B-T netters edge Beavers, Cardinals

The Dairyland Conference is proving to be as competitive as it has been in years and Blair-Taylor is right in the mix, tied for first place after a couple of close wins last week.

The Wildcats began the week with a 3-2 win over Augusta on Monday. The big match came on Thursday, however, as B-T edged Eleva-Strum, 3-2, to win a match between two teams that entered the night with undefeated conference records.

B-T began this week the winners of seven in a row and 10-4 overall. The match that could decide the conference championship came on Tuesday when the Wildcats played at Eau Claire Immanuel. The Lancers are also undefeated in conference play and are the defending Division Five state champions. 

The Wildcats will host Osseo-Fairchild on Thursday before playing in a tournament at La Crosse Aquinas on Saturday. Next week the Beavers play at home against Independence/Gilmanton on Tuesday and at Alma/Pepin on Thursday.

B-T    23 25 25 21 15

AUG  25 16 17 25   8

The Beavers forced a fifth set, but the Wildcats held on for the win.

Augusta started strong, edging B-T in the first set, but the Wildcats seemed to take control with two convincing wins. The Beavers didn’t go away, winning a close fourth set, but B-T regrouped for a 15-8 win to claim the match. 

Andrea Waldera and Chloe Medenblik controlled the action at the net for B-T. Waldera finished with 17 kills and six blocks, while Medenblik had 16 kills and four blocks. Charlyse Horton and Addison Lejcher each had four kills and Alyssa Tubbs added two. 

The setting duties were split as Elissa Smetana and Horton both had 16 assists. 

Medenblik was on fire at the service line, finishing with six aces. Lejcher added two while Tubbs, Smetana and Waldera all had one. 

Tubbs was active defensively with 17 digs, while Waldera finished with 11 and Lejcher added 10.

B-T   25 17 25 25 15

E-S   13 25 19 27 13

The teams battled back and forth, but the Wildcats came through with the close win.

The first two sets were somewhat lopsided with the teams splitting as B-T won the first set by 12 points and E-S claimed the second by eight. The Wildcats took a 2-1 match lead with a 25-19 win in the third set. The rest of the match was tight as E-S pulled off a 27-25 win in the fourth set before B-T claimed the fifth, 15-13. 

Medenblik and Waldera both had strong nights at the net again. Medenblik had a team-high 27 kills while Waldera added 19 to go with six blocks. Horton added six kills, both Lejcher and Tubbs had two. Landonn Daffinson and Smetana each had one kill. Smetana had 18 assists, one more than Horton. 

It was a strong night for B-T at the service line as the team had 20 aces. Tubbs, Smetana and Medenblik all had five aces, Lejcher scored three and both Waldera and Horton had one.

Tubbs led the team with 18 digs, one more than Medenblik while both Daffinson and Lejcher had 10.