The Annandale volleyball team is enjoying one of its best seasons in years, and is on a mission to secure a berth in the state tournament.
Last week, the Cardinals solidly won a non-conference match against Kimball, and in the first pairing of the Section 6-2A tournament, they easily took care of Zimmerman.
Annandale 3, Kimball 0
The Cardinals defeated the Kimball Cubs in three straight sets, 25-21, 25-12 and 25-16, on Monday, Oct. 23 at Annandale High School.
"Though Monday games can be tough, we like to play a match after MEA as we feel it prepares us for playoffs," Cardinals Head Coach Michelle Macalena said of the two days away from school. "Some teams end up with 10 days in between the last regular-season match and the start of playoffs."
The final regular-season match was also senior night, and the team recognized Paige Sanderson, Allie Spaulding and Kamryn D’Heilly.
"Our seniors have done a great job leading as individuals and as a collective group," Macalena said. "Their leadership has positively contributed to the success of our team."
The coach was impressed with the Cardinals’ performance against the Cubs.
"It was a good team effort, the team worked well together," Macalena said. "We did a nice job of using all offensive options and we got some good touches on digs."
To make the game even more exciting, D’Heilly earned the 1,000th career kill of her Annandale career in the first set.
Individual statistics vs. Kimball
Neutz – 4 ace serves, 6 kills, 7 digs; Spaulding- 6 kills, 2 blocks; Bieniek – 11 kills, 11 digs; D’Heilly – 10 kills, 1 dig; Hammond – 2 ace serves, 6 digs; Reimer – 25 set assists; Weis – 2 ace serves, 9 digs; Sanderson – 2 ace serves, 7 digs; Mandel 1 kill, 1 block.
Annandale 3, Zimmerman 0
Annandale had no trouble eliminating the Zimmerman Thunder in the first round of the section tournament. The Cards won in straight sets, 25-16, 25-11 and 25-14, at Annandale High School Thursday, Oct. 26.
"Throughout the night, we were mentally focused and the team used all options," Macalena said. "We have worked on helping teammates with second and third touches and we followed the ball well."
Macalena applauded Abby Neutz, Kitri Reimer and Jada Bieniek for having great serving runs.
At the net, Bieniek and D’Heilly paced the Cards with 11 kills, Spaulding had nine and Neutz seven kills.
"All four were effective and controlled at the net," Macalena said.
Individual statistics vs. Zimmerman
Neutz – 2 ace serves, 7 kills, 10 digs; Spaulding- 9 kills, 1 block; Bieniek – 11 kills, 9 digs; D’Heilly – 11 kills; Hammond – 4 digs; Reimer -29 set assists; Mandel – 3 kills.
Up next
■ Tuesday, Oct. 31, the Cardinals (21-5) will face Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (16-7) at 7 p.m. at Annandale High School in the second round of the Section 6-2A tournament.
In a previous meeting this season, the Cardinals defeated the Lakers.
■ Thursday, Nov. 2, the Subsection 6-2A East winner will be determined at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School at 7:45 p.m.
The Cardinals, should they defeat Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, would face the winner of the No. 1-seeded Maple Lake vs. No. 5-seeded Dassel-Cokato match.
■ Saturday, Nov. 4, the section final against the 6-2A West champion will be played at 6 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall on the St. Cloud State University campus.