Prep Volleyball: New York Mills has strong showing at Ulen-Hitterdal Tournament

The New York Mills volleyball team went 2-2 at the Ulen-Hitterdal Tournament on Saturday.

‘Overall, the girls all contributed to our second place finish on pool play, which put us in the Silver Division for tournament play.” New York Mills head coach Amy Koskela said. “We think the girls should be happy with how well they turned around from a rough week of games at home.”

The Lady Eagles defeated Fischer-Climax 2-0 (25-14, 25-23) to open pool play. Ellie Rutten registered seven kills with Jackie Imsande posting five. Taylor Plautz and Taylor Geiser both added four kills apiece.

“The girls played steadily and kept their confidence up, which was nice to see.” Koskela said. “Our passing was better, which allowed for better plays because Lexie [Rankka] was able to give the hitters nice sets.

Rankka finished with 16 set assists in the victory—and notched 55 setting assists for the tournament.

New York Mills ran into eventual tournament champion Frazee in the second match of pool play, losing in two sets 20-25 and 19-25.

“The girls played hard against a good blocking and hitting team, but fell short by a few points, making it hard to come back as strong as I know we can play.” Koskela said.

The Lady Eagles bounced back to defeat the host Ulen-Hitterdal Spartans 2-0 (25-22, 25-21) in the final pool play match. Rutten posted a team-high 11 kills, with Brooke Kupfer adding 19 digs from the backcourt.

“Again, the girls played well, but these games were definitely point for point with some long volleys,” Koskela added. “It was great seeing the girls winning those volleys too.”

New York Mills faced Hillsboro (ND) in the first match of tournament play, where they lost 2-1 (25-19, 21-25, 12-15). Rutten once again led the team with seven kills. Imsande added five kills, as did Tori Kempenich, who also contributed three serve aces in the loss.

“Hillsboro played great defense, picking up or blocking nearly every ball we sent over,” explained Koskela. “They gave us plenty of opportunities to take charge in games two and three with missing five or more serves as well.”

Statisically, Rutten finished with a team-high 27 kills and four blocks for the Lady Eagles. Imsande collected 21 kills with Tori Kempenich posting 13 and Taylor Plautz 10.

Kempenich had four of the Lady Eagles’ 19 service aces in the tournament. Kupfer led the Lady Eagles’ backcourt with 46 digs.

New York Mills (5-9-1) will travel to Wadena-Deer Creek at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

New York Mills at Ulen-Hitterdal Tournament on September 24
NYM Stats
Kills—Tori Kempenich 13, Lexie Rankka 1, Amy Nebosis 1, Taylor Plautz 10, Taylor Geiser 8, Ellie Rutten 27, Jackie Imsande 21
Digs—Kempenich 1, Rankka 19, Brooke Kupfer 46, Savanna Leiran 8, Nebosis 13, Plautz 6, Geiser 10, Tori Paavola 10, Rutten 2, Imsande 3
Serving—Kempenich 4 aces, Rankka 3 aces, Kupfer 2 aces, Leiran 1 ace, Nebosis 1 ace, Plautz 1 ace, Geiser 3 aces, Rutten 3 aces, Imsande 1 ace
Blocks—Plautz 1, Geiser 1, Rutten 4, Imsande 1
Set Assists—Kempenich 2, Rankka 55, Kupfer 1, Plautz 3, Paavola 2