Joel Friday, e-PRO

Conference Champs 9-0

Final record 28-7

7th Place in Apple Valley tourney

1st Place in Mora Tourney

Winners of 15 of their final 16 games, only loosing to the eventual State Champs and winning 3 of last 4 in 5 set matches.

Subsection 4A North Champions

Section 4A Champions

3rd in State, 1 of 9 teams in the state to finish their season with a win.

Best finish in school history

8 seniors who have played together since 5th grade!

Round 1 in the State Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St Paul, MN, home of the Wild! After the banquet at Crowne Plaza Wednesday night introducing all the girls playing in the tournament from all 24 teams, we are ready to get the championship settled. Our friends from Andover had already lost a tough match to Stillwater 3-1. Time to introduce our Saints.

Game 1 started out with point Saints but, quickly Nevis built a 4 point edge. We tied them twice in the match though we never led after 1-0. Nevis takes round one 25-22 and set the tone for the match. Lets pick it up Saints!

Game 2 looks very much like game 1 with Nevis holding the edge. Our girls look like they need to pull it together and start playing like they can. In the end Nevis pulls out another win, more decisevly 25-15. Can the Saints pull it together? We can only hope so but now we have to win the final 3 games of the match.

Game 3 our Saints had a fire lit under them by the coach. They looked like they have in the sections and end up totally dominating the game and winning 25-9. Now the fans are feeling a whole lot better and know this can be done.

Game 4 was another close match with several ties along the way. Several points lasted 10 or more times across the net. Great volleys and hard work by both teams said they both wanted to advance. Saints end up winning 25-22 so bring on game 5.

Gane 5, winner moves on, looser goes to the consolation bracket. Who wants this more? Nevis takes an ealry 6-2 lead and the Saints appear to be in trouble. They quickly get back in the match and tie it at 9. Then the point go back and forth. Game tied at 13, the Saints win the point but quickly give the point back. 14-14 game 5, does it get any better than this? I guess our Saints wanted this more as they scored the next points and advance to play top ranked Bethlehem Academy tomorrow at 1 pm.

Don't miss it! Way to go Saints, we are very proud of your accomplishments this year.

The place: Minnehaha Academy

The time: 1pm 11-7-2009

The teams: Meadow Creek vs Mayer Lutheran

The stakes: Who goes to State?

Minnehaha was rocking with the pep bands from Meadow Creek and Mayer Lutheran switching back and forth. Meadow Creek played after games 1 and 3 and Mayer played game 2 and 4 if necessary.

Game one our Saints started off a little slow but quickly gained an edge in the match. The score was close throughout but our Ladies took game 1 25-22. Great start girls!

Game 2 had Mayer Lutheran scoring the first 6 points. Our girls slowly fought back to even the score at 12. Then Mayer jumped out again. We fought back but Mayer ended up winning game 2 25-19.

Game 3 was another closely fought battle with Mayer looking to take an edge in the match. Both teams were fighting hard for every point. The score was 20-18 when Meadow Creek checked in a player who had been on the bench for 3 weeks with an ankle sprain. She finished out the game serving 5 consecutive points and Meadow Creek had the edge once again!

Game 4 and Mayer Lutheran looked like they weren't going out without a fight. They had some great kills and had the edge. Mayer won the game to force a decisive game 5 winning 25-19. State rides on the final game! The crowd from both teams were ready for a great finish!

Game 5 was close throughout. Each point was critical. The fans were louder than ever. With the saints leading 13-12, Mayer had a kill go out, but wait, the up ref says Meadow Creek touched the ball. 13-13 game 5, what else could you ask for?

Meadow Creek went on to win the last two points even though Mayer had several great spikes, Meadow Creek simply refused to let the ball hit the floor. Once again they fed off the opponents energy to catapult them to victory and to the Minnesota State High School tournament! Unbelievable! They have the hearts of champions and are ready to take on the top teams in the state!

See you at the Xcel Energy Center Thursday! Don't miss it.

Our 8 seniors below!

The first game of the night pitted #1 seed Southwest Christian against #2 seed Mayer Lutheran. Mayer Lutheran won the match 3-0. So now we know who we will face on Saturday if we get by Heritage Christian.

Heritage came out strong and took an early lead in the first 2 games. Our Lady Saints just kept playing at a strong pace and limiting their own errors. The first game was won 25-15 by the Saints who were pounding the ball. In the 2nd game after trailing 6-2, we pulled even at 7 and then the match stayed even to 18 with every point being fought hard for. One last run by Meadow Creek proved too much for Heritage and the Saints won 25-20. 20 points was the most Heritage had managed in 5 games so far this year against our girls.

The final game of the match was amazing. The Saints seemed to feed off the power of Heritage. As Heritage pounded harder, our Saints fought even harder. At one point Heritage had several spikes in a row and should have easily had the point, but we never let the ball hit the ground and made a few statement kills of our own. If they can manage to feed off of the oponents energy like this every game, they will be tough to beat again this year.

The Saints ended up winning 25-18 to maove on to Saturday Section Finals at Minnehaha Academy 1pm. You'll want to be there to see them first hand. One of the Heritage parents said they were the best team they have played all year long. A nice compliment from a team who had only lost 5 games all season.

Well the first 2 games of sections went by without a hitch. The girls quickly took care of Minneapolis Edison in 3 games. Last night West Lutheran came out and looked better than Edison, but we dropped them in 3 as well. Therese was able to use all of her bench in both sets and still maintain an edge over the competition.

Thursday night the sub-section Championship will be held at West Lutheran in Plymouth. Southwest Christian will face Mayer Lutheran at 6 and Our Lady Saints will take on Heritage Christian at 8 pm. SHould be some great volleyball so be sure to come out and cheer on our Saints!