Tri-County Area triangular prep volleyball rivalries in Dairyland Conference
With Osseo-Fairchild rejoining the Dairyland Conference this season, its set up and renews a three-way set of rivalries with fellow Tri-County Area schools that it sits right in the middle of, Augusta and Eleva-Strum.
The Thunder volleyball team had its first match in this triangular rivalry last week Thursday, Sept. 26 at Augusta and it proved to be as competitive as rivalry matches usually are.
Both teams scored over 23 points in the three games. Osseo-Fairchild won Game 1 by a 25-23 margin but AHS took the next two games by scores of 25-23 also.
It was only in Game 4 that the Beavers took over and easily won 25-12 which briefly evened their DC record at 2-2 before being swept on Tuesday, Oct. 1 by Independence/Gilmanton 3-0. Augusta, 4-11 overall, faces Alma/Pepin at home Thursday, Oct. 3 in their Homecoming match beginning at 7 p.m.
"Better anticipation and better communication, that's what we've been striving for," AHS head coach Alicia Bethke said. "We did a better job on defense as the match went on being in position for what they were doing and that led to where we could run our offense with confidence and it showed."
The Beavers were very balanced when it came to offense. Sophomore Kadyn Kirkham led the team in kills with 10 including three block kills and a key point to win Game 2. She was named WHTL 102.3 FM's Player of the Game. And Augusta had seven kills each from seniors Aubrey Korger and Parker Waugh and four kills each from junior Zoey Guntner, sophomore Madleyn Meyer and senior Aubrey Korger.
O-F, 1-15 overall, missed opportunities to take control of the contests in Games 2 and 3. The Thunder built up a 10-4 lead in Game 2 before Augusta rallied to tie the score at 13-13. They still were up 18-14 and 21-17 before another Beaver run overturned things to where the score was tied at 22-22 and an ace by Korger, one of three for her, and the kill by Kirkham won it for AHS. In Game 3, the Thunder led again early on by a 5-1 margin and led 22-19 before being outscored 6-1 with Kirkham and Korger getting kills to break at 23-23 tie. In Game 4, Augusta burst to a 13-2 lead and never let up to win 25-12.
Osseo-Fairchild's middle hitters senior Bryssa Johnson and freshman Jianna Scheffer led the team in kills with nine each while senior setter Kara Skoyen had four. Despite loss, the Thunder serevd very well as they had 16 aces to AHS's five led by Brylie Johnson's four and three each for Skoyen, Bryssa Johnson and senior middle Emy Sousek. In fact she had three in-a-row in Game 3 that put the Thunder back ahead 15-14.
The Thunder will take the other part of three-way rivalry this evening, Thursday, Oct. 3 at Eleva-Strum beginning at 7:15 p.m.. The Cardinals saw their recent five-match winning streak snapped at Blair-Taylor Tuesday, Oct. 1 by a 3-2 score. The Cardinals, 11-9 overall lost the first two games, rallied to win Games 3 and 4 by scores of 25-20 and 25-19 but lost in the decisive fifth game 15-11.
Augusta will face Eleva-Strum at home in the final match of the regular season on Thursday, Oct. 17. Waugh said that she can't to be involved in another rivalry match, especially on what will be Senior Night for her.
"This was a lot of fun. It was very exciting to be a part of," Waugh said. "The fans from both schools were into the game and the play was intense. I can't way the same kind of match against Eleva-Strum."
