For the first time in program history, the East Grand Forks Senior High volleyball team is going to the state tournament.
The third-seeded Green Wave swept top-seeded Barnesville 25-20, 25-20, 25-10 to win the Section 8AA championship Saturday, Nov. 7, at Moorhead High School.
Junior Lanee Hams led the Green Wave with 12 kills and eight blocks. Sydney McDonald and freshman Camille Julien each had seven kills, and McDonald and Emma Pieper each served two aces. Senior setter Hayden Berg had 27 assists and two aces, and libero Kelsey Spilde led the defense with 22 digs.
Barnesville had beaten East Grand Forks three times during the regular season. The Green Wave came into the final having won seven of their last eight matches. The Trojans end their season at 22-9.
East Grand Forks opened the section tournament with a 3-0 sweep of No. 14 Red Lake on Oct. 28. Two days later, the Green Wave survived a five-set thriller at home against No. 6 Wadena-Deer Creek. They blocked 21 Wolverine attacks, with eight blocks from Hams and five each from Julien and CoCo Williams. A block by Brooke Hecht and Williams ended the match.
In the semifinals Nov. 4 at Hawley, East Grand Forks rallied past No. 2 Thief River Falls 21-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 15-9. Julien had a team-high 16 kills, five of them in the deciding fifth set. Hams added 15 kills, eight blocks and 17 digs. McDonald had 14 kills, three blocks and three aces, and Hecht had 11 kills and five blocks. Berg dished out 48 assists, Pieper had 19 digs, and Kayla Carpenter added 15 digs and two aces. Thief River Falls had beaten the Green Wave twice during the regular season.
The Green Wave are coached by Paula Devine.
East Grand Forks is the No. 8 seed at the Class AA state tournament at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. The Green Wave open against top-seeded New Life Academy of Woodbury (Section 4AA) at 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, on Court 1. The winner plays the winner of No. 4 New London-Spicer and No. 5 Dover-Eyota in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13. The championship is at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, and the third-place match is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. If East Grand Forks loses Thursday, it plays in the consolation semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday, with the consolation championship at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. For more local news, go to: page1publications.com
Section 8AA results – East Grand Forks
Oct. 28 – EGF 3, Red Lake 0
Oct. 30 – EGF 3, Wadena-Deer Creek 2
Nov. 4 – EGF 3, Thief River Falls 2 (21-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 15-9)
Nov. 7 – EGF 3, Barnesville 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-10)
Eagles Soar to State; Sacred Heart Sweeps Fertile-Beltrami for Section 8A title, first state tournament berth
Eagles soar to state; Sacred Heart sweeps Fertile-Beltrami
for Section 8A title, first state tournament berth
For the first time in program history, the Sacred Heart volleyball team is headed to the Minnesota State High School League state tournament.
The top-seeded Eagles swept third-seeded Fertile-Beltrami 25-18, 25-15, 25-10 in the Section 8A championship match Friday, Nov. 6, at the University of Minnesota Crookston. They earned a spot in the Class A state tournament at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
Sacred Heart fell behind briefly in the first set, then took control with a 14-5 run. The Eagles gave up the first point of the second set before pulling away, and they cruised through the third.
Senior Lydia Riskey led a balanced attack with 15 kills and a block. Greta Effhauser and senior Lexi Lawrence each had 10 kills. Sophomore Bryn Stevens controlled the middle with eight kills, four blocks, an ace and two assists. Setter Finley Horken had 28 assists, a kill, a block and an ace, and Stella Riskey added a block.
The Eagles reached the final by sweeping fourth-seeded Lake of the Woods 25-13, 25-18, 25-7 in the semifinals Nov. 2 at UM Crookston. Lawrence led that match with 10 kills and four aces. Lydia Riskey and Stevens each had nine kills, and Horken had 27 assists, three kills, a block and two aces. Effhauser added four kills and a block, Claire Adolphson served three aces and Stella Riskey had two kills.
Fertile-Beltrami (23-7) came in on a nine-match winning streak after upsetting second-seeded Climax-Fisher 3-1 in the other semifinal.
Sacred Heart is 29-3 and finished 19-0 against Section 8A opponents. That included three wins this season over Fertile-Beltrami: a 2-0 win in the Walker-Hackensack-Akeley tournament championship Sept. 12, a 3-0 home win Sept. 15, and Friday's title match.
Head coach Emily Vonasek, in her 16th season, is taking her first team to state. The Eagles have nine seniors.
Sacred Heart is the No. 4 seed in the eight-team Class A state tournament. The Eagles open against No. 5 seed Chisholm (Section 7A) at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, on Court 1 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. The winner plays the winner of No. 1 seed Minneota and No. 8 Pine River-Backus in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13. The championship is at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, and the third-place match is at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. If Sacred Heart loses Thursday, it plays in the consolation semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday, with the consolation championship at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Tri-County Drama invites the public to Murder for Dummies, November 20 & 22
Tri-County Drama invites the public to Murder for Dummies, written by playwright Pat Cook. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, in the Tri-County School small gym in Karlstad.
Bring a friend, follow the clues and see whose hunch holds up by the final curtain. The Friday evening performance and Sunday matinee give community members two chances to enjoy live theater close to home and support the Tri-County students bringing the play to life onstage and behind the scenes.
Murder for Dummies is produced by special arrangement with Eldridge Publishing Company.
