The Sacred Heart Eagle Volleyball team with their Section 8A Runner-up trophy and medals
The Sacred Heart Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Ada-Borup/Norman County West would rally back including a 27-25 win in game four to win the fifth game 15-11 to defeat the Eagles three games to two to win the Section 8A Volleyball championship at Lysaker Gym on the campus of the University of Minnesota Crookston. With the win, the Cougars will make a repeat trip to the State Tournament next week in St. Paul. “It was just such a great match,” said Sacred Heart coach Emily Vonasek, “well played by both teams and either could have won but they were just a little bit better, but just a little bit.”
Game 1
The two teams felt each other out to start the match going back and forth and were tied all the way through 5-5 with Ada-Borup/Norman County West led by Kora Kritzberger and Mariah McKeever while the Eagles were led by Bella Knudson and Ivy Edwards. Jessica Remer who had the first kill of the match had another to give Sacred Heart a 7-6 lead which was quickly tied by Ada-Borup/NCW. After Bailee Brommenschenkel tipped one over gave either side their biggest lead with the Cougars taking a 9-7 lead. Remer and Kritzberger traded hits, a mishit by the Cougars and another Kritzberger kill to give Ada-Borup/Norman County West a 12-9 lead and Sacred Heart used a timeout. Sacred Heart’s Edwards came out of the timeout with two straight kills for points and closed the gap and combined with a hit into the net by the Cougars and it was tied at 12-12. The teams tied for the ninth time in the first game at 13-13 but Edwards continued her aggressive play with another long hit off the Cougars back row and the Eagles regained the lead at 14-13. When Ada-Borup/Norman County hit into the net they called a timeout. Sacred Heart continued with the great play to take a 19-15 lead. The Cougars weren’t fazed too much because Kritzberger and Brommenschenkel and were back to 19-17 but then it was Remer with a couple big swings for points to up their lead to 21-17. After the Cougars scored a point it was Remer with another kill and then Mitzel slammed another one to take a 23-18 lead and Ada-Borup/Norman County West used their second timeout. After the Cougars had four hits, Sacred Heart was serving for the first game but Ivy Johnson of the Cougars had a big block for a point and it was 23-19. After it got to 24-20, Edwards blasted the winner to give Sacred Heart a 25-20 win to start the match out. “It was a great start for us and got us going,” said Sacred Heart Vonasek.
Game 2
The Cougars Brommenschenkel and Sacred Heart’s Remer would trade big blasts to start the second game at 1-1. Mitzel scored a point, had an ace and Sacred Heart had an early 4-2 lead. Both teams would not let the other getaway in this game as when the Eagles were out to a 5-2 lead, Ada-Borup/Norman County West led by Brommenschenkle, Johnson, and McKeever to give the Cougars an 8-6 lead. After the officials reversed a call that gave Sacred Heart a point and Remer smacked another kill to give Sacred Heart a 9-8 lead. Ada-Borup/Norman County West took an 11-9 lead and Sacred Heart called a timeout, but it didn’t deter the Cougars with Broomenschenkel and Elle Scherfenberg had kills to take a 14-9 lead. But it was a barrage of hits, three by Remer and another by Mitzel for four straight points and closed the gap to 14-13 and Ada-Borup/Norman County West used a timeout. It didn’t cool off Remer, who had two more straight kills and six straight points for Sacred Heart and a 15-14 lead. There was no stopping the 5’9 senior Remer as she had two more slams for six kills in a 9-0 run for the Eagles and a 19-14 lead and another timeout by Ada-Borup/Norman County West. “Jessica is such a great athlete and volleyball player,” said Vonasek, “we got her the ball in good spots and she certainly knows what to do with the sets.” The timeout worked as Sacred Heart had a missed served which was given right back by the Cougars and it was 20-15 after too strong a hit by the Cougars. Brommenschenkel had a point with a big hit that was answered by Sacred Heart’s Dana Walski, followed by an Edwards hit and point and it was 22-16. Kritzberger would get a point for Ada-Borup/Norman County West followed by a double hit by Sacred Heart, but the Cougars had a missed served to make it a 24-18 Sacred Heart lead. The serve was in and unable to handle it were the Cougars to give the Eagles a 25-18 win and take a two games to none lead.
