Posted: 9/11/07
Volleyball team starts season off hot
 Libby Augedahl (14) bumps the ball, as Alecia Fruechte (9) moves in for the set during volleyball action against Dover-Eyota last week in Caledonia. Photos by Reed Welch |
By Diana Hammell
Argus Sportswriter
Aquinas Tournament
Caledonia started the La Crosse Aquinas volleyball tournament on Saturday, Sept. 1 out well by winning their three pool matches 2-0 each taking first in their pool. "That put us in the final four of the tournament which is where we wanted to be," said coach Scott Koepke. "Early in the year itís very important to get that great competition." Scores in pool play were: LaX Central 25-20, 25-19; Onalaska Luther 25-20, 25-11; Assumption 25-22, 25-17.
In the semi-finals they played a really strong team from Chippewa Falls McDonnell. "We were behind one point at 15-16 in the first game and that was some of the finest volleyball Iíve seen a Caledonia team play," said Koepke. "I was very proud of how we competed. We made a few errors after that and couldnít get back on track, but the girls played very hard. We had a bit of a hard time stopping their outside hitter who was very tough. The second game we again couldnít get on track, but again the effort was there. 16-25,16-25."
In the third place game against Aquinas the Warriors lost a couple of close games 21-25 and 28-30. "The girls played hard but we couldnít quite get over the hump," said Koepke.
"Megan King and Alecia Fruechte were our hitting leaders for the tournament hitting .185 and .156. We hit .153 as a team. This is hitting efficiency which is one of probably three stats that drives your teamís success. .333 is considered really strong, so this is a stat we want to keep working on. The stat is your kills - your errors divided by your total attacks on the ball. Itís not a stat that is all on the hitters. Hitters will hit a high percentage when they have a good set, setters will give you a great set when they have a great pass. Youíll get a great pass when your team passes the serve well and plays great defense. Youíll pass well and play great defense when your team has a lot of energy, and you have super energy when your team talks a lot. So, itís a stat that the whole team must play a part in. To win a big match like these two you need to be more efficient, which is something weíll continue to work on. Libby Augedahl had 46 digs for the tournament, which is a real good day."
Statistics: Cassie Gran had 86 set assists, 5 kills, 24 digs, 8 ace serves and 3 ace blocks; Megan King 35 kills, 32 digs, 6 ace serves, 4 ace blocks and 1 set assist; Alecia Fruechte 23 kills, 28 digs, 6 ace serves and 1 ace block; Libby Augedahl 17 kills, 46 digs, 2 ace serves, 2 ace blocks and 1 set assist; Amber Ideker 14 kills, 27 digs, 1 ace serve and 3 ace blocks; Amber Sorenson 11 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace serve and 1 ace block; Laquita Becker 18 digs.
Caledonia 3, Dover-Eyota 0
Caledonia hosted Dover-Eyota on Thursday, Sept. 6, defeating them in three games, 25-16, 25-22, and 25-19.
Koepke said the team played very hard for this match and talked fairly well. "We hit .163 as a team which is an improvement," he said. "The girls served very well and put some very good rallies together. Libby again led us in digs and hit .214. Amber Ideker hit .416 which is excellent.
"As we go into this week we will focus on our blocking. Winona and Fillmore Central have very good outside hitters and weíre going to want to block more balls.
Statistics: Cassie Gran had 21 set assists, 3 kills, 12 digs and 1 ace block; Megan King 7 kills, 12 digs and 2 ace blocks; Alecia Fruechte 7 kills, 4 digs and 3 ace serves; Libby Augedahl 5 kills, 13 digs and 1 ace serve; Amber Ideker 5 kills, 6 digs and 1 ace block; Amber Sorenson 4 kills, 1 dig, 1 ace serve and 1 ace block; Laquita Becker 7 digs.
Next: Caledonia hosted Winona Senior High Tuesday, Sept. 11 and will face Fillmore Central Thursday, Sept. 13 at Harmony. They compete in the Waukon tournament Saturday, Sept. 15 and will host Kingsland Tuesday, Sept. 18.
Caledonia Argus
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