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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
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Monday, November 11, 2013
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Volume 29 Issue 8
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Harmony’s carved musicians unveiled page
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Canton l Chatfield l Fountain l Harmony l Lanesboro l Mabel l Ostrander l Peterson l Preston l Rushford l Rushford Village l Spring Valley l Whalan l Wykoff
FC VB, Chatfield FB state-bound By Paul Trende sports@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Fillmore Central Falcons Morgan Malley (prominent middle), Leah Scheevel and Tayah Barnes (left), Larissa Armstrong and Taylor Case (right), and Sara Schultz (far right) experience the ‘thrill of victory’ after knocking off Mabel-Canton. They then beat Faribault B.A., clinching FC’s first ever trip to state in volleyball. Photo by Paul Trende
Chatfield Gophers Alex Haffner (#27), Brandon Adler (#62), Jake Neis (barely visible #6), Jayme LaPlante (#40), Head Coach Jeff Johnson, and A.J. Riley (#3) experience the ‘thrill of victory’ after knocking off Caledonia. The Gophers are state-bound for the first time since 1999. Photo by Paul Trende
A pair of county teams, Chatfield football, and Fillmore Central volleyball, entered ‘sections’ week seeking retribution. They got so much more. The Chatfield Gophers are the 2013 Section 1AA football champions. They ended Caledonia’s remarkable 36-game winning streak, their attempt at four straight state titles. The Fillmore Central Falcons are 2013 Section 1A volleyball champions. They avenged a 2012 Sub-Section loss to Mabel-Canton, and then downed Class A titan FaribaultBethlehem Academy, ending their attempt at three straight state titles. FC Plows Through One Tradition… For Fillmore Central volleyball, ‘sections’ week was as much a mental challenge as it was a physical one. Ranked #2 in state, the Falcons entered as both the Sub-Section and Section favorites. But they also entered as the squad new to the Class A volleyball power scene. Fillmore Central thus had to let their superb physical abilities overcome the rich traditions of their two foes, long-time Class A volleyball powers Mabel-Canton and Faribault B.A.. First was a re-match with the 2nd-seeded Cougars (33-2, #7). A year ago, the Falcons collapsed in the 1A East semifinals versus M-C, losing the match 3-2 after leading 2-0 and 9-2 in game three. They had to mentally overcome that haunting memory. They went about doing so in an interesting way. The first minutes of the 2013 1A East final were a volleyball hitting fans delight. The teams exchanged hammered scores, tying at every point up to 16 (save for 5). Twenty-one of those 32 points were via kill. M-C then used talented seniors Belle Sand and Sara Lind to score 10 of the final 12 points, to post a first game 25-18 victory.
At that point, FC couldn’t blow a 2-0 lead, so they commenced playing Falcon volleyball. They got up early in game two (7-3), expanded the lead a bit later (156), and didn’t look back enroot to a 25-16 win. Game three was closer, with five early ties. But a 6-0 Falcon run (three Tori Peterson kills) put FC up 13-7. With it 18-16, freshmen Tayah Barnes scored a couple kills, and then junior Morgan Malley two more on setter attacks, and then a block. FC scored the final seven points for the 25-16 win, the 2-1 advantage. Game four was similar to game three, with ties early (at 1, 3, 6, 10, and 11). With it 15-14 FC, the Falcons went to Taylor Case. After four, five, and three kills in the first three sets, she had eight in the final game (21 total with 17 digs). Four were in a 6-1 FC run that made the score 21-15. FC’s fast-paced, relentless offense had M-C pressing. After eight hitting errors in games 1-3 combined, M-C had seven alone in game four (unofficially). In the end, FC went Case’s best accomplice on the night, MH Leah Scheevel. The 5’9” junior’s 16th kill sent FC volleyball nation into jubilation. The Falcons closed out the game 25-19, and the match 3-1. They are the 2013 Sub-Section 1A East champions. In addition to Case and Scheevel, there were Falcon juniors Malley (setter) and Sara Schultz (libero). With 51 assists, five kills, seven digs, and 1.5 blocks, plus 18-18 serving, Morgan was everywhere. With a game-high 29 digs (plus 25-26 on serve receive), Schultz was superb defensively. Peterson added 8 kills, Barnes 6 kills (four in game three) and 16 digs, and Larissa Armstrong 11 digs. For M-C, it was an extra-tough loss. Five outstanding seniors played their last game, headed by fiveyear players Belle Sand (13 kills, 14 digs), Lydia Geving (12 kills, See STATE-BOUND Page 10