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Osage volleyball ends Lake Mills streak; now NIC champs
By Warren Haacke, Press-News Reporter
It was a long time coming, but the Osage Green Devil volleyball team snapped a 62-game Lake Mills conference winning streak with a 5-game victory in the NIC tournament finals held on Monday night, October 6 at Belmond.
"Our kids have worked very hard to get where they are and they deserve this," said Coach Andie Olson. "We really stressed that our strengths are hitting and blocking. I felt like we took Lake Mills out of their game by doing those two things. We did not allow our kids to stop being aggressive. I stress to the kids about "owning that net and nothing gets by you" when we are blocking. If something gets by us then it better not hit the floor and then we put in right back down on their side."
Olson continued, "We have talked about so much with this group about how special they are and how much potential they have. This is a great win but we can't settle for this tournament title and be done. We are going to have our work cut out for us first round of tournaments with Lake Mills again. Volleyball is such a game of momentum and it can swing with you or against you in a hurry. We just need to continue to put runs of points together and cut down on our errors."
Our focus for this tournament was 212 degrees," Olson said. "I had shirts made up special for the kids with this design in mind. We watched this movie clip (www.212 movie.com) about turning it up one degree and how that can make all the difference. At the end it also has a great quote "To get what we've never had, we must do what we've never done." That quote is on the back of our shirts. This movie also talks about how steam can power a locomotive.
During a time out last night I said to them "You are the locomotive tonight, ladies. Stay on the track and full steam ahead." They responded with a NIC
Tournament title and I am so happy for them."
Below are the week's results:
North Iowa Conference Tournament at Belmond
Semi-finals - Saturday, October 4.
Osage defeated Garner-Hayfield-22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-12
Osage Highlights:
Jenny Bellairs-22 Kills, 5 blocks
Amelia Johnson-9 kills, 3 ace serves
Lauren Malecek-8 kills
Alex Sveum-6 kills, 9/9 attacks, 2 blocks
Mareah Sletten-4 blocks, 2 kills, 6 assists
Molly Thomas-27 digs, 15/16 serving
Taylor Evenson-20 assists
Tara Adams-18 assists, 6 ace serves
Finals - Monday, October 6.
Osage defeated Lake Mills-15-25, 25-13, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11
Osage Highlights:
Jenny Bellairs-17 kills, 11 blocks
Amelia Johnson-10 kills, 4 blocks, 16 digs, 19/20 serving, 3 ace serves
Lauren Malecek-10 kills
Raelee Sullivan-5 kills, 4 blocks
Molly Thomas-42 digs, 22/23 serves, 3 ace serves
Taylor Evenson-20 assists, 9/9 serving
Tara Adams-14 assists, 23/24 serving
Jennifer Molitor-10 digs, 9/9 serving, 1 ace serve
Osage Record
Overall Match-19-12
Conference Match-11-1
Saturday, October 11 - Mason City Tournament.
Waverly-Shell Rock defeats Osage-21-12, 23-21
Clear Lake defeats Osage-21-14, 21-19
Osage defeats Central Springs-21-14, 16-21, 15-12
Osage record:
Overall-20-14
Conference-11-1
Osage Highlights:
Jenny Bellairs-26 kills, 35/41 attacks, 19/19 serving, 3 ace serves, 3 blocks
Amelia Johnson-20 kills, 27/32 attacks, 15 digs
Tara Adams-23 assists, 23/23 serving
Taylor Evenson-19 assists, 10/10 serving
Jennifer Molitor-20/20 serving, 2 ace serves, 6 digs
Raelee Sullivan-6 kills
Lauren Malecek-5 kills, 13/16 attacks
Mareah Sletten-6/8 attacks, 6 assists, 2 blocks
Raelee Sullivan-6 kills
Lauren Malecek-5 kills, 13/16 attacks
Mareah Sletten-6/8 attacks, 6 assists, 2 blocks
"We came off such a great NIC Tourney last weekend that it is disappointing to not play our best at Mason City," said Olson. "The most important part of our season is soon approaching. We need to stay focused on tournament play now."
Next match: Thursday, Oct. 16th at 6 p.m. in Charles City (Triangular)-North Butler/Charles City/Osage.
Story created Oct 14, 2008 - 10:54:42 CDT.
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