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Rabbits take 3 sets from Greyhounds

Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm Cathedral’s Maggie Fliszar tries to block a spike from Wabasso’s Emma Salfer (5) Tuesday at CHS.

NEW ULM — The Wabasso volleyball team has been one of the more consistent teams in the state this season, and finishing matches out strong is something the Rabbits excel at.

Wabasso continued to finish strong on Tuesday in a Tomahawk Conference match with New Ulm Cathedral, sweeping the Greyhounds 25-19, 25-18, 25-7.

Senior setter Jenna Frank led the Rabbits with 33 set assists and a pair of aces, while Maddy Guetter had 18 kills, 13 digs and five aces.

Frank said that despite slower starts, the team prides itself on its ability to battle back.

“We’ve been starting really slow this year for some reason, so our main goal is to always come back and not give up without a fight,” Frank said. “We just like to come back.”

The Greyhounds jumped out to a 5-2 lead in Set 1 after a kill and a block by Sarah Mohr, who led the team with nine kills and five blocks, and an ace by Josie Pautzke, who had five aces on the night. After an ace by Pautzke and a block by Mohr put Cathedral 16-14, Wabasso ended the set on a 10-3 run, led by five different Rabbits adding at least a point during the run.

The second set again saw the Greyhounds come out strong with a 7-3 lead after a Mohr kill and a ball handling error, but back-to-back aces later on by Frank put the Rabbits in front 15-14. Mohr got back-to-back kills to put the Greyhounds back in front 16-15 moments later, but the Rabbits finished with a 10-2 run for a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was all Wabasso as the Rabbits got four aces by Guetter and forced several Cathedral errors.

Wabasso also got seven kills each by Cora Eichten and Amanda Hoffman on the night, with Hoffman adding a pair of blocks. Megan Rothmeier had 13 digs also for Wabasso.

Lily Franta had 11 digs for the Greyhounds, while Karlie Gieseke had 19 set assists.

A balanced night of scoring and solid play from their middle hitters was just another reason the Rabbits cruised to 7-0 in the conference and 20-4 overall this season.

“We’ve been working a lot on our middles in practice, especially, just to get them more in the game, and it’s been really nice to have them in games,” Frank said. “Today was a really good challenge for us, and I just thought it was really good that we have been working our middles in and they’ve been getting stronger and stronger throughout the season.”

The Rabbits travel to take on Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Thursday for the chance to remain perfect in the conference, while Cathedral (14-9, 5-2) is at Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s for a conference match Thursday.

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