SIX SATURDAY SIDEOUT CLASSIC GAMES
Today was a marathon day of games in the Sideout Classic put on by the Breakdown at Hopkins. I spent my time on court two which featured more ranked teams. All the teams were AAA level and a couple of things stood out. First off, there were three five setters, and no lead was ever safe. In the five setters, two teams held leads after 10, but couldn’t close out. Second, being a higher ranked team did not bring anyone any safety. It brought them losses. Moorhead and Blaine faced teams that were unranked and fell. Both Stillwater and Prior Lake dropped contests to teams lower in the polls. Furthermore teams playing back to back matches were a collective 0-3—Waconia, Moorhead (both played each other last night) and Prior Lake all took it on the chin less than 24 hours after another match.
The Lake Conference, Northwest Suburban and South Suburban all finished 2-1 on the day.
EASTVIEW 3, EDINA 2
(25-16, 19-25, 19-25, 25-23, 17-15)
The Ryan Dehnel era got off to a dramatic start with a five setter over Edina. After winning the first set, the Lightning were in a 2-1 hole. With the score tied at 23 in the fourth set, Lauren Crowl got a first swing kill and then had a hand in the final point to even the match at two apiece. The fifth set was a whipsaw with the Lightning going on a 6-1 run to lead 9-3. Crowl racked up four points in that run with three kills and a block. But the tables turned quickly when Edina got the ball back. Lauren Turner moved to the front row and she helped propel the Hornets to tack on six additional points to pull in front 10-9. Turner had two tip kills, a slide and a block in that sequence. She added three more points for a 13-10 Edina lead. Eastview tied it up. Turner, on a slide, gave Edina a set point opportunity. Kati Quaintance put down a first swing kill to tie it and then gave Eastview their first set point chance. Turner tied it again, but then she rotated out since she moved to the back row. Rose Carlson’s first swing kill (with a net violation) gave the Lightning a second opportunity which ended on an Edina hitting error.
Turner had 9 points in that final set, 26 for the match. Quaintance had 23 for Eastview.
OSSEO 3, WACONIA 2
(16-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12)
Osseo was the first Northwest Suburban school to dig a two game hole only to emerge victorious. They led after all the key break points after the second set. The Orioles big swing was provided by Lindy Ouijiri who had 23 points.
One of the Orioles is Emily Arends, who happens to be the daughter of a former player of mine. Once upon a time I coached in Ellsworth, MN, and her father Craig played basketball for me. She was at the service line at the end of the third set.
MINNETONKA 3, #9 MOORHEAD 1
(15-25, 25-22, 25-10, 25-21)
The tables turned for the Skippers in the second set when they were facing a 21-18 deficit with both time outs burned plus a yellow card shown to coach Karl Katzenberger. Six points later Tonka had set point, which was closed out on a kill by Erin Shoemaker. She had three of the last seven points for Minnetonka. Moorhead gift wrapped three of them on hitting or ball handling errors. Moorhead led in set four at 15-12, and had their last lead at 18-17. A missed serve followed by a rotation ace took away their momentum. Both teams were tied at 21. A hitting error gave the Skippers the ball back and they never returned it. Drew McGougall served out with two aces in her three serves.
ROSEMOUNT 3, #10 BLAINE 0
(25-21, 25-19, 25-16)
The Irish had the only sweep of the day. In the first set they used a eight point run to get the lead at 16-12. After that Blaine was to play catch up the rest of the day. The Bengals made life interesting in the second set with a 7-1 run to close the gap to 20-19. After a tip kill by Shae Buchman, Rosemount served the next four points.
After the match I ran into Jackie Johnson, a former Eden Prairie basketball player class of 2012, who finished up her collegiate career at Long Beach State. She is now married and was there at the contest cheering on her sister in-law who plays for the Bengals.
#5 CHAMPLIN PARK 3, #4 STILLWATER 2
(21-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-22, 18-16)
Resurrection might be the right word for this win by Champlin Park. The Rebels, facing life without Sydney Hilley, were down two sets right off the bat. The Ponies rang up four straight aces to open the night. Stillwater led by as many as eight (17-9) when the first CP rally started. The Rebs closed to 22-21, but the Ponies got the finish line with the last three points. CP closed with the final four points in the third set. Stillwater led 20-18 in set four, but three errors gave the lead back to CP 21-20. Izzy Ashburn, the next Rebel headed to Madison, had seven points in that set with four coming on first swing side outs. She shared that count with Emma Schmidt in that set. Stillwater was on the verge of victory at 14-10 in the final frame when the roof fell in. After a hitting error, the Stillwater receive game collapsed. It was CP’s turn for four straight aces, one of which was a rotation error. The Rebels held off set point four straight times. Stillwater held off set point twice at 15 and 16. Schmidt kept the four straight side out string going with a first swing kill and then capped the comeback with another. Ashburn was at the service line for those four aces and had 9 points in that set. Schmidt scored the last three points for CP and had four in that set.
Speaking of resurrections—-CP coach John Yunker is back after spending the spring in Grand Forks with the University of North Dakota.
Stillwater’s 6-4 middle Maddie Whittington went down with a knee injury in July at a volleyball event in Florida. She will not return this year.
#6 HOPKINS 3, #2 PRIOR LAKE 1
(26-24, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23)
The Royals ended the night with a tight four set win over #2 Prior Lake. The points added up in this match evened out. That theme shaped the night. Hopkins led 22-18 in the fifth set when a missed serve opened the door for PL. They moved in front 23-22 seizing the opportunity. Both teams then missed serves. PL missed four in the first set alone. PL’s biggest lead came at 11-8 in the third set. Hopkins’ biggest lead was two at 18, 20 and 22. PL would tie it up each time. It was PL errors that ended the third set. Double contacts added three points to the Royals totals in the third. PL was sailing along at 20-15 with a fifth set in sight. But Hopkins ran off five straight to tie it at 20. PL would inch forward at 23-22. But errors again iced the Lakers. Two of the last three points came via errors.
Stillwater isn’t the only teams with injury issues. CC McGraw of PL is not yet cleared to play.
The Royals fell in their opener on Thursday against Elk River. The Lakers opened their season with a win at East Ridge on Friday night.