MAPLE GROVE 3, BUFFALO 0
(25-17, 25-15, 25-23)
The host Crimson kept the Bison at bay with a three game sweep in a non-conference match up on Monday night. Maple Grove proved to have potent net play with double the kill totals of Buffalo (40-18) plus triple the block totals (9-3). MG also had balance with four players between seven and nine kills. MG’s Elise Rossing got her number (9) to lead all players in that category. Still with those advantages Buffalo stayed in the contest thanks to unearned points gift wrapped by MG. Those points came to about half of the Buffalo scoring. Youth was on display with both teams using an eighth grader in the rotation. The leading point getter for MG was freshman Madeline Knutson with 11 points on 8 kills and three blocks. She did not play in the back row. Only one player for MG played the full rotation: Skylar Gray who is Gopher bound. A
The number of runs a team generates helps explain a lot of victories. MG had five in the first set including the first run of five to take a 5-1 lead, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the set. Gray and Knutson had two kills each in that opening salvo. Buffalo utilized their first time out trailing 19-10. The Bison did not firm up until late holding off set point four times before a hitting error finished the set. In that late rally three of the four Buffalo points came on errors.
Runs again pointed the way to victory. Buffalo grabbed the lead at 6-5 after a MG hitting error and MG was forced to call time after a Nicole Odeen setter dump made it 9-6. Gray stopped that run with a first swing kill and then the Crimson ran off five more on Gray’s serve which prompted a Buffalo time out. It appeared that Buffalo regained the lead on a hitting error, but the call was overturned based on a block touch. That initiated a six point bump for MG (19-13) with another big official conference on point 17—which ended up as a kill by Knutson. There was another five point MG run down the stretch to put them on the verge at 24-14. Buffalo again held off set point, but only two times before a block by Cara Cyr put the Crimson up 2-0.
Buffalo got the jump at the start of set three with the first three points helped by two MG errors. That spread stayed the same when MG was forced to call time after an ace by Maddie Johnson at 11-8. Buffalo added to the margin with their widest lead at 15-10. MG got right back in it with two runs on Cyr’s and Annika Olson’s serves tied it at 17. A Buffalo time out did not slow the Crimson down. Buffalo had one last run with a first swing kill by Sydney Beumer getting the ball rolling (21-18). That caused MG to burn their last time out. Jordyn Lamker got the kill to stop that surge and help turn the tables. MG closed with a 7-2 kick to edge out the visitors. Knutson capped the night with a first swing kill for point 25.
These weekday out & abouts may be numbered. When school starts I will be still coaching at 7:15 meaning it is impossible to chart a game. With no school in session, practice is held earlier in the day for my team.
MAPLE GROVE
Started serve set 2
| Rot | # | NAME | POS | HEIGHT | GRADE | A | B | K | PTS |
| 1 | 8 | Genalyn Hardle | S | 5-6 | 2022 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 19 | Elizabeth O’Callaghan | RS/MB | 5-10 | 2021 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| 2 | 14 | Liesl Haugen | DS | 5-8 | 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | Elise Rossing | OH | 6-1 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 | |
| 3 | Emma Schaefer | DS | 5-2 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | 23 | Cara Cyr | MB/RS | 6-0 | 2022 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 4 | 10 | Annika Olson | S | 5-9 | 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Madeline Knutson | RS/MB | 6-1 | 2023 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 11 | |
| 5 | 15 | Skylar Gray | OH | 5-10 | 2021 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 6 | 4 | Alyssa Broska | L | 5-5 | 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Jordyn Lamker | MB/RS | 5-11 | 2021 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | |
| TOTALS | 11 | 9 | 40 | 60 |
BUFFALO
Started serve sets 1 & 3
| Rot | # | NAME | POS | HEIGHT | GRADE | A | B | K | PTS |
| 1 | 11 | Nicole Odeen | S | 5-8 | 2020 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | 6 | Lauren Ehlers | OH | 5-8 | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | Claire Evans | serve | 5-5 | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Kaya Garrett | MH | 5-9 | 2022 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 4 | 10 | Emma Beckman | RH | 5-7 | 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Macie Guida | RH | 5-11 | 2022 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| 5 | 1 | Koleen Ebert | DS | 5-5 | 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Sydney Beumer | OH | 5-8 | 2024 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
| 6 | 7 | Maddie Johnson | L | 5-5 | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Ellie Therrien | MH | 5-10 | 2020 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 7 | 3 | 18 | 28 |
| MAPLE GROVE | BUFFALO | |
| POINTS | 75 | 55 |
| ACES | 11 | 7 |
| BLOCKS | 9 | 3 |
| KILLS | 40 | 18 |
| EARNED POINTS PER SET | 20.00 | 9.33 |
| FIRST BALL KILLS | 9 | 7 |
| RUNS | 12 | 4 |