Streeters take third!

The Sauk Centre volleyball squad ended their season in a winning fashion Saturday with a 3-2 win over Belle Plaine in the third place game at the state volleyball tournament.

There may not have been two more evenly matched teams in the tourney the Tigers took game one 25-23 before Sauk rallied to take game two 25-17. Game three was another close battle with Sauk edging the Tigers 26-24. The Streeters led that game 24-20 only to watch the Tigers tied it up, but finished them off for the win to even the match. Game four was all Belle Plaine. The game was tied 14-14 when the Tigers went on an 11-3 run to force a deciding game five. Game five was another battle as the teams traded points to a 9-9 tie. Belle Plaine took an 11-9 lead when consecutive kills by Macy Weller and Kendra Zenzen tied it up. Weller added two more kills for a 13-11 lead. Sauk earned another point on a bad set and then the Tigers scored two straight for a 14-13 Streeter lead. Sauk called a timeout and then it was Weller once again, finishing off the season and a magnificent career with a set from Jena Klaphake and a kill for a 15-13 win.

Weller finished with 23 kills as four different Streeters had at least a dozen kills. Ashley Kollman and Brianna VonWahlde each had 13 kills and Zenzen had 12. Klaphake had 59 set assists. Kollman led with 28 digs and Katie Reitsma had 27. The Streeters finish their season with just one blemish, a loss last night to Caledonia. Their record of 33-1 is the best record in school history for the volleyball squad and the second time the Streeter volleyball program has finished third. Today's win also marked the third straight year at state, finishing fourth in 2010 and fifth in 2011. Ten seniors will graduate from this year's team, but they will never be forgotten for their three trips to state and the memories they have made for Streeter fans.

For her efforts at state, Macy Weller earned a spot on the 10-member Wells Fargo All-Tournament team.

Check out this week's Sauk Centre Herald for a game by game recap and reaction from players and coaches, plus lots of great photos.

Saturday, November 10, 2012