SET - From left, Senior Rhys Martin, Junior Bree Ihrke, and Junior Erin Jacobson. Star Eagle photos by Chris Schlaak
By ELI LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
Say this about the NRHEG volleyball team: they know how to fight until the very end.
Last did start out as a good week for the spikers as they dropped three matches, beginning with a Thursday night 3-0 defeat to WEM.
“We battled. Unfortunately our errors were too big for us to overcome,” NRHEG head coach Onika Peterson said. “We struggled to find the court at times with our hitting, add that with some missed serves, it is hard to come back from.
The Panthers dropped the first two games of the set, 25-16 and 25-20 before battling until the very end in game three, ultimately losing that game 30-28.
Individually for the Panthers: Erin Jacobson 2 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace block, 1 ace serve; Sophie Stork 5 kills, 4 digs; Bree Ihrke 5 kills, 1 ace block; Hailey Schultz 3 kills, 4 digs, 1 ace block; Sarah George 3 kills, 1 ace block, 1 ace serve; Rhys Martin 3 kills, 1 dig, 1 ace block, 1 ace serve; Bailey Ihrke 1 dig; Sidney Schultz 8 digs, 1 ace serve.
“Overall I am impressed with our girls' fight tonight,” Coach Peterson reported. “We are looking to regroup and refocus for our tournament in St. Peter on Saturday.”
The tournament Saturday will most likely be remembered as a learning experience for the Panthers, as they dropped their first two round matches, both 2-0.
Coach Peterson didn’t have any comments prior to publication.
She didn’t need to. The statistics spoke for themselves.
Their first round matchup saw them matched against Glencoe-Silver Lake, where they dropped both games by scores of 25-15 and 25-18.
The second matchup of the tournament came against host team St. Peter and that match didn’t go any better. Game scores were 25-18 and 25-9.
A never give up attitude proved effective, as the Panthers rebounded winning their final two matches against Blue Earth.
“We didn’t have our best day in St. Peter on Saturday, but our girls are resilient,” Coach Peterson said. “We were a little sluggish, had a lot of errors–with missed serves, finding the court, etc.”
The girls returned home, ready to play, defeating Randolph Monday night, 3-0.
“The team that played on Saturday was definitely not the team that showed up tonight,” Coach Peterson remarked. “The girls moved the ball well, we ran a quicker tempo offense, had aggressive net play, and solid serving.”
Coach Peterson said it was great to see the Panthers playing Panther Volleyball. The team set a team high with 12 ace serves during the match.
The win pushes the Panthers overall record to 5-3 (1-1 conference).
Individually for the Panthers: Jacobson, 5 kills, 7 digs, 1 ace block; Stork, 6 kills, 9 digs, 1 ace block, 1 ace serve; Ihrke, 2 kills, 2 digs, 2 ace blocks, 1 ace serve; George, 4 kills, 2 ace blocks; Hailey Schultz, 15 assists, 2 digs, 5 ace serves; Martin, 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace block, 3 ace serves; Bailey Ihrke, 2 digs; Sidney Schultz, 15 digs, 2 ace serves
Next: Thursday night the Panthers travel to Triton before returning home Tuesday, Sept. 21 to play USC. Sept. 22 the Panthers travel to Faribault B.A.
(September 16, 2021)