Region 8 to be battle of ‘Jays’

Sports Editor

TIOGA - Michael Jordan needed Scottie Pippen, Bird needed McHale, Kobe needed Shaq, or vice versa. The point is a superstar can only take you so far and it usually takes a strong support group to see success.

In a battle of superstars in the Region 8 Girls Volleyball Tournament at Tioga High School, Jori Fladeland's Stanley Blue Jays outlasted Nikita Haugenoe's Divide County Maroons 3-1 to advance to the regional championship Tuesday.

"Your big players are always going to have big games, but our other hitters stepped up to make a huge impact," said Stanley coach Jess Pappa.

Ray is a little less superstar oriented, but the Jays are always a strong team unit and they proved too much for Trinity Christian in a 3-0 sweep of the other semifinal match.

That will pit Ray against Stanley for the Region 8 championship and a berth to the State B volleyball tournament when the two teams face off 20 minutes after Trinity Christian and Divide County play for third place at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Stanley 3, DC 1

With so many hitters getting involved for Stanley, no one could have been happier than senior setter Brittany Morgan, who bounced around the floor to put up 34 assists.

"It's nice, we have a lot of good hitters, but sometimes you don't know who to set to. I like to go to a variety of sets and tonight we were rolling and everyone was hitting well," said Morgan.

The first game of the match proved to be a big one as the Blue Jays pulled out a 27-25 win.

"That first game was everything, you just know when it gets close you can pull it out and it just kept us going," said Pappa.

The first game was back and forth the whole way through and Fladeland and

Haugenoe were trading big hits at the net. With Divide County up 23-22, Fladeland banged a kill to tie the game and Morgan served up an ace to lead 24-23.

Haugenoe came right back with a cross-court rocket to tie the game again.

However, Fladeland answered with a kill to lead by one.

Another Stanley hit went out tying the game at 25, but the ensuing Maroons serve was long, giving Stanley the advantage back. A hit into the net by Divide County proved to be the game-winner.

Divide County looked to answer in the second game as back-to-back kills by Haugenoe staked the Maroons to a 17-11 lead. Stanley whittled away at the lead as consecutive kills by Kori Locken trimmed the lead to 20-18, but Haugenoe got the ball back with a bullet and then served the Maroons to a 24-18 advantage.

Fladeland's stuff block kept the Blue Jays alive, but Heather Holm's hit put the game away 25-20 to even up the match.

The third game is where Stanley's secondary hitters started to really pick things up. With an 8-5 Stanley advantage, Kori Locken's tip found open floor and then she served up an ace, while Kyli Locken got a stuff block to open a 12-5 lead.

The Maroons couldn't make up any ground as Stanley's Rachel Mehus and Megan Hollekim scored the final two points for the Blue Jays to win 25-16.

In the fourth game, the teams again went back and forth, but with a 16-14 Stanley lead, Fladeland blasted a kill down the middle and Morgan added an ace to lead 18-14. Then Fladeland got a big block on Haugenoe and added another kill to push the lead to 20-14.

With a 23-19 advantage, Kyli Locken got a kill and Hollekim served up an ace to seal the win 25-19.

Haugenoe led all hitters with 26 kills, but the Blue Jays were able to come up some key blocks and digs. "You have to go up on everything she hits and try to direct her hits a bit. You have to watch her body when she goes up and try to find where it's going to go, but that's all you really can do," said Morgan.

Fladeland finished with 17 kills, while Kyli Locken had seven, Kori Locken six and Tesha Fluhrer had four. Morgan also went 15-of-15 serving with three aces as the Blue Jays were a little more consistent at the service line than the Maroons.

Divide County's Holm added eight kills and Alecia Power had 10 to go with 30 digs. Morgan Renner handed out 28 assists.

