Cloquet Volleyball Tops Proctor in Section 7AA Playoffs

Wes Vork-NSO

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Oct 28

Kerry Rodd-NSO

There was no sign of a letdown for the Cloquet volleyball team on Wednesday night in their first round game of the Section 7AA volleyball tournament. The Jacks, who came in as the #2 seed in the North Subsection, walloped Proctor 25-14, 25-15 and 25-13 to advance to Friday’s second round.

“I thought we came out and did a good job of staying aggressive on offense,” said Cloquet coach Heidi Anderson following the game. “We’ve been working all year on mixing our offense and the girls came in very focused and didn’t take anything for granted.”

Cloquet stormed out to a quick 6-1 lead in game one and never looked back. The Jacks put the game away when Keanna Karulak picked up five straight service points to take Cloquet from a 15-11 lead to a 20-11 advantage very quickly. Game one featured the pounding shots of Katie Konietzko, who finished the night with eight kills and seven digs.

Game two was a seesaw affair with Cloquet’s defense playing an integral part in the game. Only once in the game did the Rails score three points in a row and the Jacks plowed through for a strong win. Katie Schulz finished things off for the Jacks with three straight kills that thundered through the Rail defense.

“I think when you know it is your last home game of the season, and for the seniors their last home game ever, that you play a little harder,” commented Anderson. “Our seniors did a great job of leading us tonight.”

After Proctor got off to a 3-1 lead in the third game, the Jacks picked up the pace and took leads of 7-3 and 14-5 as the lead mushroomed in Cloquet’s favor.

A big key for the Lumberjacks was the ability to block the Rails at the net. Emily Fossen, Konietzko, Schulz, Jenna Beaupre and Maddie Kiehn controlled the net, while Karulak offered up 15 set assists in running the offense smoothly.

“Keanna did a nice job of distributing the ball to everyone and I thought we got a strong game from Beaupre,” mentioned Anderson. “We have a lot of talent and depth on offense and we are trying to use everyone and get everyone into the mix.”

Kiehn finished with a game high 11 kills, Beaupre added four kills, Skylar Scheer had six ace serves, and Kierra Johnson finished with eight digs and six ace serves and Karulak added 20 set assists.

The Lumberjacks advanced into the next round of the tournament and will play on Friday night against Duluth Central. The Trojans knocked off Denfeld 3-2 in a tight match played in Duluth on Wednesday night.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at Kerry@northlandsportsonline.com