Laker Volleyball Sweeps Monticello, Advances To Consolation Final

Detroit Lakes , MN (KDLM) – The Detroit Lakers swept the Monticello Magic in the Class AAA Consolation semifinal to advance to tomorrow’s consolation championship.

“We really wanted to be in that other bracket,” said coach Machakaire. “There’s a slight disappointment for them, and me as a coach. But we fought hard in this set and we can end this tournament with two wins. Our motivation now is to go home with some hardware.”

The Lakers got out to a fast start in the first set, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. But the Magic rallied out of a timeout to cut the deficit to 13-12. The Lakers scored the next four points to extend their lead to 17-13. Monticello rallied out of another timeout to cut the Laker lead back down to 24-22, but Sadie Stroeing and Helena Daggett ended the set with a clinching block to take Set 1 25-22.

The Magic led by as many as four points during the first half of set two, leading 11-8 at one point. But the Lakers tied it 13-13 before taking their first lead of the set 16-15 on a Rylee Johnson kill. The Magic would lead again 20-19 before the Lakers went on a 6-0 run to win Set 2 25-0. Ava Jones ended the match with a soft lob over the Magic defense to take a 2-0 lead. Through the first two matches, the Lakers recorded 14 blocks to Monticello’s 3.

Monticello led 7-3 early in the third set, extending the lead to 10-5 before coach Machakaire took a Laker timeout. With Grace Gunderson serving, the Lakers cut the deficit to 10-9, scoring the first four points out of the timeout which forced a Monticello timeout. The Magic stopped the bleeding, ending the Laker run and scoring two points of their own before a Stroeing block ended the run. Trailing 12-10, the Lakers scored three quick points to take a 13-12 lead…their first lead of the set. Back-to-back attack errors Jaylnn Gunderson ended the Laker run, and gave the lead back to Monticello 14-13. The Magic committed three straight attack errors of their own as the third set yo-yo continued, giving the Lakers a 16-14 lead into the Magic’s final timeout of the set. The Laker momentum continued out of the timeout, turning that 16-14 lead into a 19-15 advantage. The Lakers cruised the rest of the way, taking set 3 25-18, sweeping the Magic 3-0.

“The girls fought the entire time.” coach Machakaire said after the match. “We had little slumps, but they did what they needed to do to win. They had that warrior mentality to win. Our goal tonight was ‘if we can get it done in three, let’s get it done in three. Coming out of Monticello’s last time out, we said ‘let’s finish this’ and we did.”

Grace Gunderson with 12 kills, nine digs, and two aces. Jaylnn Gunderson added seven kills, six digs, and an ace. The Lakers scored on 11 aces in the three games: three by Kiah Gloege and three by Ava Jones, two by Oliva Clark Burnette and Grace Gunderson, and one more by Jaylnn Gunderson.

The Lakers will now advance to the Class AAA consolation finals on Saturday morning at 8:30 against Mahtomedi.

SETS:

DL 25 25 25

MHS 22 20 18

LAKER STATS:

Daggett – 2 kills, 4 blocks

Gloege – 3 aces, 5 digs

Johnson – 4 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs

Thielen – 2 assists, 2 digs

Clark Burnette – 2 aces, 10 digs

J. Gunderson – 7 kills, 3 assists, 1 ace, 6 digs

Jones – 1 kill, 20 assists, 3 aces, 3 blocks, 6 digs