By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The New York Mills Eagles swept fellow Park Region Conference foe Menahga 2-0 at the Barnesville Tournament over the weekend. The win came on the heels of a pair of tough losses to Park Christian on Tuesday and Verndale on Thursday. The Eagles went 1-3 in the tournament on Saturday as they also fell to Barnesville, Breckenridge and Battle Lake.

The Eagles will look to get back in the win column this week when they travel to Pelican Rapids on Tuesday and Sebeka on Thursday. 

Tuesday

NY Mills hosted one of the top teams in Section 6A on Tuesday night and came out on the short end of a tough 3-0 to Park Christian.

The Eagles played right with the vising Park Christian Falcons in the first game, but came up just short by a score of 25-17. The Falcons took control of the second game and came away with a 25-11 win, before charging back in the third game, but came up just short by a score of 25-17. 

“We were introduced to one of the best Section 6A volleyball teams tonight. They really kept us out of-system most of the night,” said head coach Steve Dunrud. “We struggled with the first pass, which just allowed them to run their offense very efficiently all night. When we did pass the first ball well, we did have a nice attack, we were just too inconsistent. 

The Eagles were led offensively by Ellyana Ruther who had six kills and 12 digs, while Alivia Preuss finished with six kills of her own.

Dunrud said the Eagles will learn from the match and work on getting into their offensive attack as they get near the end of the regular season.

“As we enter October, we’re hoping to be better at getting into an in-system offensive attack. We have great effort and are very scrappy on defense so that needs to continue for us to be successful,” said Dunrud.

ASSISTS- Talli Schmitz 10, Julie Seim 4, Autumn Salo 7

KILLS- Alie Schornack 3, Chloe Costin 2, Ellyana Ruther 6, Alivia Preuss 6, Aria VanOrsdel 3, Channing Frost 1, Sawyer Anderson 2

DIGS- Talli Schmitz 3, Julie Seim 3, Ellyana Ruther 12, Aria VanOrsdel 1, Addyson Johnson 1, Sawyer Anderson 1, Autumn Salo 1, Abby Berndt 4

BLOCKS- Chloe Costin 3, Aria VanOrsdel 1

SERVING- Talli Schmitz 3-3, Alise Schornack 6-6, Chloe Costin 7-8, Julie Seim 4-4, Ellyana Ruthern 8-9, Aubree Salo 2-3, Sawyer Anderson 3-3, Autumn Salo 4-4, Abby Berndt 3-4

Thursday

In a match where a few points either way was the difference between victory and defeat, NY Mills came up just short in their Park Region Conference match up against a tough Verndale Pirates team by a score of 3-1.

In the first game, Verndale was able to control the tempo and came away with a 25-16 win. Not wanting to go down without a fight, NY Mills clawed back into the match by winning the game by a narrow 25-23 score.

“Verndale is a very scrappy team who played very well in their homecoming match. They got off to a fast start, while we didn’t. We had too many unforced errors on offense in the first set while having to play defense more than we’d like. We did turn things around in the second set thanks for some gritty play from our back row which put us in the position to transition much better,” said head coach Steve Dunrud. 

The Eagles once again got off to a slow start in the third game, but Dunrud gave credit to the team for fighting back and making a game of it late, before falling by a score of 25-19. The fourth set featured a number of long rallies, but in the end, Verndale was able to get the best of NY Mills this time by a score of 25-23 to come away with the 3-1 win.

Alivia Preuss had one of her best games of the season for the Eagles as she finished with a team-high 12 kills, while Ellyana Ruther finished with seven and Alise Schornack finished with six kills. Talli Schmitz finished with a team-high 13 assists, while Julie Seim finished with 12 and Autumn Salo finished with 10. 

Aubree Salo was busy throughout the night on the defensive end of the court as she finished with a team-high 29 digs, while Ruther and Abby Berndt finished in double figures with 10 digs apiece. 

