Cloquet Falls To Hibbing In Semi-Finals

Wes Vork-NSO

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Nov 4

Kerry Rodd-NSO

The Cloquet volleyball team made huge strides this year. Despite playing with a fairly young roster, the Jacks made it to the Section 7AA semifinals before bowing out last night 3-0 to the always strong Hibbing Bluejackets.

“This group of girls worked harder than any group I’ve had in the past,” said coach Heidi Anderson after the game. “Our program took another big step forward and that can be hard to see when you come up against Hibbing every year in the playoffs.”

The Jacks fell by scores of 25-10, 25-13 and 25-19 as they struggled to find ways to stop Katie Lange who pounded down 16 kills and had four ace serves and six digs.

“We were able to teach this group more than any team I have coached,” mentioned Anderson. “This is the first group of girls where they played together in the off season.”

The Jacks were led defensively by libero Kierra Johnson who had 16 digs and by Katie Konietzko who picked up 10 digs. Offensively, the Jacks saw five kills from Emily Fossen, four from Katie Schulz and 9 set assists from seventh grader Alex Oakes and four set assists from Keanna Karulak.

Courtney Wirtanen led the Bluejacket offense with 15 set assists and Laicee Grahek finished with five kills.

The Jacks complete their season with a 14-15 record.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com