Volleyball: Getting set with perfect timing

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Rosemount volleyball coach Smokey Vitek admitted to being unsure what to expect this week in the section seeding meeting.

As the first-year coach for the Irish, she hadn’t taken part in such a meeting before. And with the way her team has played, combined with several unexpected results elsewhere, Vitek knew it would be revealing to see where Rosemount is seeded for next week’s section tournament.

“It should be interesting to see how it goes,” Vitek said. “The last couple of weeks there have been a couple of upsets to change things. I think we should be seeded fairly well, but you never know. I’ve never been to one of these meetings, so I don’t know what to expect.”

The Irish (15-10, 3-5 South Suburban) are handling their side of things on the court. Rosemount has won six of its last seven matches.

In conference play last week, the Irish beat Eagan 3-1, winning 25-22, 25-21, 21-25 and 25-20.

Three days later, the Irish took part in the Apple Valley tournament. They opened with a tough 2-1 loss against previously undefeated Wabasha-Kellogg, the No. 3 ranked team in Class 1A.

Rosemount followed by beating Osseo, 2-0. On Saturday, it beat Burnsville and Delano by matching 2-1 scores.

“I think we played well against Eagan, finished pretty well and played consistently,” Vitek said. “In the Apple Valley tournament, we came out and played strong against a team that was 23-0. We just didn’t finish.

“We recovered well against Osseo. We beat Burnsville and Delano and were consistent. So, we were pleased with two solid wins Saturday.”

Vitek couldn’t help but wonder about the missed opportunity against Wabasha-Kellogg though.

Rosemount won game one 25-18, but then lost 25-10 and 15-9.

“I don’t know if we didn’t realize the opportunity in front of us to beat a 23-0 team, or if we were nervous to lose the match,” Vitek said. “I would say we lost it, they didn’t beat us. That’s what’s disappointing, frustrating from a coaching perspective. We played great the first game and came out flat in the second game and couldn’t recover.”

Elaine Warner finished the tournament with a team-high 37 kills and 12 blocks. Zoe Peterson had 30 kills in the four matches.

Cassie Hansen totaled 114 set assists for the tournament. Ali Fromme had 25 kills and 42 digs. Jillian Blanc led the team with 44 combined digs.

Tags: sports, rosemount, irish, prep, volleyball