Jacks Move to Semifinals

Kerry Rodd – NSO

Photos by: Shelley Robideaux

A major reason the Cloquet girls volleyball team has had a strong season is the fact that the Jacks have a deep arsenal of weapons to choose from. That depth makes defending the Lumberjacks difficult. On Friday night Cloquet displayed many of those weapons in taking a 3-1 win over Esko in the Section 7AA quarterfinals and a chance to play Hermantown on Tuesday.

The Lumberjacks opened with a 25-22 win and followed that up with a 25-13 victory in the second game of the match. Esko bounced back and showed their resilience by hanging a 26-24 win to pull to within 2-1 entering game four. Cloquet dispelled any chance of an Eskomo comeback by bouncing Esko out of the sectional tournament with a 25-19 victory to win the match.

Up front the Jacks got big nights from Kassidy Steen and Alex Oakes who each pounded down 12 kills. Oakes added 17-set assists and eight digs. Anna Hansmeyer also had a nice night at the net with 10-kills and Sami Westendorf had six kills, 20-set assists and 19-digs. In the back row it was Hazel Erickson chipping in with 15-digs and three ace serves in providing the Lumberjacks with some stellar play.

Molly Trapp pounded down 16 kills and Judy Wagemaker had nine kills for the Eskomos. Gianna Jubie helped out with 28-set assists and three ace serves, C.J. Stoyanoff added 11-digs and Michaela Rust provided nine digs for the Eskomos.

The win gives Cloquet a 24-4 record on the season. The Jacks were the #1 seed entering the sectionals and they move on to play Hermantown a team Cloquet beat during the regular season.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com