Posted: 11/6/07
Warriors lose to Stewartville in Sec. 1AA championship
 Caledoniaís Libby Augedahl (14) and Amber Sorenson (24) went up high to block this St. Charles shot during the Section 1AA Sub-Section East championship game. Photo by Reed Welch |
By Diana Hammell
Argus Sports Writer
The Warrior volleyball team defeated St. Charles, making them Sub-Section champions. They went on to the Section 1AA championship game where they lost to Stewartville.
Caledonia 3, St. Charles 2
Caledonia met St. Charles in the sub-section final on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at Mayo Civic Center. The Warriors beat the Saints in five games: 25-19, 25-21, 30-32, 24-26, and 15-12.
Caledonia coach Scott Koepke said that itís hard to beat a team three times in a season, especially a team like St. Charles. "The girls played well the first two games and led in the third 24-22 and couldnít quite close it out," said Koepke. "We were passing well and Cassie Gran, who finished with 34 set assists, was setting very effectively. We made some errors at the end of game three, but the girls were working hard and playing with a great attitude, and thatís all we ask.
"It got pretty exciting at the end of game three. The fourth game saw the match take a tough turn for us. Megan King went down with an ankle sprain early in the fourth game which forced us to switch things up a bit. Megan had 14 kills at that point and was really bringing it. Sadie Lange and Lindsay Gran, both 9th graders came into the match, one in the front row and one in the back and played so well. Lindsey had many nice digs and Sadie had three kills in the fifth game. Those two, and the rest of the team, worked and competed so hard. The whole team just stepped up and played with everything they had. It really showed a lot about our team. The girls welcomed the girls off the bench and they all just got after it. After the fourth game slipped away we were down 8-10 in the fifth and clawed back to win the match 15-12 on Libby Augedahlís ace serve. I was very proud of our team the way they battled and like I said earlier, just competed. Itís been about 10 years since the last Sub-Section title and this one will be remembered for quite a while."
Caledonia 0, Stewartville 3
Caledonia met Stewartville in the Section finals on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester where they fell to the Tigers 19-25, 9-25, and 16-25.
"The girls started out real well and were in game one but it slipped at the end," said Koepke.
"After a tough game two the girls came out and competed well in game three, but again came up short. One of the areas we were focusing on was passing their serve. We passed 2.4, which is very solid. Unofficially, we had them with four aces, which is something the girls can be very proud of. We hit .058 which we would have liked to have higher, but Stewartville played great defense which influences that number a lot. They played an excellent match and kept coming at us the whole night. They will represent our section very well at the state tournament. We wish John Dzubay and his team the best of luck. I am very proud of our team for the great year they had, how much they improved throughout the year, and all the thrills they gave us. We would like to thank all our supporters and Becky Fruechte, Nancy Mullins, Maria Fruechte and the others that helped with stats."
Caledonia finished with a final record of 26-6.
Stewartville will meet Delano High School in the first round of the Class 1AA State Tournament Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at Excel Energy Center.
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