7AA Semifinals 11.2.2017
I took a step into serious winter tonight with some northern
exposure. It was off to snowy Duluth for some 7AA semifinal action. All the teams had 20 plus wins on the year. Section 7AA cross fertilizes their tournament, so the South #1 played the North #2 and vice versa. The results came out sweeps for the #1s. The way the two winners got to the sweep were quite different. There were two tent pole players with over 20 points scored on the night, one won, one lost. There were seven players that reached double digits tonight, with all six footers making the list (three). There was a block party, but the party didn’t celebrate a win.
I have now seen the entire QRF top 10 with North Branch the final piece of the puzzle going in. Now they are #13. In order to get the top 20 I need to chart four more. That will be impossibility since two play at the same time on Saturday. One will have to squeeze through to state.
How nasty was it on the way back to the metro? Nasty. I thought I was in January or February. Fog and snow were my companions on the way out of town. Traveling on 35 was the MPH, not just the highway name. The passing lanes were compacted and if I got to 50 MPH that was blazing fast. Once I got south of Hinckley, I was able to go the posted.
NORTH BRANCH 3, HERMANTOWN 0
(25-22, 25-16, 25-14)
The #1 South seed Vikings shut down Hermantown building up steam as the night wore on. Two years ago North Branch reached the state AAA tournament. This is their first year in AA and they are aiming to get back. Back then Cami Selbitschka was the big terminator. Now it is younger sister Cianna with the big swing. She racked up 23 kills (most of the night) on her way to a 26 points (also a high). got off to a quick 4-0 lead in the first set, maintained their margin out to 12-7 before Hermantown knotted the score at 15. A six point burst by NB, which took two Hawk time outs to stop it left the score at 23-16. It took five set points before the set ended as Hermantown put up a wall at the net with Ellie Gamradt erasing three attacks. In set two NB got separation with a 8-2 run to makeit 20-12. Hermantown responded with their only run of the set to cut the margin to 20-15. Selbitschka provided a side out kill, her eighth of the set, to ignite a four point run. In the third set the Hawks hung around trailing 10-9 when a missed serve opened the door for an avalanche of nine straight NB points. Two Hermantown time outs were to no avail in that surge.
NB moves on to the title game on Saturday with a 25-3 mark. Hermantown ends the 2017 campaign at 20-9. The two Hermantown middles, Ellie Gamradt and Sierra Bolen ended their careers with a combined nine blocks.
NORTH BRANCH
| SRV | # | Name | Ht | Pos | Year | A | B | K | Points |
| 1 | 10 | Katelyn Berg | 5-5 | OH | 2018 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | 22 | Maddie Hadrava | 5-10 | MH | 2018 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| 3 | 12 | Lydia Langevin | 5-10 | RH | 2019 | 0 | 0.5 | 8 | 8.5 |
| 19 | Jamie Siseman | 5-7 | DS | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | Haley Hadrava | 5-10 | S | 2020 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | 11 | Cianna Selbitschka | 5-10 | OH | 2020 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 26 |
| 5 | 1 | Sophie Linder | 5-3 | L | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Macy Bombard | 5-9 | MH | 2019 | 0 | 1.5 | 3 | 4.5 | |
| 6 | Emily Benedict | 5-10 | MH | 2020 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |
| 6 | 21 | Shelby Robinson | 5-7 | DS | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| totals | 5 | 4 | 50 | 59 |
HERMANTOWN
| SRV | # | Name | Ht | Pos | Year | A | B | K | Points |
| 1 | 5 | Cambria Dorothy | 5-9 | S | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Ellie Gamradt | 6-2 | MH | 2018 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 10 | |
| 2 | 2 | Katelyn Ewer | 5-6 | OH | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 8 | Megan Nelson | 5-5 | L | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Arntson | 5-10 | RH | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | |
| 4 | 4 | Rachel Menzel | 5-5 | S | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Sierra Bolen | 6-1 | MH | 2018 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 11 | |
| 5 | 7 | Maddy Foster | 5-6 | OH | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | 11 | Alana Mayry | 5-5 | OH | 2020 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| totals | 0 | 9 | 25 | 34 |
TRENCH PLAYER
Cianna Selbitschka
| EARNED | |||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| North Branch | 18 | 22 | 18 |
| Hermantown | 13 | 13 | 8 |
| ALLOWED | |||
| North Branch | 9 | 3 | 6 |
| Hermantown | 7 | 3 | 7 |
BY THE NUMBERS
| Item | North Branch | Hermantown |
| First Swing SO | 15 | 15 |
| Runs 3+ | 10 | 4 |
| Longest String | 9 | 4 |
| Serving % | 68/73-.932 | 51/54-.944 |
| Time outs | 1/6-.167 | |
| Set points | 3/8-.375 | |
| Time | 1:07 |
RACE TO …
| Set | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| 1 | NB | NB | NB | NB | NB |
| 2 | NB | NB | NB | NB | NB |
| 3 | NB | NB | NB | NB | NB |
BIGGEST LEAD
| Set | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| North Branch | 7 | 9 | 11 |
| Hermantown | 0 | 0 | 2 |
RECEIVE TO KILL
NORTH BRANCH
| Player | Receives | Wins | R2W | Kills | R2K |
| Cianna Selbitschka | 25 | 15 | .600 | 11 | .440 |
| Sophie Linder | 26 | 13 | .500 | 3 | .115 |
| totals | 51 | 28 | .549 | 14 | .275 |
HERMANTOWN
| Player | Receives | Wins | R2W | Kills | R2K |
| Maddy Foster | 25 | 12 | .480 | 5 | .200 |
| Megan Nelson | 24 | 10 | .417 | 7 | .292 |
| Katelyn Ewer | 15 | 5 | .333 | 3 | .200 |
| Alana Mayry | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | .000 |
| totals | 68 | 28 | .412 | 15 | .221 |
GREENWAY 3, DULUTH MARSHALL 0
(25-14, 25-22, 25-23)
#1 North seed Greenway withstood the efforts of Kate Kleinschmidt of Duluth Marshall who rang up 21 kills on the night to advance to the 7AA title game. But the Raiders needed to rally twice in the last two sets. It looked like the match was headed to a fourth set with DM up 20-12, but Kleinschmidt moved to the back row, and Greenway quick giving away points. But first let us look at sets one and two. In set on Greenway replicated the 4-0 start NB enjoyed in their win. DM bounced back to take a 6-5 lead after a run of four. The last time the Hilltoppers enjoyed a lead in that set came at 13-12. Then the roof caved in with Greenway finishing with a 12-2 kick. The Raiders relied on their middles with Claire Vekich and Hannah Goggleye combining for 13 of the 19 earned Raiders points in that set. There were three lead changes in set two with DM’s last coming at 17-15. But at that point Kleinschmidt moved to the back court and Greenway finished with a 10-5 kick. The 6-1 Kleinschimdt, who is headed to D2 Regis next year, popped 10 kills in that set.
