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BEA volleyball gets back to winning

By Staff | Sep 17, 2017

Above, Buccaneer Maddi Oelke digs out a return of an attempted Bluejay kill last Thursday. Note the compression of the volleyball on her arms as she prevents a Bluejay point.

It was a true battle royale.

But, when the dust settled in the Blue Earth Area High School gym last Thursday night, the home team Buccaneers had defeated the visiting Bluejays of Waseca.

It was not easy.

After winning the first game fairly easily, 25-13, the rest of the match went to a full five games.

And, those final four games were close, hard-fought contests.

Waseca came back and won game two by a score of 25-18 to tie the match at 1-1, then took the lead when they defeated the Bucs 25-21 in a fierce game three.

That set up a must-win situation for BEA in game four, and they played hard to take the close 25-23 win.

With the match tied at 2-2, that fifth game was critical. And once again, it was a fierce battle.

Game fives go to 15 points instead of 25, but in this case it took an extra point for the win as BEA pulled it out, 16-14, and won the match 3-2.

Lindsey Norman led the team in kills with 15, plus she had 15 digs.

Hannah Johnson added 11 kills and Maddi Oelke eight along with four ace blocks.

Samantha Naumann led with 16 digs, as well as going a perfect 21 of 21 from the service line, with four ace serves and 15 service points. Alyssa Ripley was 16 of 17 serving with an ace serve and 12 service points.

Alissa Norman had a very busy night with 42 set assists to go along with two ace blocks. Sofie Blair added 12 digs to the Bucs’ efforts.

The win put BEA’s season record at 4-5 and their Big South Conference record went to 2-1.

BEA will next see action when they host St. James on Tuesday night and then will host St. Peter on Thursday. Both are important BSC contests.

BEA 3, New Ulm 0

After winning just one match out of four at the Luverne Invitational Tournament, the Blue Earth Area Buccaneer volleyball team decided to flex their muscles back on their home court last Tuesday night.

The Bucs swept the Eagles of New Ulm in three games and only the second one was even very close.

BEA won the games 25-13, 25-18, 25-12.

“We had some good team play tonight,” Buc coach Donna Nawrocki said after the game. “The girls looked good.”

Leading the way was Lindsey Norman who had nine kills, nine digs and three ace blocks.

Maddi Oelke was right behind her with seven kills, seven digs and three ace blocks.

Alissa Norman had five digs, three ace blocks and was 20 of 22 serving with three ace serves and 18 service points along with 25 set assists. Sofie Blair had six kills, eight digs and was 15 of 17 serving with two aces and 13 points.

Hannah Johnson added five kills and Samantha Naumann was a perfect 12 of 12 serving with one ace and nine service points.

The win put BEA’s season record at 3-5. The Bucs moved to 1-1 in Big South Conference competition.

Luverne Tournament

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneer volleyball team played hard at the Luverne Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 9, but came away with just one win out of the four matches they played.

The Bucs only win came in their first match, with a 2-1 victory over Edgerton. But, that was followed by a 2-0 loss to Canby, 2-1 defeat to West Lyon, and a 2-1 loss to host Luverne.

The Bucs started the day with a 25-21, 26-27, 15-2 victory over Edgerton.

In the match, both Hannah Johnson and Lindsey Norman had six kills each. Norman also had eight digs, six ace blocks and was 16 of 18 at the service line, with three ace serves and 14 service points.

Sofie Blair had five kills, two ace blocks and was 14 of 15 serving, with two ace serves and nine game points.

Maddie Oelke added four kills, nine digs and five blocks at the net.

Alissa Norman had 20 set assists and six digs for the maroon and gold in the win, which evened their season record at 2-2.

But, BEA was not so lucky in match two. The Canby Lancers won by scores of 25-16, 25-14.

Lindsey Norman had three kills, seven digs three ace blocks and was nine of nine from the service line with five service points to lead the Buccaneers.

Maddi Oelke had four kills and four blocks in the effort. Alissa Norman had nine set assists, seven digs and three ace blocks.

Sofie Blair had nine digs and Alyssa Ripley had an ace block.

Hannah Johnson was a perfect six of six from the service line, with two ace serves and three service points.

In their third game, the Buccaneers played hard and were in a tight, hard-fought battle with West Lyon. The Bucs won the first game 25-22, but lost the next two 25-20, 15-10.

Lindsey Norman once again put up some big numbers, with eight kills, nine digs, five ace blocks and going 10 of 11 at the service line with six points.

Maddi Oelke had six kills, seven digs and four ace blocks. Sofie Blair added three kills and was nine of 11 from the line with an ace serve and five points.

Alyssa Norman had 16 set assists and eight digs. Meanwhile, Hannah Johnson also had eight digs and Samantha Naumann added six.

It was somewhat of a similar story in the their fourth and final match of the tourney.

BEA won the first game 26-24 over Luverne, but then lost 25-14 and 15-9.

Sofie Blair and Maddi Oelke led the team, both with seven kills. Blair added four digs and an ace block and was nine of 11 from the line with four ace serves and six points. Oelke was 11 of 12 from the line with two ace serves and seven points, along with four digs.

Lindsey Norman had five kills, 13 digs and three ace blocks.

The Buccaneers left Luverne with a 2-5 season record.