Lakeville North Volleyball Dominates Bethlehem Academy
It took just over an hour for the Lakeville North Panthers to put away the visiting Faribault Bethlehem Academy Cardinals Tuesday night. The defending Class AAA Champions did sweep Minnetonka last Thursday and it was the Cardinals first match of the season. Lakeville North swept Bethlehem Academy 25-16, 25-9, 25-9. It was the home opener for the Panthers and they were fired up for the match.
Last season Lakeville North did not lose at home en route to a 32-2 record. Their only losses were to the Eagan Wildcats and they avenged that in the state title match. In case you are wondering last year's loss by the Cardinals to the Panthers lasted exactly one hour. Their shortest three set matches were 54 minutes at Apple Valley and at Burnsville. Their longest matches were at home when they defeated East Ridge (1:53) and Minnetonka (1:52) in 5 sets each.
Bethlehem Academy competed well in stretches but Panther 6'1 outside senior hitters Elizabeth Juhnke and Macy Winter were unstoppable. The two combined for 27 kills in the 3 set match and sat out a period of time. Juhnke had 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .667and Winter 11 kills and .286. The pair had 49 of the 76 total attack attempts. The Panthers had an attack percentage of .421 for the match. The two played in the back row also and showed they are capable of staying on the floor all the time if necessary.
Our Faribault State Farm Insurance Agents Faribault Players of the match were 5'11 eighth grader Lindsay Hanson, 5'9 freshman Ellie Cohen and 5'11 sophomore Kennedy Tutak. On a night when offense was hard to come by those three tallied 14 kills combined led by Cohen with 6. Tutak had a couple nice solo blocks and looked comfortable at the net. The Cardinals had a attack percent of .022.
Hanson hit .364 and Tutak .300. Cohen was putting balls down with regularity in the first set and had just one kill after the opening set. Senior libero Olivia Nass led the team with 8 digs.
Juhnke led Lakeville North with 13 digs and libero Halle Wolfe collected 12. The Panthers had 10 ace serves and the Cardinals 2. BA also had 5 service errors and Lakeville North 3.
Early in the match 5'10 junior middle hitter Lexi Boyd went down with an injury. It appeared to be a ankle. The Cardinals were already without the services of 5'11 senior co-captain Jacie Jasinski out with a high ankle sprain. Boyd went to the hospital to have it checked and we'll keep her in our prayers.
The schedule doesn't ease up anytime soon for Bethlehem Academy. They host Marshall Thursday. Have Stewartville at home Tuesday and travel to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown next Thursday for their Gopher Conference opener.
Lakeville North doesn't have a picnic either. The Panthers are at East Ridge Thursday and then are off until September 7th and 8th when they go to the Southwest Minnesota State Challenge in Marshall. Their next home match is against Prior Lake on September 13th.
Here are some other volleyball scores from Tuesday night:
- Farmington swept Faribault 25-23, 25-15, 25-10
- Northfield defeated New Prague 25-21, 25-23, 25-15
- Pine Island over Chatfield 25-21, 25-15, 25-20
- Lakeville South downed Eden Prairie 25-23, 25-20, 25-19
- LeSueur-Henderson swept Holy Family Catholic 25-13, 25-10, 25-17
- Lake City defeated Winona Cotter 25-14, 27-25, 25-16
- Belle Plaine over Jordan 25-18, 25-17, 25-19
- Burnsville swept Albert Lea 25-12, 25-11, 25-15
- Champlin Park defeats Prior Lake 25-9, 25-12, 25-16
- Chaska over Mound Park Academy 25-9, 25-17, 25-14
- East Ridge downed Edina 25-20, 25-10, 25-18
- Houston defeats Glenville-Emmons 25-14, 25-20, 25-4
- Lyle/Austin Pacelli dropped first set 25-23 then won 26-24, 25-21, 25-19
- Mabel-Canton over Schaeffer Academy 25-7, 25-15, 25-13
- Shakopee defeated Southwest Christian 25-19, 27-25, 25-23
- Spring Grove swept Randolph 25-17, 25-15, 25-16
- Stewartville over Fillmore Central 14-25, 25-16, 25-9, 25-12
- Waterville-Elysian-Morristown defeated Triton 25-16, 25-11, 25-20
- Zimbrota-Mazeppa swept St. Croix Lutheran 25-18, 25-12, 25-21
- Blooming Prairie over Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16
- Mankato East defeated Red Wing 11-25, 25-16, 15-25, 25-16, 15-13
- Kasson-Mantorville wins 5 set thriller over Rochester Century scores not reported
- Rochester Lourdes 3 Waseca 1
- New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 3 Nicollet 0