Cardinals get past Grand Meadow in Section 1A West semis
Published 4:32 pm Saturday, October 27, 2018
- Grand Meadow’s Jordyn Glynn with the block against Faribault BA in the Section 1A West semifinals Saturday at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
ROCHESTER – The No. 2 Grand Meadow volleyball team was hoping to build on its program’s history, when it ran into a No. 3 seeded Faribault Bethlehem Academy team that has a tremendous tradition in the Section 1A West Semifinals in Mayo Civic Center Saturday.
The Superlarks missed out on their first win at Civic Center in program history when they were knocked off by scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-18.
Grand Meadow’s Kaitlyn Hilton with the wind-up against Faribault BA in the Section 1A West semifinals Saturday at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
While GM (24-10 overall) has put together three straight 20-win seasons, the Cardinals (10-18 overall) have played in three of the last four Minnesota Class A State Volleyball Tournaments.
GM led the first game 11-5, but FBA stormed back to take that one and then it won a back-and-forth game two to take control.
“It was tough, I know we really wanted it bad,” GM senior hitter Kaitlyn Hilton said. “Faribault just had an edge on us that we didn’t have. They played a really good game. We were close, but we weren’t able to get it.”
Grand Meadow’s Hailey Hindt with the spike against Faribault BA in the Section 1A West semifinals Saturday at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The second game was tied at 23 before FBA scored the final two points and GM was as close as 18-16 after a Hilton kill in the final game before FBA closed it out.
“Our passing just wasn’t there and our setters had to work really hard to get the ball. We weren’t able to get any really good shots,” GM co-head coach Alex Peterson said. “(FBA is) kind of like Mabel-Canton where they have that mentality where they’ve been here a lot. The biggest thing is we have to stay strong, especially when the momentum shifts. We gave them some five point runs and that’s what hurt us.”
Grand Meadow’s Kylie Fenton-Musel punches at the ball to get it over against Faribault BA in the Section 1A West semifinals Saturday at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
GM will graduate four key seniors from this year’s team and they’ve been the core of a group that has helped the Superlarks turn things around in the last few years.
“I can’t say enough about this group,” Peterson said. “They’ve all worked so hard in the offseason and they came up short, but these girls really deserved to keep going. We’re really going to miss our seniors and we’ll have some big shoes to fill. They left everything out there.”
Grand Meadow’s Meghan Eastlee plays the ball against Faribault BA in the Section 1A West semifinals Saturday at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
GM stats: Jordyn Glynn, 7 kills, 25 digs; Kaitlyn Hilton, 2 aces, 9 kills, 7 digs; Riley Queensland, 5 kills; Isabelle Olson, 14 digs; Meghan Eastlee, 2 aces, 11 set assists; Greta Warmka, 3 aces
