Kenyon-Wanamingo Volleyball in Subsection Final

The Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Class 2A No. 1-rated Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights swept another opponent Tuesday night to advance to the South Subsection championship of Section 2 Class 2A.

Scores were 25-14, 25-18 and 25-10 over the Tri-City United Titans.

The Titans are used to seeing some very good volleyball teams. They play in the Minnesota River Conference with Belle Plaine, Mayer Lutheran and Jordan, all of which boast good volleyball programs.

The first set was very close for about the first 10 points and then Mara Quam and Megan Flom just took over thanks to superb passing, in particular from libero Kasey Dummer, Quam and Sydney Way, and excellent setting from Mia Peterson.

The Knights had four service errors in the set, which slowed them down. They would have one in each of the next two sets.

In the second set, the Knights were very balanced and junior setter Maddie McCauley was able to go on the attack some.

These are unofficial statistics I had for kills on the night for Kenyon-Wanamingo: Quam 14 kills, Flom 12 kills, Corynne Dahl seven kills, McCauley six kills, and Ally Peterson five kills.

That's the kind of balance head coach Jen Nerison loves seeing because opponents can't key on any one player. If opponents concentrate on stopping top hitters Quam and Flom, then Ally Peterson and Dahl will make them pay if there is good passing and setting.

Mia Peterson continued to serve tough with a couple of ace serves and Sydney Way had a couple of change-ups for aces. Dummer, Flom and Dahl also had ace serves.

For Tri-City United, junior outside hitter Gabby Robinson was impressive in the second set with seven kills, but the Titans weren't on offense much in the third set.

It was the seventh straight opponent Kenyon-Wanamingo has swept and the 17th straight match win. The Knights are now 30-1 in matches and an incredible 84-7 in sets.

All coaches strive for consistency and, while Kenyon-Wanamingo has had a couple of slow starts in the playoffs, they seize that momentum and don't let go.

The four seniors have played a lot of volleyball and it shows. They have the Mary Tyler Moore ability to take a nothing play and turn it into a positive. In other words, they don't have to be "in system" to win and at times that might not look very pretty, but winning is the ultimate goal.

The Knights will face the St. Peter Saints, who trailed most of the first set before defeating Blue Earth Area 25-23, then eked out another close one 25-22 before falling in the next two sets 25-22 and 25-18 and winning the fifth set 15-9.

St. Peter is 20-7 and is 4-3 in their last seven matches, but the opponents they lost to have 29, 18 and 20 wins.

The Knights and Saints are scheduled to play at 7:45PM Thursday at New Prague High School. We will have the match on KDHL Radio 920 AM beginning at 7:30 if the previous match does not go too long.

You can also listen in at www.kdhlradio.com by clicking the Listen Live button or download the free RadioPup app and listen on your favorite mobile device.

The first match at 6PM is the North Subsection championship between Belle Plaine and Southwest Christian.