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Knights top Greyhounds in 4, end regular season at 25-0

Franta sets CHS career digs record

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye St Marys’ Madison Mathiowetz goes up for the set-ending kill in Set 2 against New Ulm Cathedral on Tuesday night at Cathedral High School.

NEW ULM — While Tomahawk Conference play is over, New Ulm Cathedral still had goals of finishing its regular season on Tuesday with a bang by ending Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ 24-0 unbeaten streak.

While the Greyhounds battled and handed the Knights their second set loss of the season, the Knights ended things in four with a 25-13, 26-24, 11-25, 25-21 nonconference volleyball win at Cathedral High School.

The Knights ended their regular season also on Tuesday with a 25-0 record.

Head coach Jen Walter said her squad has earned that 25-0 record and is ready to move on to the Section 2A playoffs next week.

“I think we’ve earned all 25 of these wins,” Walter said. “And to only drop two sets the entire season, too, I think that’s a statement. We are out every single night, playing our best, taking control of the floor. History-making, too. It’s never happened in our school history before. We’re proud of it, but we’re also ready to say, ‘Let’s wrap up this regular season.’ Because we could kind of see it building towards the end here, and now just start with a clean slate and move on to playoffs with a little less pressure.”

The Knights got 18 kills, 13 digs, three blocks and two ace serves from Madison Mathiowetz to lead the way, while Jaci Domeier finished with 15 kills, two blocks and two aces. Reagan Severson added 21 digs for the Knights, while Julia Helget had 19 digs, Bella Hoffmann had 23 set assists and 11 digs and Allie Labat had 16 set assists.

Cathedral, which ended its regular season with a 19-5 overall record, was led by Lily Brennan’s 12 kills and 15 digs. Sydnee Helget added 10 kills for Cathedral, while Emily Schommer had 30 set assists, 16 digs and four blocks and Megan Haala had seven kills and 27 digs.

Lily Franta finished with 17 digs.

Franta also made school history in Cathedral’s third-set win. Despite last year’s shortened season, the four-year starter picked up her 915th career dig to stand alone atop the school’s career digs record, previously held by Jenna Helget. Franta now sits at 919 digs.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Franta said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches. Before the game started, I had the mentality to come to the game — ‘Nothing hits the floor.’ I knew what I was working towards and worked hard to achieve the goal.”

In the first set, the Knights trailed 7-3 before a 5-0 run gave them an 8-7 lead. After a kill by Brennan tied the set at 9-9, the Knights benefited on a few Cathedral errors and kills from Katelyn Rutscher and Domeier for another 5-0 run and a 14-9 lead.

The Knights got a 7-0 run to lead 21-10, getting a kill and a block from Mathiowetz and an ace and a kill from Domeier during the run. Severson ended the set with a spike moments later.

In the second set, Cathedral again started with the momentum and took a 6-2 lead after a kill and an ace from Helget. The Greyhounds stretched their lead to 15-10 after a St. Mary’s attack error and eventually took a 20-13 lead after a kill by Jenna Hotovec. A 9-2 run had the Knights right back in it, however, prompting a Cathedral timeout with the score tied at 22-all.

After a tip over the net by Helget tied the set at 24-all, Mathiowetz closed the set with back-to-back kills for a 2-0 Knights lead.

The Knights took a 3-2 lead early on in the third set after a kill from Mathiowetz, but it was all Cathedral from there out. A 7-0 run put the Greyhounds up 9-3 and a late 6-0 run gave them a 24-8 lead. Right before that 24th point, Franta passed the school record for career digs.

Haala got the set-ending kill moments later to fire up the Cathedral fans and give the Knights their second set loss of the season.

The fourth set started out in the Knights’ favor as they took an 8-3 lead after an ace serve by Mathiowetz, prompting a Cathedral timeout. It took a while, but the Greyhounds battled back to within a point out of the timeout, 18-17, on a kill from Hotovec, but Mathiowetz answered with a kill to give the Knights a 19-17 lead.

Back-to-back kills from Domeier put the Knights ahead 22-18 to force Cathedral to burn its final timeout. Trailing 24-21 after a kill from Haala, the Greyhounds were called for a net violation to end the set and match.

The Greyhounds and Knights both await Section 2A playoffs next week.

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