Bump, set, surprise: Sleepy Eye teams sit atop Tomahawk Conference
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SLEEPY EYE -- For those on the outside looking in, there were some question marks heading into the season for both the Sleepy Eye St. Mary's and Sleepy Eye volleyball teams.
While currently attending South Dakota State University and preparing for her first season of Division 1 women's basketball this winter, Madison Mathiowetz still has her name brought up in conversations about St. Mary's volleyball. It's not without reason as the Knights won 26 matches in a row last year with Mathiowetz as the team's leading hitter. A playoff loss to BOLD ended the Knights' season with a 26-1 record.
Mathiowetz's graduation did pose questions about how good St. Mary's would be this year without her, though. So far the Knights have had an answer as they're at the top of the pack in the Tomahawk Conference again midway through the season with a 12-1 overall record and a 5-0 conference mark.
While even Knights head coach Jen Walter admitted to being surprised to see exactly how well the team has played without Mathiowetz, Walter knew the amount of talent and experience she'd have back this season.
"We still returned four players from last year, and just being part of a team culture that existed with Madison there, a team of winning," Walter said. "I look at my two starting setters Bella [Hoffmann] and Allie [Labat], I think their overall record is 65-12. And nine of those losses came their freshman year, so they've lost four games in the last three years.
"So I think just a culture of winning has been created within the St. Mary's volleyball program and I think it takes longer to go away than a season, hopefully it never does [laughs], but I think they played at a level and practiced with a high-level athlete like Madison and got to see somebody like that every day at practice and I think that has carried over into this season, too."
Joining the Knights at the top of the conference this year is crosstown rival Sleepy Eye. And after finishing last season winless in the conference and 11-14 overall, what could people expect from the Indians this year?
With a current 11-2 overall record and a 3-1 start in the conference, the Indians are answering that question with success.
"Going into this season, we lost six seniors," Sleepy Eye head coach Sydney Geiger said. "So it was kind of, like, 'Okay, we're going to have some new faces on the court that we're definitely going to have to adjust to.' But these girls are scrappy, they're picking up balls and they're finding ways to still be aggressive. And those new faces are doing big things for us.
"Now that we've picked up some wins, those girls see what it takes and now they come into those games knowing what it takes to win. And I think that's the biggest difference is once you pick up a couple wins, especially in a row, they get the confidence, and that's been huge for us."
The Indians' one conference loss this year came to a surging Wabasso squad at home on Sept. 22 in five sets. Wabasso has won six matches in a row and is now 13-7 overall and 4-2 in the conference.
For the Knights, Labat and Hoffmann have made an impact with more than just their setting this year. Both seniors have been working as opposite hitters and have found success there also.
Hoffmann has 222 set assists, 96 kills and 130 digs this season, while Labat has 189 set assists, 75 kills and 81 digs. Hoffmann also recently reached 1,000 career set assists in a win at Le Sueur-Henderson High School on Monday night.
Senior Jaci Domeier has stepped into the team's middle hitter spot in place of Mathiowetz, racking up 118 kills and 20 blocks. She also has 108 digs.
"We haven't put a lot of pressure on Jaci that maybe we did with Madison last year to terminate," Walter said. "But in the same breath, if Jaci's in the front row and the game is on the line, she's getting the ball. She hits at a very high hitting efficiency percentage. She makes very few mistakes, and if she does, she usually won't make multiple in a row, which can be hard as a hitter. So she's confident with the ball up there. The other night in Le Sueur, I think we set her four or five times in a row, she was just able to execute."
Senior Abby Schwartz (95 kills) and junior Jenica Schroepfer (70 kills, 109 digs) are two other hitters helping lead the Knights' attack this year.
The Indians have been led this season by two strong junior hitters in Kadence Hesse (121 kills, 48 total blocks) and Breaunna Mertz (117 kills, 36 total blocks). Senior setter Brooke Arneson controls the offense with 252 set assists while also having a team-best 171 digs to help lead the defense.
"They're not always going to be the most outspoken girls, but they're leading by actions," Geiger said of Mertz, Hesse and Arneson. "Those three work hard. Just stat lines last year, stat lines this year, it's showing how hard they work in the offseason, in practice, in games."
Geiger also complimented some newer faces for stepping up and making plays, like freshman outside hitter Sam Price, who currently has 61 kills.
"Sam Price as a freshman, she's really stepped up," Geiger said. "And it's been fun to see her grow into the game, because you don't know how well she's going to adjust going from junior high to varsity. That's obviously quite a big jump, but she's adjusted well and she's playing good volleyball right now."
Geiger also said senior outside hitter Leisha Martinez (46 kills) has played well after not getting much varsity time last season, while sophomore Paige Haala (100 digs) has become one of the team's best passers in the back row. Junior libero Lydia Huiras (119 digs) is another name that has stepped up for the Indians this year, while senior Jade Sellner has been solid at the net with 24 total blocks.
Now the ever-anticipated crosstown conference match awaits both teams as the Knights host the Indians at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
Walter said her squad's block will be key in securing the win.
"For us, it's going to be able to block well in the middle," Walter said. "They have two really nice, strong hitters in the middle in Breaunna and Kadence. We know that they can be very versatile with the ball, so our blockers have to show up."
Walter also said her team needs to minimize errors and not give away free points.
For Geiger and the Indians, the key will just be to keep playing their game.
"I think it's just staying the course for our game," Geiger said. "St. Mary's -- it's such a high-energy -- just the buildup of the crosstown rivalry like it is with all our sports. It's a lot of energy and a lot of excitement and we've just got to remember who we are, keep playing our game, regardless of who's on the other side of the court and who we're playing. We've just got to keep in our rhythm and get in our flow and do what we've been doing to pick up a win."
Thursday's match could end up playing a big part in determining the conference champion later in the season. Cedar Mountain (11-3, 4-1) and New Ulm Cathedral (14-4, 2-1) are also on a roll, however, and will be looking to jump ahead in the conference race next week.
This coming Tuesday, Cathedral will host St. Mary's, while Cedar Mountain travels to Sleepy Eye.