Last night I wrote about the nightmare on Mainstreet. Tonight’s case was a Halloween left over and it was all treat for the Raiders, while the trick ended the night much sooner for DM than they wished. Greenway had a hand in the hole they dug for themselves. An 11-2 run had seven points disguised as gifts for DM (14-9). Kleinschmidt powered three consecutive kills on the last Hilltopper run to make it 19-11. Her final kill on a side out kept the lead at eight. Greenway cut back on their errors while taking advantage of DM’s miscues. In the 13-3 finish, Greenway was able to get runs on their last three services. Six of the final 13 points came via DM errors. Greenway pulled in front at 23-22 after the final DM timeout.
Greenway is now 25-6 on the year. DM finishes at 21-4.
When I first got to the game I picked up a roster sheet and thought it was strange that Dan Westby was the coach at Duluth Marshall. Who ever ran off the sheet used Marshall, not Duluth Marshall as the Greenway opponent. Denfeld had another sheet with the correct information.
GREENWAY
| SRV | # | Name | Ht | Pos | Year | A | B | K | Points |
| 1 | 7 | Erin Gustason | 5-5 | S | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 11 | Alex Sanderson | 5-8 | OH | 2019 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | Hallie Shevich | 5-5 | DS | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 | Kailee Troumbly | 5-4 | L | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 14 | Claire Vekich | 5-11 | MH | 2021 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 15 |
| 4 | 1 | Mikhara Anderson | 5-7 | S | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| 5 | 5 | Drew Faust | 5-9 | OH | 2019 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| 6 | 8 | Hannah Goggleye | 5-11 | MH | 2018 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 19 |
| totals | 10 | 1 | 47 | 58 |
DULUTH MARSHALL
| SRV | # | Name | Ht | Pos | Year | A | B | K | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Margo Amatuzio | 5-3 | S | 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 9 | Kate Kleinschmidt | 6-1 | OH | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 21 |
| 3 | 1 | Aleksie Rengel | 5-3 | L | 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | 7 | Alyssa Davis | 5-7 | RH | 2019 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Zoe Johnson | 5-7 | RH | 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 2 | Maggie Landherr | 5-6 | OH | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 6 | 6 | Ariana Shimmin | 5-10 | MH | 2020 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| totals | 2 | 0 | 34 | 36 |
TRENCH PLAYER
Hannah Goggleye
| EARNED | |||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Greenway | 19 | 20 | 19 |
| Duluth Marshall | 8 | 15 | 13 |
| ALLOWED | |||
| Greenway | 6 | 7 | 10 |
| Duluth Marshall | 6 | 5 | 6 |
BY THE NUMBERS
| Item | Greenway | Duluth Marshall |
| First Swing SO | 16 | 14 |
| Runs 3+ | 11 | 7 |
| Longest String | 6 | 8 |
| Serving % | 67/74-.905 | 58/60-.967 |
| Time outs | 0/3-.000 | 3/5-.600 |
| Set points | 3/5-.600 | |
| Time | 1:11 |
RACE TO …
| Set | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| 1 | G | G | G | G | G |
| 2 | DM | G | DM | G | G |
| 3 | G | DM | DM | DM | G |
BIGGEST LEAD
| Set | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Greenway | 11 | 4 | 4 |
| Duluth Marshall | 0 | 3 | 8 |
RECEIVE TO KILL
GREENWAY
| Player | Receives | Wins | R2W | Kills | R2K |
| Kailee Troumbly | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | .000 |
| Erin Gustason | 18 | 12 | .667 | 6 | .333 |
| Hannah Goggleye | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | .000 |
| Claire Vekich | 2 | 1 | .500 | 1 | .500 |
| Drew Faust | 9 | 4 | .444 | 3 | .333 |
| Mikhara Anderson | 12 | 5 | .417 | 3 | .250 |
| Alex Sanderson | 14 | 5 | .357 | 3 | .214 |
| Totals | 58 | 29 | .500 | 16 | .276 |
DULUTH MARSHALL
| Player | Receives | Wins | R2W | Kills | R2K |
| Zoe Johnson | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | .000 |
| Kate Kleinschmidt | 22 | 11 | .500 | 8 | .364 |
| Maggie Landherr | 14 | 6 | .429 | 5 | .357 |
| Aleksie Rengel | 30 | 5 | .167 | 1 | .033 |
| Totals | 67 | 23 | .343 | 14 | .209 |