Volleyball: Familiar foe leads to an all-too- familiar result

Talk about it

The Rosemount volleyball team knows what it takes to get to the second round of the section tournament.

In recent years, the Irish have managed to win their play-in game only to be swept out of the tournament by the first or the second seeds.

Rosemount coach Kristin Helgeson was hoping this year might be different. Instead of an easy win in the first round, the Irish had to battle to beat Simley, a higher seed.

Helgeson was hoping the tougher match would help Rosemount gain some momentum into the second round at Eastview.

The first-round win might have helped against the top-seeded Lightning. But the Irish still were left to face an all-too familiar ending — losing in the second round to a top seed.

And this top seed was all-too-familiar Eastview.

“The first and third sets we played really well, and I can’t ask the kids to play much better than that,” Helgeson said. “I thought they played hard and made some great plays. That was the thing.

“We wanted to show up ready to play and take advantage if they were maybe off a little bit. That’s really the only way a nine is going to beat a one. You have to hope you play your best and they are off. They weren’t off.”

The Lightning beat Rosemount 25-22, 25-7, and 25-21 to advance.

“They were disappointed, but proud of the way they played,” Helgeson said of her team. “They spoke positively after the game. I thought the underclassmen played well for the seniors. They were focused and cohesive and played for each other.”

Irish senior Paige Petersen had 10 kills and eight digs. Senior Jordan Hinkle had 13 digs.

Sophomore Mikaela Sullivan had 13 assists and nine digs.

Tags: sports, volleyball