Stanley 27 20 25 25

DC 25 25 16 19

Stanley (3) - Serving: Brittany Morgan 15-15, Kyli Locken 9-9, Tesha Fluhrer 7-7, Rachel Mehus 6-6, Kori Locken 9-11, Heidi Johnson 9-12, Megan Hollekim 3-4. Aces: Morgan 3, Ky. Locken 2, Mehus 2, Johnson 1, Ko. Locken 1. Kills: Jori Fladeland 17, Ky. Locken 7, Ko. Locken 6, Fluhrer 4, Hollekim 1, Mehus 1. Assists: Morgan 34. Blocks: Fladeland 5, Ky. Locken 1. Digs: Fluhrer 17, Ky. Locken 16, Hollekim 16, Ko. Locken 10, Johnson 10, Mehus 8, Morgan 6, Fladeland 4.

Divide County (1) - Aces: Nikita Haugenoe 1, Alecia Power 1, Heather Holm 1, Morgan Renner 1. Kills: Haugenoe 26, Power 10, Holm 8, Renner 3. Assists: Renner 28, Caitlyn Unjhem 2, Brenna Smithberg 1. Blocks: Haugenoe 4, Holm 1, Renner 1. Digs: Power 30, Renner 23, Smithberg 15, Jessie Gjovig 11, Haugenoe 11, Heather Holm 10.

Ray 3, TCS 0

Ray proved too much for the Crusaders as the Jays stormed through the first two games 25-14, 25-9. "That's something that has really come around for us, we've been a lot more consistent and when something doesn't go right we are able to come right back," said Ray coach Michelle Dolan.

Trinity fought to stay alive in the third game as Raycee Pasternak's kill tied the game at 9-9, but Samantha Heier answered with a kill to lead 10-9.

The Crusaders tied the game again at 11-all with a kill by Kristen Lutnes, but Heier again answered with a kill and then drilled an ace as she served the Jays to a 20-11 lead as serve receive caught up to the Crusaders who fell 25-19.

"We knew we were facing a good serving team and our goal was to work on our serve receive, but I think we were over-passing and that was our downfall," said TCS coach Beth Zarling.

Ray was led by A.J. Liesener with 10 kills and 10 assists, while Heier had eight kills and seven assists. While the "big two" pace the Jays, Dolan said it's the team concept that drives the team.

"We look to them for leadership and that's our height, so we go with what we have, but it's really all about teamwork. They all have a spot and know what to do on the floor and you have to credit them as a whole team," said Dolan.

Jordan Knox and LeAndra Reinholdt were perfect serving for the Jays.

For the Crusaders, Kara Ebel led with five kills, while Abby Norby and Lutnes each had four. Greta Maristuen added 11 assists and 12 digs.

With TCS a bit down the past few seasons, Coach Zarling was proud of her girls.

"It's been a very nice season and I'm proud of where we are, proud to be playing in the regional and to be playing for third place," she said.

TCS 14 9 15

Ray 25 25 25

TCS (0) - Serving: Whitney Kitzan 6-6, Greta Maristuen 8-9, Raycee Pasternak 8-9, Abby Norby 7-8, Megan Schilke 2-2, Kristen Lutnes 1-2, Ciara Walker 1-3. Aces: Norby 2, Maristuen 1, Pasternak 1. Kills: Kara Ebel 5, Norby 4, Lutnes 4, Pasternak 2, Maristuen 1. Assists: Maristuen 11, Walker 1, Rebecca Stillwelll 1. Digs: Maristuen 12, Ebel 10, Pasternak 8, Walker 7, Stillwell 6, Norby 5, Lutnes 4, Megan Schilke 2, Kitzan 1.

Ray (3) - Serving: Jordan Knox 15-15, Samantha Heier 22-23, LeAndra Reinholdt 11-11, Lindsay Perdue 8-9, A.J. Liesener 6-7. Aces: Heier 5, Knox 3, Reinholdt 2, L. Perdue 1, A.J. Liesener 1. Kills: A.J. Liesener 10, Heier 8, L. Perdue 4, Knox 3, Ashley Vance 2, Reinholdt 2, Sierra Perdue 1. Assists: A.J. Liesener 10, Heier 7, S. Perdue 2, Reinhodt 1. Blocks: Liesener 4. Digs: Heier 18, S. Perdue 12, L. Perdue 9, Knox 6, A.J. Liesener 3, Reinholdt 3.