Bethlehem Academy Volleyball to Play for Third Place

The Faribault Bethlehem Academy Cardinals fell to top ranked and top seed Mayer Lutheran in the Class A Semifinals at the MSHSL State Volleyball Tournament today.

Mayer Lutheran dominated 25-16, 25-7, 25-19. Like I said on the broadcast of the match if you told the Cardinals they would be playing for third place at the State Tournament at the end of the year I believe they would be very excited.

Not many teams get to play on the final day of the high school volleyball season.

The Crusaders had a team hitting percentage in the sweep of .305 with 45 kills while BA hit .045 with 20 kills. Mayer Lutheran can not only play outstanding offense but the seven players that took the floor for them can all dig the ball.

They had 48 total digs to the Cardinals 28. The court coverage is incredible to watch.

There were only 4 ties and 2 lead changes the entire 61 minute match.

Ms. Volleyball finalist senior 6'2 Lily Wacholz came into the State Tournament with a .442 hitting percentage for the season. She led the Crusaders with 15 digs but hit .250 for the match. Junior 5'8 Gabrielle Wacholz smacked 13 kills with a .440 attack percentage and junior 5'11 Madeline Guetzkow hit .438 with 9 kills.

One of the most impressive things I saw on the season statistics sheet for Mayer Lutheran (regular season only) was the fact that six players had over 100 digs on the year..

Guetzkow led in that department with 14 digs to go along with 9 kills, 4 set assists, 2 solo blocks and a block assist. Talk about a stat sheet stuffer.

Our Cashwise Foods and Pharmacy of Owatonna Delivery of the Match for BA was a ace block by 6'0 junior Josie Rose on Lily Wacholz. I will also award a Cashwise Delivery of the Match to senior Jennifer Robert for an ace serve.

The Malecha's Auto Body of Faribault Crunch Time Faribault Players of the Match were junior Kate Trump with 7 kills, 9 digs and ace serve. Senior Ellie Cohen collected 6 kills in the lopsided match. Junior Reagan Kangas goes to the ball wherever it might be to deliver a set and finished with 17 of the team's 19 set assists.

The Cardinals (21-12) play for third place against unranked Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (29-6) at 1:00 p.m. on KAT KOUNTRY 105 Radio, 104.9 FM. Download the FREE Kat Kountry app and listen anywhere. Randy Sobrack will be on the call.

The Wolves did play Bethlehem Academy in a tournament during the regular season which the Cardinals won 2-1.

Like BA all the W-H-A losses came against very good teams. Remember the third place finishers get individual medals to give to their kids if they have them while 4th place receives a team trophy only.

Minneota swept the Wolves in their Semifinals match 25-18, 25-21, 25-14 while hitting .336 with 53 kills compared to Walker-Hackensack-Akeley's 32 kills. The Wolves had a team attack percentage of .208.

The Vikings had 53 digs led by libero McKenzie Tolk with 25 in the 65 minute match.

The title match could be one for the ages. Mayer Lutheran won in 5 sets in the season opener and defeated Minneota (the three time defending Class A Champions) during a tournament 2-1.

Last season there were no playoffs so the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown perfect season which ended with a win at Minneota doesn't county as a state title but as close as you are going to get in a COVID year.

The title match is also at 1:00 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Jackson County Central will tangle with Sauk Centre for the Class 2A title at 3:00 p.m.

The Kasson-Mantorville KoMets face Marshall Tigers at 5:00 p.m. for Class 3A crown.

The final Championship match of the season is the Class 4A title tilt between the undefeated Wayzata Trojans and East Ridge of Woodbury Raptors.

I sure enjoy broadcasting at Van Orsow Auditorium on the BA Campus.