Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Volleyball Season Ends

The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers led most of the first set Saturday night at the Taylor Center on the Minnesota State-Mankato campus. Unfortunately for the Bucs, they could not maintain that lead and fell in straight sets 25-20, 25-8, 25-22 to the Mayer Lutheran Crusaders.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown was the defending state champion and wanted to get back to the tournament to defend their title.

The Buccaneers were rated No. 6 in the final Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Poll in Class A and the Crusaders were rated No. 2.

The Crusaders just had too many weapons and Buccaneer senior Kate Masberg valiantly attempted to lead her team to the crown. My unofficial tally had Masberg with 17 kills and no other Buccaneer had more than three

It was still a successful season for Waterville-Elysian-Morristown. They finished with a 30-4 record.

The Bucs led 6-1 in the first set and had a lead until the late teens before falling 25-20.

The Crusaders dominated the second set as the 25-8 score would indicate. They had four ace serves by juniors Madison Hucky and Mya Chmielewski. Waterville-Elsyian-Morristown tallied two ace serves. One by 5-foot-5 sophomore Maelea Harmon and one by 5-foot-6 sophomore Morgan Nusbaum.

The Buccaneers' future looks bright with just four seniors on the team, but head coach Crystal Lamont says they will be missed because they helped raise the program to new heights with the title last season. In addition to Kate Masberg, the other seniors on the team are Madison Timm, Janet Hering and Haley Androli.

Mayer Lutheran has just two seniors on their team and only one of them starts. They have eight players on their roster listed at 5-foot-10 or taller so they can play high above the net on offense and defense.

That length poses a lot of problems for opponents, and it showed Saturday.

Five-foot-11 freshman Oliva Tjernagel had a number of solo blocks and 5-foot-8 junior Sophia Heuer was the only Crusader with double-digit kills, but Mayer Lutheran scored a lot of their points on defense.

I have a hunch the Buccaneers may have lost to the eventual Class A state champs.

With top-ranked Bethlehem Academy out of the tournament, the Crusaders should receive the No. 1 seed. Seeding is Sunday and the state tournament begins Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Caledonia will be representing Section 1. The Warriors defeated Hayfield in four sets to advance to state.