Benson spoils home football opener on new field

The Benson Braves defeated Sauk Centre in the home football opener 36-14 in a West Central Conference match up.

Other scores:
P-E-M 40, Melrose Area 14 (Dutchmen Homecoming)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 27, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 20
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 28, Rockford 20 (Jaguars Homecoming)

Video clip from last night's 5-game volleyball thriller

Sauk Centre earns a point after a long volley against Melrose last night. Video by Herman Lensing

Streeters survive in epic battle against Melrose

Sauk Centre survived a scare thursday night in an epic battle against crosstown rival Melrose.
The Mainstreeters came into the game with a 15-0 record and had lost just one game all year, that to the 9-6 Dutchmen in the Sauk Rapids Tournament.

After winning game won handily, Sauk Centre suffered their second loss of the season when Melrose rallied behind the powerful hitting of Briana Schmiesing, Shelby Uphoff and Brenna Pierskalla. Sauk won game one 25-13 only to see the Lady Dutchmen win game two 25-18.

In an ever-important battle for momentum, Sauk's effort in game three looked much like their effort in game one. Ashley Kollman and Kendra Zenzen stepped up their games as Melrose keyed on middle hitter Macy Weller. Weller still got her share of kills, but setter Jena Klaphake knew to spread the ball to the outside to keep the Melrose defense guessing. Sauk prevailed with a 25-14 win.

Defensively, the Streeters were outstanding in game three. Katie Reitsma, Klaphake and Zenzen all came up with some big saves to keep volleys alive.

But in game four, the Lady Dutchmen stormed right back, handing Sauk a 25-22 loss. That set up the deciding game five, a race to 15 that at this point was anybody's ball game.

The gym was as loud as its ever been at Melrose High School, but Sauk quited the crowd somewhat as they staked themselves to a 6-2 lead. But a Uphoff and Schmiesing each had big kills as Melrose crept back to tie it 8-8 and eventually take an 11-9 lead.

Trailing 13-12, Brianna Von Wahlde came up with a big block for the Streeters, earning them back the serve and more importantly getting Weller back into the front row rotation. Sauk would score the next two points, the last coming from Weller for a 15-13 win.

We will have much more on this game in next week's Sauk Centre Herald.

Weller led the Streeters with 18 kills, and Kollman turned in a season-high with 16. Zenzen added 11 to help lead the offensive effort.

Klaphake was outstanding, not just setting the ball, but making several great plays at the net. She finished with 46 assists as she builds on her school record total. Libero Katie Reitsma led the squad with 22 digs, many coming off hard hits by Melrose's big three. Kollman had 14 digs and Zenzen and Klaphake each had 13. Both teams were outstanding defensively.

 Kollman and Zenzen were both outstanding for the Streeters tonight.

It was Sauk's first real test of the season, and although they passed with a win, there is no doubt they' rather dispose of opponents by a bigger margin than a 2-point win in game five.

But as they progress down the road to what they hope leads to the Xcel Energy Center, they will have to play in these type of games where there is a sense of urgency to get the job done. They showed they could play under pressure tonight, being behind in the deciding game but still coming back to win.

Kudos to the Lady Dutchmen as well. They are a good team who could go deep into the playoffs. In fact, we could very well see these two teams go at it come section playoff time.

If its anything like tonight's match up, it will be a match to remember.

Ashley Kollman is pumped after one of her 16 kills.

Macy weller turned in another stellar peformance with 18 kills. Above she gets a set from Liz Ellens.

Weller with a tip.

Zenzen goes up for a kill.

Streeter volleyball prevails in epic battle at Melrose

After taking a 6-2 lead in game five, the Mainstreeters volleyball team let Melrose back in it while falling behind 10-9.

Melrose ultimately led 13-11 before Sauk Centre earned the final four points of the night to take the 3-2 win. Match point was earned by a kill by Macy Weller.

Junior libero Katie Reitsma was named the BOB FM Player of the Game for her outstanding work to keep a lot of balls alive.

Neither team found traction the entire night. Sauk Centre won game one, Melrose won game two, Sauk Centre won game three and the Dutchmen then tied it with a hard-fought 25-22 win in game four.

Sauk Centre moves to 16-0 on the season; Melrose falls to 9-7.

More to follow later.

Streeter swimmers out to big lead against Montevideo

Jill Hujanen in the 200 medley relay.

Julie Bushard in the individual medley.

Kaylee Hanson in the medley relay.

Morgan Adams in the 50 freestyle.

Stephanie Nelson in the 200 individual medley.

Tiana Molitor in the 200 individual medley.

Tracy Kortan in the 200 yard freestyle.

GAME ON!

The team practiced on the field this week. Above is a view form the new press box.

The Sauk Centre football squad will host Benson Friday night in a much-antipcated home opener at the new athletic complex.

The state inspector was on site Thursday and school officials gave the go-ahead on the game. The hope this summer was that the project would be completed in time for the Streeters' first home game, but with Friday's game they will at least get two home game son their home turf and possibly a playoff game depending on how well they finish off the second half of the season.

The Streeters are coming off two lop-sided losses, 41-8 against Morris and 48-7 against B.O.L.D. Those two squads will likely play it out for the conference title, but Sauk has as good of a shot as any team in locking down at least third place. They defeated Yellow Medicine East 46-6 in their season opener and followed that with a 39-6 win over Montevideo.