Game 3
Ada-Borup/Norman County West jumped out to a 3-1 lead behind the hitting of Kritzberger which they expanded to a 5-2 lead with Johnson’s serving. As the first two games suggest, Sacred Heart would not be worried as they stormed back to tie it at 5-5 with Edwards taking over some of the hitting in place of Remer. The Cougars expanded the lead again to 8-5 with some nice play by the Cougars Rachel Arends. Sacred Heart managed to score twice in a row behind Edwards but Brommenschenkel answered and the Cougars led again 12-9. After a couple mistakes by the Cougars, their lead shrunk to 13-12. Remer had a hit for a kill and point and then served two straight points to take a lead 15-14 but it was tied again at 15-15 after a mishit by the Eagles. The Cougars would get two in a row with one of them on a blast from McKeever which was followed by a Johnson ace and the Cougars were on top 18-15. Mitzel had a nice tip in a vacant space for a point which was answered by Kritzberger. Edwards would give Sacred Heart a point on a nice cross-court hit and then McKeever had another kill for a point and Ada-Borup/Norman County West led 20-17. Sacred Heart would score a point but give it right back on a missed served and then a huge block by Scherfenberg and Ada-Borup/Norman County West lead was 22-18 and forced Sacred Heart to use a timeout. Out of the break Remer would get her 20th kill of the match, the Cougars smacked one out of bounds and it was 22-20. Sacred Heart couldn’t handle a pass for a Cougar point and then Kritzberger had a kill and a 24-20 lead for Ada-Borup/Norman County West. Remer would delay the win with a kill but a hit was tipped off Sacred Heart to give the Cougars a 25-21. “It slipped throughout fingers in the third set,” said Vonasek.
Game 4
Sacred Heart’s Remer started the game with another big hit, an Ada-Borup/NCW double hit, Mitzel’s dumps one across and another double hit by the Cougars and Sacred Heart jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
The Cougars continued to have problems handling the ball on their side and Sacred Heart would take advantage with a 6-1 lead. The Cougars responded though coming up with two straight points to try and stem some of the momentum of Sacred Heart and it was 6-3. Mitzel and Arends traded hits for points and when Kritzberger had a nice block for a point it was a 7-5 lead which was expanded to a 9-5 lead after Edwards and Knudson swings for points. The Cougars scored four in a row with the serving of Kritzberger, with a McKeever kill and it was a 10-9 lead that was stopped by a Knudson kill and it was a 12-9 lead after another double hit by the Cougars. Ada-Borup/Norman County West would score again but the Eagles were able to get a nice set to Remer who buried it. Brommenschenkel answered with her own blast which in turn was answered by Mitzel on some nifty passing by the Eagles and Sacred Heart had a 14-11 lead. After the Cougars hit one too long and Sacred Heart’s lead was 15-11, Ada-Borup/Norman County West called a timeout. After the timeout, the advice for Sacred Heart must have been, get the ball back to Remer, which they did and she buried another one which was followed by a long hit by the Cougars and Sacred Heart widened the lead to 17-11. Ada-Borup/Norman County West scored two in a row including a nice rally that saw Kritzberger blocking a Remer hit. The Cougars would have a net violation and then Edwards blasted one off the Cougars front row and the Eagles now led 19-13 and another Ada-Borup/Norman County West timeout. It’s Remer again out of a timeout, this time with a serving ace and a 20-13 Sacred Heart lead and five points away from set and match. Ada-Borup/NCW would score three in a row, one with an Arends kill and it was 20-16 but the Cougars hit one out to far and now trailed 21-16. Kritzberger would answer with a kill and followed by a Johnson serving ace for the Cougars and after a mishit for the Eagles, it was a 21-19 lead for Sacred Heart who called a timeout. After a short break the Cougars hit one too far and out of bounds but came back with a point on a kill by McKeever and it was 22-20. Ada-Borup/NCW would miss hit one into the net but again it was answered by another McKeever kill and when Sacred Heart’s pass was into the net and it was 24-22. Remer would have another kill to give the Eagles a 24-22 lead but the Cougars answered with a point and a 24-23 lead which then was tied on a miss hit by Sacred Heart and it was 24-24. Ada-Borup/NCW would take their first lead of the set with a Brommenschenkel kill and a 25-24 lead and Sacred Heart would use their timeout. Remer would answer another timeout with a kill to tie it at 25-25 but Brommenschenkel comes back with a kill and point to give the Cougars a 26-25 lead and then a double hit on the Eagles and Ada-Borup/Norman County wins 27-25 and forcing a game five.”We certainly could have won the game and match,” said Vonasek, “both sides had great plays and momentum kept changing and give them credit, they fought back to force a game five.”