ASSISTS- Talli Schmitz 13, Julie Seim 12, Autumn Salo 10

KILLS- Alise Schornack 6, Chloe Costin 4, Ellyana Ruther 7, Alivia Preuss 12, Emilia Maunumaki 5, Aria VanOrsdel 2, Channing Frost 1, Sawyer Anderson 2

DIGS- Talli Schmitz 7, Alise Schornack 7, Chloe Costin 6, Julie Seim 5, Ellyana Ruther 10, Aubree Salo 29, Aria VanOrsdel 3, Esne Lien 2, Sawyer Anderson 1, Autumn Salo 1, Abby Berndt 10

BLOCKS- Chloe Costin 3, Ellyana Ruther 1, Alivia Preuss 1, Emilia Maunumaki 1, Aria VanOrsdel 1

SERVING- Talli Schmitz 7-8, Alise Schornack 16-16 (1 ace), Chloe Costin 10-11 (1 ace), Julie Seim 12-12, Ellyana Ruther 13-16 (1 ace), Aubree Salo 5-6, Esne Lien 2-3, Sawyer Anderson 2-2, Autumn Salo 4-5, Abby Berndt 4-5 (2 ace)

Saturday

NY Mills made the trek to Barnesville on Saturday for the annual Barnesville tournament. 

The Eagles kicked off the day with a commanding 25-12, 25-15 win over fellow Park Region Conference foe Menahga. 

“We started off the day with a win over Menahga while playing some of our best volleyball of the season. Our front row was very active and we were able to transition from defense to offense very efficiently with very good first contact passes,” said head coach Steve Dunrud. 

In the second game of the day, NY Mills fell to the eventual champion Barnesville by a score of 2-0. After suffering a tough loss in the first game, NY Mills closed the score in the second game to just 16-14, before the Trojans were able to come away with a 25-16 win to complete the sweep.

In the third game the Eagles played neck-and-neck with a tough Breckenridge Cowgirls team. Unfortunately, NY Mills had a bit of trouble receiving Breckenridge’s short serves and were out-of-system more than they would like in the match. Dunrud said overall it was a good effort by the Eagles with some long rallies. 

The Eagles dropped the third match 25-19, 25-19. 

In the fourth and final game of the day, NY Mills came up just short against fellow Section 6A foe Battle Lake by a score of 25-22 and 25-23. 

“We played very well in this match. We probably missed a couple more serves than we’d like, but great effort from our girls as they did a lot of positive things in this match and throughout the day. Again there were some long rallies which required great effort and determination from our girls as they dug deep to keep the ball alive on our side of the net,” said Dunrud. “We feel that we were a better team at the end of Saturday as compared to when we began the day. Every girl who stepped on the court contributed in a positive way.”

One of the many highlights of the day was all 16 members of the team saw action on the court and were able to make an impact on the varsity level. 

ASSISTS- Talli Schmitz 33, Julie Seim 21, Aubree Salo 1, Aria VanOrsdel 2, Autumn Salo 13, Paisley Kneisl

KILLS- Alise Schornack 11, Chloe Costin 9, Ellyanna Ruther 28, Alivia Preuss 12, Aubree Salo 1, Emilia Maunumaki 2, Aria VanOrsdel 6, Channing Froat 1, Addyson Johnson 1, Sawyer Anderson 7, Paisley Kneisl 1

DIGS- Talli Schmitz 6, Alie Schornack 10, Chloe Costin 6, Julie Seim 8, Ellyanna Ruther 29, Alivia Preuss 5, Aubree Salo 17, Emilia Maunumaki 1, Aria VanOrsdel 4, Channing Frost 2, Esne Lien 2, Sawyer Anderson 10, Autumn Salo 5, Abby Berndt 16, Paisley Kneisl 1

BLOCKS- Alise Schornack 1, Chloe Costin 8, Alivia Preuss 4, Emilia Maunumaki 1, Channing Frost 1, Sawyer Anderson 1

SERVING Talli Schmitz 24-26 (7 ace), Alise Schornack 18-19 (1 ace), Chloe Costin 7-10, Julie Seim 26-26 (1 ace), Ellyanna Ruther 20-21 (3 ace), Alivia Preuss 6-6, Aubree Salo 12-12 (1 ace), Esne Lien 1-1, Sawyer Anderson 17-18 (2 ace), Autumn Salo 10-10 (1 ace), Abby Berndt (13-14)