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7AAA South Sub-section volleyball tournament

Play-in game-

Princeton 3

Chisago Lakes 2

The two teams had history.

Flashback to September 9. The Wildcats had Princeton at home in their first conference game of the season. To this day, it’s still a game DeVries and the Wildcats talk about, how they had control but let the Tigers in. How they had a win but ended up with a loss. It left a bad taste in the ‘Cats mouths to say the least.

Just two days after that, the two teams met again, only this time Chisago came out on top and Princeton left frustrated, hoping to get another shot.

Last Monday, in the section 7AAA south sub-section play-in game, the two teams met for the rubber match. And this time, adding even more drama to the tense relationship, the game was for the right to advance to face top-seeded St. Francis in the section tournament. The loser was done.

All of that emotion, all of the history poured out of both teams right from the start, as game went above and beyond what anybody expected. Both teams traded point after point, unable to shake free of the other one. Finally, the Wildcats gave themselves some room with a late flurry, giving them just enough to grab a 30-28 opening game win. It was exhausting.

So exhausting that the Tigers clawed back to even things up in game two. The ‘Cats did their best to stay close but the energy exerted in game one took its toll as Princeton pounded out a 25-21 win. Tied 1-1.

In game three, the pendulum once again swung right back to Chisago. Already with a one two-point win under their belt in game one, the Wildcats picked up another close win in game three, defeating the Tigers 26-24, giving them a two games to one lead. One more win, that’s all they needed to advance.

“We won game one 30-28, which was a big step for us because we haven’t won any close games this season, and then we did it again in game three,” replied DeVries, Chisago Lakes head volleyball coach. “I was really impressed with that because it showed how far we have come. It showed we were starting to learn how to finish.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t finish, the match that is.

Leading by a game, the Tigers evened the score with a win in game four, 25-13. They then got an early lead in game five, giving them just enough room to edge out the ‘Cats 15-11, punching their ticket to the next round with a three games to two win. As for Chisago, the loss ended their season.

“We let them get about four points ahead of us and when you play to 15, that’s tough to recover from,” said DeVries. “Still, even though we lost, it was fun because the girls really played well. It was back and forth. To go out losing is tough but it makes it easier to know that we played five very good good games. We went down fighting.”

Several individuals stood out in their last game of the season. Among them were two youngsters who will be back next season in Courtney Fautsch and Jenna Merry.

“Courtney played really well at the net, and Jenna was awesome. I brought her up from JV to be my libero and she played fabulous,” mentioned DeVries. “Her digging percentage was at 86 percent for the match. She really stepped up huge for us.”

While Merry and company will be back, Katie Reed, Diane Reineccius and Aileen Beam will not be. They too went out on top.

“Katie had five kills, it was fun to watch her. She has just been our anchor the last two years. We’re going to miss her a lot, she did a great job of running the show. Her and Diane were great leaders” replied DeVries. “And Aileen Beam really came through for us late in the season. She finished her career with two aces in the fifth game versus Princeton. She really stepped up also, especially late in the year.”

The Wildcats finished the season 4-18 overall.

Zimmerman 3

Chisago Lakes 2

Game One-

Chisago Lakes 30, Princeton 28

Game Two-

Princeton 25, Chisago Lakes 21

Game Three-

Chisago Lakes 26, Princeton 24

Game Four-

Princeton 25, Chisago Lakes 13

Game Five-

Princeton 15, Chisago Lakes 11

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