Kenyon-Wanamingo Volleyball Team Takes Section Title

The Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights used an awesome block to dethrone the defending state champion Belle Plaine Tigers on Saturday night in four sets.

The match was moved to the Taylor Center on the Minnesota State Mankato campus and those in attendance were treated to some terrific volleyball.

The Knights won the first set 25-21 after jumping out to a 15-7 lead they had to hang on for the win. Belle Plaine won the second set by the same 25-21 score and looked like they were going to run away with it before the Knights caught fire late. The Tigers had six set points before they finally put it away.

I think that flurry by Kenyon-Wanamingo was huge in the match because they had some momentum heading into the third set, which they captured 25-20. The Knights jumped out to a 15-7 lead in the fourth set and had to hang on again, but hang on they did, with a 25-21 win.

It was the fourth straight year Kenyon-Wanamingo faced Belle Plaine in the section tournament, and they were not to be denied this time.

It was so much fun calling the match because I know how much these young ladies wanted it.

Head coach Jen Nerison said after the match she was so proud of her team because of the "hard work they put in to achieve a goal and it's always good to be rewarded for the hard work."

Our Sviggum Insurance Agency of Wanamingo Knights of the match were the entire team because every person contributed in this one, including senior Manager Natalie Hildebrandt.

Hildebrandt has battled cancer throughout her teen years and the team seems to have taken on her fighting but "let's have fun" personality. I admit when she went out to get her individual championship medal and the large numbers of K-W fans roared with delight that I wanted to join them, because she has gone through so much more then any teenager should have to.

Belle Plaine senior Mariena Hayden is heading to the University of Nevada Las Vegas on a volleyball scholarship and came into the match with more than 100 ace serves on the season.

Nerison said during the Milo Peterson Ford keys to the match Hayden would get her points and some aces because she is a great player but they just could not let her dominate the match.

In the first set, Belle Plaine must have set her five of the first six times they were on offense and Hayden could not even get the ball over the net. Her first serve was into the net but boy did she rebound.

Hayden had just three ace serves by my unofficial count and I also had her with 15 kills, which is very good but not dominating.

Hayden has to wear a big knee brace, which looks heavy, but she was still able to dig a number of balls that came her way. She injured the knee during the state title match last season and has played this entire year when that may have been in doubt after the injury.

It's hard enough for me to keep serving statistics and kills so I don't keep track of blocks, but boy was Kenyon-Wanamingo's block exceptional. Hayden did not get a lot of clean looks at the net.

Junior Corynne Dahl is not that tall (they don't list their heights on their roster) but she had to be involved in more than a half dozen blocks on the night and I had her with seven kills. Freshman Ally Peterson also had seven kills unofficially.

The 14 combined by those two Knights were nearly more than the total for the rest of the team surrounding Hayden (16 kills).

Mara Quam brought a level of energy that was so fun to watch, digging, passing and killing the ball with regularity. I had her with 17 kills. She was also a big-time contributor on the block.

Senior setter Mia Peterson is as cool as the other side of the pillow and never seems to get rattled while dispersing the ball all over the place. I know this may not make sense but she seems to bring a calm intensity to the team.

Peterson is a very good server and while she had two aces by my unofficial count, her serves consistently kept Belle Plaine out of system. Same with Mara Quam's serves and she had two aces.

The Tigers had no answer for senior middle hitter Megan Flom's slides, a play where the middle hitter slides to the outside to attack the ball. The play was so effective on crucial points Kenyon-Wanamingo was able to go to it with regularity. I had Flom with 10 kills and she also was involved in a number of blocks.

Junior setter Maddie McCauley notched a big ace serve in the fourth set and senior libero Kasey Dummer had multiple eye-popping digs of Hayden fastballs.

Junior right side hitter Madison Alme contributed in the first couple of sets at the net and freshman Julianna Boyum made her presence felt assisting on the block in the last two sets.

The Knights have been rated No. 1 all season so I can't imagine anything but a top seed in the tournament. They are 31-1 entering the field at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Thursday. If they are the top seed they will play at 1PM.

Seeding is Sunday and the coaches seed the top five and then randomly draw the opponents for the top three seeds.

Kasson-Mantorville also will be making the trip to St. Paul. The fellow Hiawatha Valley League school captured the Section 1AA championship in four sets Saturday against Plainview-Elgin-Millville.