by Dave DeMars
news@thenewsleaders.com
It looked like the Sartell Sabres girls’ volleyball team really had it together for the Sept. 7 match-up against the Rocori Spartans in Cold Spring. In the first game of a five-game match the Sabres showed their stuff and coasted through the first game for a 25-18 win.
But the Spartans answered in the second game and showed their resilience, beating the Sabres 25-16, making it a game apiece. That is when the match kicked into overdrive. In the third game, it was the Sabres who came out on top but only by the slimmest of margins as they won by two: 25-23.
Again the Spartans rallied and in the fourth game of the match, it was the Spartans who out-dueled the Sabres at the net to take the fourth game 25-20. The fifth game would be the tie breaker and the heartbreaker for the Sabres. The Spartans found the groove early and rolled on to a 15-6 win in the fifth and final game. That gave them the match 3-2.
It was an intense five-game match on the road and coach Sarah Hornseth gave the Sabres high praise for their very disciplined defense led by Miah Gessell with 13 digs, followed by Lexie Winter (11) and Hope Grasswick (8). Hornseth said Sartell played a solid serve receive with Morgan Vosberg collecting 5 ace serves followed by Maddie Schnettler (3) and Gessell (2). Vosberg also led the offense with 34 set assists and Elizabeth Dille played sky high at the net tallying 16 kills.
“The Sabres showed a lot of passion, grit and determination tonight,” Hornseth said.
