Riverland reaching for seventh straight trip to state
Published 12:00 am Monday, October 7, 2002
The Riverland volleyball team needs to turn its tournament victories into regular-season wins with the final week approaching for the Blue Devils.
Riverland swept consecutive two-game wins from Anoka-Ramsey and Minnesota West Saturday in the Riverland Invitational in Austin, and the Blue Devils will need to duplicate the same feet with regular-season contests remaining against both teams.
The Devils (12-10) took first place from Saturday's invitational against a pair of MCCC Southern Division teams, but Riverland's league record (2-5) could use some help. The Devils are on the bubble for qualification for their seventh consecutive state tournament, yet winning two of their final three matches could lock up that opportunity.
"It was nice to prove to ourselves that we could beat them each again," said Riverland coach Helen Jahr. "We need to beat them two more times and that will help clinch a state tournament trip for us."
Riverland finished sixth at last year's MCCC State Tournament at the National Volleyball Center in Rochester, but the Blue Devils are still hopeful of at least that much. Riverland plays at Anoka-Ramsey -- who they've beaten three times already -- Wednesday night. The Devils play at Ridgewater next Monday and host Minnesota West on Oct. 16 in the regular-season finale.
The top eight teams in the MCCC qualify for the season-ending tournament in Rochester. Coach Jahr suggested that winning two of three remaining conference matches would mean a trip to state.
"We're looking forward to making that a reality," she said.
Riverland swept Anoka-Ramsey, 32-30, 30-20, and Minnesota West, 30-12, 30-20, Saturday in Austin. Aubree Page posted 19 kills to lead the Devils on the day. Becky Herrmann added 11 kills to the cause.
"It's always nice to (sweep) on your home floor," Jahr said.
Tanya Jensen and Steph Vollbrecht led Riverland with 32 and 29 digs respectively, while Marisa Kelsey's five blocks was a team-high. Page added four.
Ellie Ramseth dished out 20 set-assists and Steph Benson contributed 18.
Too many miscues
Rochester Community and Technical College came to Austin Friday night and took a three-game sweep from the host Blue Devils, 30-24, 30-25, 30-23.
Riverland sealed its own fate with 16 attacking errors and 12 service errors scattered throughout the match.
"We made too many errors to play with Rochester," Coach Jahr said. "Rochester's a good team and you can't make that many mistakes, not to mention countless other small things that we did wrong.
"The best team won."
Riverland got a team-high nine kills from Herrmann, eight from Page and seven from Kelsey, but the Yellowjackets took advantage of the Devils' countless miscues. Rochester swept the regular-season series 2-0.
"We knew it was anybody's game," Jahr said. "It was important for us to win that match because it would have helped ensure us a spot in the regional tournament."
Kari Wobschall led Riverland with four service aces, while Ramseth distributed 18 assists. Vollbrecht made 18 digs and Jensen added 14.
"We've got Anoka, Ridgewater and Minnesota West left, and we need to beat two of them to make it to the state tournament again this year," Coach Jahr added.
Riverland is 3-0 against both Anoka-Ramsey and Minnesota West this year, but the Devils have not yet defeated Ridgewater this season.
Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :mailto:sports@austindailyherald.com.