Streeters stay unbeaten! Advance to third straight state tourney

Another Section title for the Streeters!

After a close two games with Dassel-Cokato in the section finals this afternoon, the Mainstreeters proved why they have remained unbeaten all year and why they deserve to make their third straight appearance at the state volleyball tournament next weekend in St. Paul.

Sauk won a close battle 25-23 in game one, but lost game two 30-28 despite making a miraculous comeback.  In the end, though, they won games three and four handily to win the match and send them back to state.

The Streeters fell behind early to a high-energy Dassel-Cokato squad. The Chargers staked themselves to a quick 5-1 lead and had the Streeters on their heals early. Three kills by senior outside hitter Ashley Kollman and a Kollman ace serve got the Streeters back in it. Trailing 12-9, senior middle hitter Brianna VonWahlde had one of her seven kills on the day and Macy Weller added another as Sauk tied the game at 13-13. The teams seesawed back and fort, trading leads until the Chargers led 22-21 when a long serve made it a tie game at 22-22. A long volley followed as Sauk went to their star hitter in Weller, who continued to pound the ball, but couldn’t get it past a stingy Chargers defense. Finally, on her fourth set from Jena Klaphake, Weller got one down for a 23-22 lead. Klaphake followed with an ace serve and then after the Tigers scored a point, Sauk went to a basic bump, set, spike to Weller for the game-winning shot.

Game two was much of the same as the teams battled point for point early until the Chargers started to pull away late. Sauk never led by more than a point when the Chargers went on an 8-1 run for a 22-16 lead. They eventually led 24-17, but Sauk didn’t give in. With Weller returning to the front row, the team once again looked to their senior to get them back into it. Weller notched two kills and also served up an ace block. Katie Reitsma chipped in an ace serve and Sauk took advantage of a couple Charger miscues to tie the game at 24-24. After the Chargers scored Weller recorded another kill and followed with an ace block for a chance to ice the game. But the Chargers wouldn’t lay down and eventually won the game 30-28.

Despite the Chargers holding the momentum heading into game three, it was all Streeters. Weller picked up where she left off with three kills to start the game as Sauk staked themselves to a 4-0 lead. Weller would have six kills in the game  and Kollman would add two kills and two ace serves as the Streeters coasted to a 25-10 win.

By this time it was clear that the wind had been taken out of the Chargers’ sails as Sauk proved why they are the only unbeaten team in Class AA in the state with a convincing 25-7 win in game four.

Weller finished with an astonishing 32 kills to lead the Streeters.

“It feels amazing for our senior class,” she said of making their third straight trip to state.  “This is what we’ve been shooting for all year. It feels great.”

Seedings will be determined Sunday so Sauk does not know who they play yet, but chances are they will get a top four seed. No matter who they play they will battle Thursday at the Excel Energy Center at either 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.

Stay tuned to the Streeter Sports Blog for updates and also look for plenty of coverage on the season so far and the upcoming state tournament in this week’s Sauk Centre Herald.

You can tell things were going well for the Streeters by the look on their faces, and the looks on the faces of Tiger fans behind.

Brianna VonWahlde and Kendra Zenzen get pumped after a VonWahlde kill.

Becca Moe sets to a hitter in Saturday's game. Moe has seen ample playing time down the stretch for the Streeters.

Jordan Gamradt doesn't get the glory that some of the big hitters do, but she is one of the team's best servers and a backrow specialist.

Libero Katie Reitsma bumps one tot he front row.

Reitsma was stellar in the back row with many big digs in Saturday's game.

The Streeters head into state with a 31-0 record.

Jena Klaphake with one of her dozens of sets on the day.