn’t a smash, it was the clear that won for Vang. In this case five times. Blackbourn only had six for the set after winning the winner category in the first set 12-10. Vang finished strong going 4-2, with the only two points coming on two missed serves.
| Category | VANG | BLACKBOURN |
| Side out | 16/24-.667 | 10/24-.417 |
| Longest side out string | 8 | 2 |
| 3+ Runs | 7 | 2 |
| Longest point string | 3 | 5 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 2 | 1 |
| First point | 1, 2 | |
| Service points | 21 | 13 |
| Serving % | 41/44-.932 | 36/37-.973 |
| Point generated off serve | .467 | .361 |
| POINTS | 45 | 36 |
| Points after 11 | 24 | 18 |
| Points after own errors | 13 | 9 |
| Winners after own errors | 7 | 5 |
| STROKES | 176 | 130 |
| Strokes per point | 3.911 | 3.611 |
| 5+ rallies | 13 | 12 |
| 2- rallies | 12 | 16 |
| WINNERS | 23 | 18 |
| Aces | 1 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 2 |
| Clears | 8 | 8 |
| Drives | 2 | 0 |
| Drops | 0 | 0 |
| Soft drives | 4 | 5 |
| Smashes | 8 | 3 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 12 | 10 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 6 | 7 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 11 | 8 |
| ERRORS | 18 | 22 |
| Deep | 3 | 1 |
| Net | 6 | 15 |
| Wide | 6 | 5 |
| Serve | 3 | 1 |
| Even stroke errors | 6 | 11 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 6 | 4 |
| Odd stroke errors | 12 | 11 |
| Largest Lead | 3, 7 | 3, 1 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.278 | 0.818 |
| Margin | 4.50 | |
| Set Point % | 2/4-.500 | 0/2-.000 |
| Time | 18:33 |