GFW upsets Chargers
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NEW ULM -- Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, the No. 6 seed, did something no other team had done all volleyball season on Thursday night: beat Minnesota Valley Lutheran on its home floor.
With a 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17 Section 2A playoff win over the No. 3-seeded Chargers, the Thunderbirds got their biggest win of the season yet and will move on to a 7:30 p.m. meeting with the No. 2 seed in Mayer Lutheran on Tuesday at New Ulm High School.
The Thunderbirds' energy was at an all-time high on Thursday and despite dropping the first set to MVL, that energy was cranked up more and more as the match went on.
Grace Swenson led the Thunderbirds with 16 kills and a pair of blocks. She was happy with the GFW crowd in attendance and the team's ability to keep the ball off the ground.
"It feels amazing," Swenson said. "All week we've been practicing. Our whole mentality was not letting the ball touch the floor, that's all we've been working on. The crowd was amazing, we fed off of each other and it was an awesome win."
Hannah Panitzke had eight kills, two blocks and 22 digs for GFW, while Miah Busse had 23 digs and went 20 for 20 serving with a pair of aces. Jordan Rettig also helped GFW with 17 set assists and nine digs, while Hannah Thorsen had 10 set assists and nine digs and Shelby Ramirez had six kills and four blocks.
MVL was dealt the tough task of having to battle GFW without its top attacker on the year in Mara Weisensel, who injured her ankle in practice on Wednesday. Lauren Paulsen also suffered an injury Wednesday but played on Thursday in what would be her final volleyball match at MVL.
Despite not having Weisensel on the floor, Paulsen stepped up for the Chargers with 15 kills, 19 digs and four blocks, while Hannah Marzinske had 14 kills and 24 digs.
Maddie Pearson had 37 set assists, 20 digs and three aces for the Chargers.
Despite the loss and elimination from playoffs, MVL head coach Amy Pearson was proud of how her girls handled adversity and battled against a tough defensive GFW squad.
"I told the team that we don't have to walk out of here hanging our heads because we left everything that we had out on the floor and played hard from point 1 to point 25," coach Pearson said. "Our seniors did an awesome job of leading all year long with the work ethic, with the team-first attitude, with their dedication to the game and striving to get better, and I told the girls, 'Those are going to be big shoes to fill next year.' It doesn't put a win in the win column, but it takes a little of the sting away when you know you gave it all that you had."
In both Sets 2 and 3, GFW trailed by 1 late in the set before closing out with a 4-1 run and a 4-0 run, respectively. Swenson had the winning kill in both Sets 2 and 3.
The final score in Set 4 was the largest lead GFW had all match.