Meadow Creek and Andover earn state trophies on Saturday

By Jason Olson
SportsPrepZone Editor

For the second time in this state tournament, Meadow Creek volleyball went the distance to win the third place trophy in Class A Saturday afternoon in St. Paul.

The Saints (28-7) recovered from Friday's loss to eventual Class A Champion Bethlehem Academy by topping Lake of the Woods High School (23-10-2) in the fifth and deciding game 16-14.

The Saints won the first two games, 25-23 and 25-21 before the Bears mounted a furious comeback, winning Games 3 and 4 25-18, 27-25.

Neither team took more than a couple-point lead through the opening two games before the Bears led 18-11 midway through Game 3, turning the momentum towards the team from northern Minnesota for the first time. Meadow Creek led 20-17 in Game 4, only to have Lake of the Woods go on a 10-5 run to win the game, forcing the winner-take-all Game 5. Kill shots by Steph Rohwer and Danielle Carter completed the Saints second win of the tournament, giving them the third place hardware.

Meadow Creek's Lauren Sutherland and Kelli Strandlund had 15 kill shots each and Carter contributed 13 kills. Rohwer performed well again, tallying 45 set assists with 13 digs. Strandlund led the team in digs with 15 and Sutherland had 12 digs.

Andover

Andover (25-8) completed its season on a high note, one of nine teams to finish with a win. The Huskies swept Farmington (25-22, 25-20, 25-19) Saturday morning in the Class AAA Consolation finals in St. Paul.

Huskies hitter Jenna McNallan led the way with 15 kills and 13 digs, Karlie Hauer added 14 kills and Nikki Husfeldt turned in another solid setting performance with 46 set assists. Erica Turner dug out 19 balls.

Game 1 was close the entire way, with neither team leading by more than a few points. Andover took control in the second game, holding onto a six point lead, squelching a mini-run by Farmington at the end of the game. Andover came out slower in Game 3, down 3-0 before turning it up to lead 11-8, forcing a Farmington (20-12) time out. Andover kept the Tigers an arm length away from the lead to hold on for the win.

Jason Olson is at jason.olson@ecm-inc.com.