Lady Spartans Go 4-0 at Rochester Tournament
The M State lady Spartans went 4-0 at the Rochester Tournament over the weekend, beating Ellsworth Community College 3-2 (25-22, 25-15, 17-25, 15-25, 16-14), Harper College 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 25-11), Williston State 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-20) and Bethel JV 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-18).
"This weekend was exactly what our team needed to get back on track," said head volleyball coach Abby Crowser. "We had been struggling the past week with some tough conference losses and decided it was time to turn things around and start playing up to our potential. After beating Ellsworth College in a close 5 set match, we felt like we ended with the right momentum and were going to carry that over as we faced #1 ranked Harper College. We came out strong taking the first two sets and then went on to beat them 3-1. We were very happy with the win, but knew we had another full day ahead of us and our work wasn't over yet. Saturday provided two more opportunities to play talented teams and we were ready for the challenge. From the beginning to the end, we played consistently well and beat both Williston College and Bethel JV in 3 sets. Seeing the team's improvement this last week is very encouraging and we are determined to continue playing to the best of our ability."
In the five set win over Ellsworth College, M State was led by Kassandra Algarate (16 kills, 8 digs), Megan Dreger (14 kills), Sydney Hovland (9 kills, 37 set assists, 3 blocks, 9 digs), Hannah Ekse (8 kills, 6 blocks), Mia Greenman (25 digs), Lexus Noyes (11 digs) and Corina Mark (9 digs). Serving leaders were Greenman (19/20), Noyes (20/22), Ekse (11/12), Hovland (16/18), Taylor Berndt(12/14) and Algarate (14/17).
Leaders in the win over Harper College were Algarate (10 kills, 3 blocks, 17 digs, 13/14 serving), Noyes (17/18 serving, 4 aces), Hovland (7 kills, 2 blocks, 11 digs, 27 set assists, 15/17 serving), Dreger (6 kills, 3 blocks, 8 digs), Ekse (7 kills, 5 blocks, 11/13 serving), Alexa Mortenson (4 blocks), Mark (15 digs), Greenman (20 digs, 17/18 serving, 3 aces), Berndt (16 digs, 13/14 serving) and Katie Merrick (7 blocks, 6 kills).
Against Willison State the lady Spartans were led by Ekse (10 kills, 3 blocks, 4 digs, 13/13 serving), Dreger (8 kills, 1 block), Algarate (7 kills, 1 block, 8 digs, 11/11 serving), Merrick (7 kills, 3 blocks), Hovland (33 set assists, 15 digs, 11/11 serving, 2 aces), Greenman (15 digs, 19/21 serving, 3 aces) and Noyes (18 digs, 10/11 serving). M State was 69-for-73 serving as a team in the match.
Leading the way in the 3-0 win over the Bethel JV were Algarate (9 kills, 1 block, 7 digs, 13/13 serving), Ekse (8 kills, 6 blocks, 10/12 serving), Hovland (7 kills, 2 blocks, 25 set assists, 13/14 serving), Greenman (19 digs, 18/18 serving) and Noyes (9 digs, 9/10 serving). Taylor Berndt was a perfect 7-for-7 serving and lady Spartans were 70-of-74 as a team.
Courtesy of Craig Olson Sports