Chargers stay energized in 5-set win over Maple River

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Jenna Bates goes up for a block on a hit from Maple River’s Delaney Stencel (15) during a South Central Conference volleyball match Thursday at Storm Fieldhouse in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — The Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers needed every bit of energy they had left Thursday night when the Maple River Eagles forced a fifth set of volleyball at Storm Fieldhouse.

And despite coming out of a weekend tournament and then playing back-to-back five-setters, the Chargers’ third five-setter this week had a positive outcome as they pulled out a 25-20, 13-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-8 win.

The Chargers (3-14-2, 1-6) played six matches in a United South Central High School tournament this past Saturday, where they earned their first win of the season over the same Maple River (5-14) squad they ended up seeing Thursday night. MVL then went to Blue Earth and earned a five-set win before falling at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial in five sets Tuesday.

No matter how many sets it was going to take, the Chargers were ready to pick up their first-ever varsity win at Storm Fieldhouse.

Sophomore middle hitter Jenna Bates had a lot to do with the Chargers’ win Thursday, posting 25 kills and two blocks.

“I really saw some really good hitters and the blocks were always up,” Bates said. “But I always found a way to get around the block or tip around the block and I think that helped a lot.”

MVL head coach Johanna Kettner said she expected her players to be tired coming into Thursday’s matchup with Maple River, but she also expected them to respond the way they did.

“It was definitely on their minds, just kind of anticipating that fatigue,” she said. “But they really do feed off of each other energy-wise and so I think it’s easy for them to kind of look at each other and be like, ‘These are the cards we’ve been dealt, we’re going to play our hardest, we’re going to go for as many wins as we can, we got two of them this week, five-setters.’

“I think the biggest thing, too, is high school sports aren’t forever. If you’re going to play them, you’re going to play them well, so I think that was the biggest key in making sure our energy is high despite three games this week and they all went to five sets.”

MVL also was led by junior Marley Schauer’s 19 kills, which included a match-ending one, and 11 digs. Olivia Hammer also had 14 kills and 14 digs, while Avery Freier captained the winning ship with 53 set assists and 10 digs. Jess Meunier added 13 digs also for the Chargers.

Despite a late comeback in the fourth set where the Chargers trailed 22-16 and cut it to 22-20, they let the chance of a four-set win slip away as the Eagles tied the match at 2-2 on a set-ending kill by Makynna Ertman.

The Chargers opened the fifth set on a kill from Hammer before Ertman tied it with a kill of her own. Back-to-back kills from Schauer and a pair of Maple River errors led to a 5-1 MVL lead in the final set, prompting a Maple River timeout. Maple River ended up getting within a point, 8-7, moments later, but the Chargers took the set and match on a 7-1 run capped off on Schauer’s kill.

MVL battled back in the first set after trailing 9-3, eventually tying it at 12-all on an error and taking a 14-13 lead on an ace serve from Freier. The Eagles tied it up twice after that before a 3-0 MVL run capped off on a block from Bates forced a Maple River timeout with MVL up 19-16.

Bates kept the Chargers energized with a pair of kills before a Maple River attack error stretched MVL’s run to 6-0 and lead to 22-16. She got her sixth kill of the set moments later before the Chargers won it 25-20 on a Maple River net violation.

An ugly second set for the Chargers saw them fall behind 13-3 early on. MVL cut its deficit to 6 after that, but the Eagles flew away from there and took the set on a kill from Olivia Sellers.

The third set was almost an exact opposite from the second as the Chargers were quick to build a 13-7 lead after a 5-0 run that was capped off on kills from Hammer and Schauer. The Chargers did run into some trouble in the later half of the set as Maple River cut its deficit to 20-16, but a 5-1 run ended the set in favor of the Chargers.

“Early on in our season we were seeing more sets like [Set 2] where we kind of got into a deficit and it got to us a little bit,” Kettner said. “And I think maturity-wise, just this season, we’ve grown so much. I think that was kind of shining through, our youth was shining through a little bit, so I think that was kind of what was happening in the second set. I think they’ve grown a lot and I think that’s why they were able to play well in the third set and play well in the fourth set.”

Even thought they dropped the fourth set, the Chargers kept their energy up and the score close before eventually capping the night off with smiles all around.

“I really think even in practice we try to do our best and just really push as hard as we can and keep the energy up,” Bates said. “But I’m always trying to stay positive on the court and hyping all my friends and teammates up.”

Bates is one of five sophomores on the Chargers next to Hammer, Freier, Avery Hahn and Meunier. Claudia Weisensel is the team’s lone senior leader this year, which has opened things up for several underclassmen to step up and be leaders early on in their playing careers.

The Chargers will now get to rest a bit as they travel to Le Sueur-Henderson for another conference matchup on Tuesday.