Benson should provide a good match up for the Streeters. They are also 2-2 having lost 24-7 to Morris and 21-20 to Lac qui Parle Valley. They defeated Yellow Medicine East 48-6 and Montevideo 46-6. On paper it would seem the teams have a lot of similarities.

The Streeters may again be without senior running back Roosevelt Austin. Austin tore his ACL in the closing minutes of the win over Montevideo and was scratched for the Morris game. He did play last week, wearing a brace, after doctors told him he couldn't hurt it any worse. He carried the ball five times for 14 yards.

Sauk has relied heavily on the passing game with senior Patrick Knoblauch tossing five touchdown passes and running for four in the team's first four games. Sauk has a plethora of receivers who have been good targets for Knoblauch, including Nick Adams, Josh Buschette, Seth Otte, Dylan Kohorst, and Trent Berscheit.

Their ability to throw the ball against Benson will likely be a key factor in their success. It will also be interesting to see if team speed plays a role in Friday's game on turf. Sauk's 41-8 loss against Morris was played on turf so this is there second go-round on the artificial substance. Benson's loss to Morris was at Benson, where they have played three of their first four home games.

Another key factor will be Sauk Centre's ability to stop the Benson offense. Sauk has had trouble the past two weeks containing the high-powered offense of both Morris and B.O.L.D. Benson has outscored opponents 121-57. The Mainstreeters have been outscored 101-100.

Whatever the outcome, Friday night will be a landmark game in Sauk centre and with temperatures expected to reach the 80s during midday, the weather should cooperate as the Mainstreeters break in their new field, hopefully with a hard-fought win in from of hundreds of eager fans.

Adam Moritz od Moritz Construction works on the press box Wednesday afternoon in preparation for Friday's home opener. The siding was installed on Thursday.

Streeter swimmers beat Albany!

The Sauk Centre swimming and diving team beat Minnewask/Morris Area Sept. 20 104-81. The Streeters got first-place finishes in five different events as they glided to a victory. Sarah Nelson got the Streeters off on the right foot with a win in the 200freestyle. She finished with a time of 2:12.45. Kaylee Hanson was second in 2:25. Alyssa Kohorst continued her impressive performances she has been having in the 50 freestyle with a first-place time of 27.15, almost two seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer. Kendyl Tullis was first in the 100 butterfly in 1:09.99 with Kohorst finishing second in 1:12.70. Tiana Molitor was the other individual to win an event when she took first in the 100 backstroke in 1:05.53. Sauk also finished first in the 400 freestyle relay to cap off their night. Tullis, Danielle Banal, Julie Bushard and Molitor combined for a time of 4:02.90. Hanson, Kohorst, Emily Mensen and Jenna Kill finished second in race with a time of 4:25.20. Also posting a second-place time was the 200 medley relay team of Menley Rehm, Sarah Bushard, Kohorst and Jill Hujanen. They finished in 2:19.51. Julie Bushard added a second-place finish in the 200 individual medley, and also finished second in the 500 freestyle. Shay Wichryk was second in diving, and Tracy Kortan, Hanson, Tullis and Nelson were second in the 200 freestyle relay. Banal and Nelson also finished second in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively. Sauk Centre 62, Albany Area 40 Sauk kept up their winning ways with a 62-40 win over Albany on Thursday in Albany. Sauk got nine wins, two individual coming from Julie Bushard in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley. Tiana Molitor also had a hand in a few wins, earning the top time in the 200 freestyle and also anchoring the 400 freestyle relay along with teammates Sarah Nelson, Dani Banal and Alyssa Kohorst. She also helped pace the field with teammate sin the 200 freestyle relay with Bushard, Tracy Kortan and Kohorst. Josephine Mensen topped the field in the 500 freestyle and Sarah nelson finished first in the 100 butterfly. Banal also took first in the 100 backstroke and Shay Wichryk was tops in diving. "It was a good meet," said Streeter head coach James Schreiner. "It was close for a while but the girls had some great races late to pull away. Winning the last two relays was a big help."

Mainstreeters pile up the wins tonight

It was a clean sweep across the varsity scoreboard for the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters.

The girls' tennis, girls' swimming and diving and the volleyball teams all picked up wins tonight. The swimmers and divers beat non-conference Albany, while the other two varsity squads won West Central Conference contests.

Read more about all the teams in this week's Sauk Centre Herald.

West Central Conference volleyball scores on Sept. 25:
Minnewaska Area 3, Yellow Medicine East 0 (the Lakers are 11-3-2 to carve out their best season since 1998, the last year the went more than two matches deep in the playoffs)
Paynesville Area 3, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 2

Site of Friday's football game is TBD!

"To be determined"!

Find out if we get our first home game for the Mainstreeters football team this Friday night by checking out the Sauk Centre Herald, which hits newsstands on Wednesday afternoon.

Mainstreeters host B-B-E in a girls' tennis border battle

Action from the one singles match featuring Mariah Rieland...

The B-B-E Jaguars came away with their 7th win of the season in a 5-2 victory over Sauk Centre on Monday. The Mainstreeters are 14-4 overall heading into today's match in Morris against the Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Tigers.