Kenyon-Wanamingo Volleyball Impressive in Conference Opener

The Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights were efficient in nearly every phase of the match in a 3-0 sweep of Cannon Falls in the Bombers Hangar Thursday night.

Scores were 25-13, 25-23, 25-14 and with the victory the Knights still have not dropped a set in three matches this season.

They defeated Cambridge-Isanti 25-15, 25-18, 25-22 before going to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown and experiencing a happy bus ride home after 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 wins in the Buccaneers gym.

Kenyon-Wanamingo finished third in the Class 2A State Tournament last season and a lot of the key players on that team graduated so many people thought this would be a rebuilding year.

There is a lot of season left but the Knights were very impressive against Cannon Falls.

What impressed me the most was the court coverage on defense and the offensive ability to attack a team from anywhere on the court.

5'9 sophomore outside hitter Ally Peterson played a lot last year so it was no surprise to see her smack a number of kills for the Knights but I had 5'10 sophomore Megan Mattson with double digit kills against the Bombers.

5'10 senior Corynne Dahl has played the past two seasons and has always been very efficient at the net.  I love to watch her put up a block because her timing is very good and she keeps her arms strong.

5'4 senior libero Sydney Way was very quick with her feet and picked up most of the dump attempts or tips to the attack line.

Kenyon-Wanamingo did a nice job utilizing senior setter Maddi McCauley's 5'9 height to join in the attack.

At one point during a long volley in the second set 5'6 senior back row player Brynn Gillard had four incredible digs.

5'9 sophomore middle hitter Julianna Boyum was also efficient in the hitting department.

My stats are very unofficial but I did check with Bomber Head Coach Melissa Huseth because it did appear to me her team was plagued with a lot of unforced errors.

I was right, she said her statisticians had Cannon Falls with 18 errors in the three set match.

The Bombers fell to 2-2 on the season with their two wins against Big Nine Conference opponents Red Wing and Rochester John Marshall.

In sets they are now 6-9 after falling to Elk River 3-0 in their season opener at Hopkins, beating John Marshall 3-2 and downing Red Wing 3-1.

Coach Huseth has a young team and they will remedy those hitting errors they experienced Thursday night but she was also impressed with her sister's team.

Knight Head Coach Jen Nerison told KDHL after the match she was impressed with her team's performance also.

Our next broadcast will be Tuesday when Kenyon-Wanamingo travels to Faribault Bethlehem Academy.