Volleyball defeats Eagles, wins Coon Rapids tourney

by Lexi Pingel
Getting back into the routine of school, the final bell rang and let the students out of class. Among those students were the Irish volleyball players who hosted their first after school game, and first conference game, against the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles on Thursday September 8.
The serve from Eden Valley-Watkins started game one and the Irish sent the ball right back over with a kill from Dani Hudek for the first point. Maple Lake’s tough serving put the Eagles out of system, giving them no choice but to send free balls over the net and set up the Irish hitters for quick plays which helped put the Irish ahead with a 25-14 win.
Maple Lake took the lead early in the second game. As a result of great serve receive passing by the Irish, great sets were made and many kills put point on the scoreboard. This led to a quick victory for the Irish with a score of 25 points, leaving the Eagles at 11.
Feeling confident and using the momentum from the preceding game, Maple Lake pulled ahead during the second game. Not willing to give up, Eden Valley-Watkins kept the ball off the floor and caught up as the game carried on. Thanks to the encouragement from the fans, the Irish were inspired and able to make a run of points long enough to pull ahead of the Eagles once again. With a back set from Brooke Decker, Carissa Knott got her first kill of the season and the game winning point putting the Irish at 25 amd the Eagles at 17.
As a team, the Irish went 90% for serving. Lexi Pingel and Jenny Puncochar led the team in serves both with 100%. Puncochar also had the most kills at 12. Brooke Decker had a total of 26 set assists and Carissa Knott led the team in digs with a total of 7. Altogether, the Irish had a solid night which led to their first conference win.
Serv. Kills SA  Digs
B. Decker 15/16 2 26 4
L. Pingel 7/7 6
E. Bryant 4 1 1
R. Latour 6/7 2 5
D. Hudek 0/1 5
E. Webb 15/17 2 1 2
S. Rachel 13/14 8 5
C. Knott 9/10 1 4 7
J. Puncochar 1/1 12 2
 
Irish at Coon Rapids Tourney
As the bus slowly came to a stop outside the Coon Rapids High School, the Maple Lake Irish volleyball team switched their mindsets from fun, loose conversations to focusing on the task ahead as they began to prepare for their second tournament on Saturday September 10.
With the confidence from the sweep over the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles on Thursday, the Irish got ready to face their opponents from New Richmond, Coon Rapids, Grand Rapids and Fridley. 
 Irish vs. New Richmond
The first game of the day started off slowly as Maple Lake and New Richmond began to battle back and forth for the lead. Eventually, strong and consistent hitting put the Irish in the lead and they took the first game with a final score of 25-19.
Maple Lake started off with the serve and soon found their rhythm. As the Irish picked up the pace, the New Richmond Tigers began to crumble under the pressure and were left with 9 points while Maple Lake scored 25.
Irish vs. Coon Rapids
After the win against New Richmond, the Irish advanced into the next round of the winners bracket where they faced the Coon Rapids Cardinals.
Game one started off with a few remarkable digs from Shelby Rachel and the rest of the Irish. Both teams kept the ball off the floor causing the score to go back and forth. Ultimately, Maple Lake was able to keep the intensity level high and pull off a win of 25-18.
During the second set, the Irish were able to take control right away. Strong hitting and good defense gave Maple Lake the advantage and they were able to keep the lead throughout the game. Pushing points, the Cardinals were unable to stop the Irish and the game ended at 25-11 with another victory for Maple Lake.
 Irish vs. Grand Rapids
After a quick 15-minute break, the teams got back to work and Maple Lake was set to play the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks in the semi-finals.
With a height advantage for the Thunderhawks, the Irish had to come up with a game plan. Making smart plays and tipping over the block, the Irish were able to find the holes in the Grand Rapids defense and come out ahead in game one with 25 points, leaving the Thunderhawks at 16.
After figuring out how to get around the block, strong hitting from the entire front row, along with over passes from Grand Rapids, led to many points during the second game. The Maple Lake Irish managed to stay in the lead the entire game and beat the Thunderhawks 25-15, advancing the Irish into the championship match.
 Irish vs. Fridley
At 4 p.m. the Maple Lake Irish stepped onto the court ready to compete against the Fridley Lady Tigers for the right to call themselves champions.
With both teams going undefeated throughout the day, neither the Irish nor the Lady Tigers were willing to give up their streak. Fighting back and forth, the Irish were relentless, keeping the ball off the floor at all costs. Everybody had a solid game and with a run of serves from Rachel Latour, it came down to the final points where the Irish were just able to pull off the win 25-23.
Not going down without a fight, Fridley started out strong taking the lead 9-12 in the second set. With the goal to serve tough enough to keep Fridley out of system, the Irish were able to rally and come back ahead 16-13. While the points added up, Maple Lake began to take a bigger lead and on the 23rd point, Dani Hudek crushed the ball and gave the team enough enthusiasm to push two more points to the victory. With a final score of 25-19, the Maple Lake Irish were able to end the day with the title as champions.
Throughout the day the Irish went 90% on serves and had a serve receive passing average of 2.3, which allowed there to be at least two hitters to be set each time. Rachel Latour and Lexi Pingel led the team in serves both with a percentage of 97. Latour also had the most digs with a total of 28. Brooke Decker had 72 set assists during the day and Jenny Puncochar led the team in kills with a total of 21. At the end of the tournament, the Maple Lake Irish added four more wins to their record and another plaque to put on the school wall.                 
Serv. Kills SA Digs
B. Decker 22/28 6 72 14
L. Pingel 29/30 26
E. Bryant 16 2 3
R. Latour 38/39 28
D. Hudek 16 1 2
E. Webb 26/32 12 2 4
S. Rachel 32/34 18 22
C. Knott 24/30 1 13
J. Puncochar 21 2
Getting back into the routine of school, the final bell rang and let the students out of class. Among those students were the Irish volleyball players who hosted their first after school game, and first conference game, against the Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles on Thursday September 8.
The serve from Eden Valley-Watkins started game one and the Irish sent the ball right back over with a kill from Dani Hudek for the first point. Maple Lake’s tough serving put the Eagles out of system, giving them no choice but to send free balls over the net and set up the Irish hitters for quick plays which helped put the Irish ahead with a 25-14 win.
Maple Lake took the lead early in the second game. As a result of great serve receive passing by the Irish, great sets were made and many kills put point on the scoreboard. This led to a quick victory for the Irish with a score of 25 points, leaving the Eagles at 11.
More information and stats appear in this week’s Messenger.

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