Game 5
Ada-Borup/NCW’s Kritzberger started it off with a couple of big swings and points which were surrounding a miss hit by the Cougars who had a 2-1 lead. Kritzberger added her third point with a hit in the Eagles back row that couldn’t be played and a 3-1 lead. After a hit into the net by Sacred Heart, the Cougars took a 4-1 lead and led to a Sacred Heart timeout as momentum was all Ada-Borup/Norman County West. What a game for Kritzberger as she nailed another one and the 5’11 junior was on fire and a 5-1 Cougar lead which expanded to 6-1 after a hit out of bounds by the Eagles. Finally stopping the bleeding for the moment was the Eagles Mitzel with a point and it was 6-2 and 6-3 when Edwards had a big swing for a point. That two-point run was enough for Kritzberger as she was over the net and blasted another point followed by an Arends block for a point and an 8-3 lead for the Cougars and Sacred Heart used their second and last timeout. The Eagles would get four straight points on a service error, a Knudson kill and the Cougars on a hit out of bounds followed by an Edwards kill and now it was 8-7 and Ada-Borup/NCW called a timeout. The Cougars would win a long rally after a hit into the net to stop the Eagles run but they would hit one out of bounds, followed by an Edwards ace and it was tied at 9-9.
Brommenschenkel would make her presence known with another kill and point for Ada-Borup/Norman County West and Johnson would add a kill to give the Cougars an 11-9 lead. McKeever would serve again and put one off the top of the net and over for the ace and a 12-9 lead. Brommenschenkel would add a block for a point and a 13-9 lead but the Eagles would get a kill by Knudson and it was 13-10 but the Eagles would have a service error and the Cougars were now serving for the match at 14-10. Remer would reappear with a kill, but it was still match point at 14-11 and fittingly the Cougars Kritzberger blasted one down for the winning kill and the Cougars win 15-11 to cap off a tremendous comeback and victory and a return trip to the State Tournament.
Ada-Borup/Norman County West is now 30-1 on the season and will be at the Minnesota State Class A Tournament next Thursday at the St. Paul Xcel Energy Center. Sacred Heart’s season ends at 27-3. “I know I’ve said it numerous times but I love these girls. We worked so well together in the match. We came to play and came from behind and played with the lead. It’s disappointing for the girls, but we’re going to move forward, be positive as it was a great year in so many ways and the girls will remember the season and this match for the rest of their lives!”
Ivy Edwards goes up on an attack               Jessica Remer with one of her digs
| Box Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Sacred Heart | 25 | 25 | 20 | 25 | 11 |
| Ada-Borup/NCW | 20 | 18 | 25 | 27 | 15 |
Dana Walski taps the ball across the net Â
For Sacred Heart
Kills – Jessica Remer-28, Ivy Edwards-17, Maddi Mitzel-11
Blocks – Maddi Mitzel-1, Jessica Remer-1
Assists – Dana Walski-57
Digs – Ivy Edwards-28, Jessica Remer-15, Dana Walski-14, Maddi Mitzel-11
Aces – Four players with one each
For Ada-Borup/NCW
Kills – Kora Kritzberger-23, Mariah McKeever-18, Bailee Brommenschenkel-15
Blocks – Kora Kritzberger-4, Elle Scharfenberg-4
Assists – Ivy Johnson-49
Digs – Mariah McKeever-17, Breanna Qualley-15, Ivy Johnson-13
Aces – Ivy Johnson-3
Maddi Mitzel taps the ball over the net as two Cougars look on
