Volleyball: Trying to make a game of it

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Rosemount volleyball coach Kristin Helgeson knows her team has taken significant strides this season.

The coach sees her team competing well with the top teams in the state, and Helgeson wants the Irish to start winning some games and matches against those teams.

The past week’s schedule wasn’t offering many of those chances, though.

“It’s nasty,” Helgeson said of Rosemount’s schedule. “We played Burnsville tough. The key is, this is the first Rosemount team that I’ve coached that plays every single match hard. They never quit. They never die, and we took Burnsville to four games.

“Some of these teams we’re taking to five games, three games, they’re normally close games. Burnsville, it didn’t feel like we lost. It was such a good match.”

Last week, the Irish lost 25-17, 25-17, 22-25, and 25-19 at Burnsville.

Rosemount followed it up with a 2-2 performance in the Apple Valley tournament.

The tournament started with a 25-8, 25-17 loss to Stewartville, the No. 6 ranked team in Class 2A. The Irish then beat Vincent Massey of Manitoba, Canada, 20-25, 26-24 and 15-11. In the third round, the Irish beat Lincoln, South Dakota 25-14 and 25-16.

In the last rounds, Rosemount lost 25-13, 25-21 against Minneapolis Southwest.

In the tournament, Paige Petersen had 38 kills, including 18 against Vincent Massey. Mikaela Sullivan passed out 44 assist in the tournament.

Elaine Warner has been strong at the net, including seven kills and three blocks against Vincent Massey.

On Tuesday, the Irish lost 25-22, 25-17, and 25-19 against No. 3 Eastview.

“Trying to beat ranked teams, you can’t make any mistakes in a match,” Helgeson said. “You have to be almost perfect. In more even matches, you can make a mistake. But against the best teams, those mistakes are magnified.”

Tags: sports, volleyball