Rochester Mayo beat visiting Farmington High in straight sets in a Section 1AAA volleyball quarterfinal in Rochester on Friday night, Oct. 26. Host Mayo won their second match of the year against FHS and ended the Tigers season with a sweep (29-27; 25-20, and 25-10). The Tigers finished with a 14-15 overall mark.
Head coach
Mike Woody remarked, "We were much improved over our first match with them
in the regular season because we were at full strength but losing that marathon
first set was tough to overcome."
Indeed, the
Spartans prevailed in a tense opening set which both teams had several chances
to end earlier. In fact, Farmington led
26-25 and would have taken the critical first set but a hit from the front row
was out of bounds by inches. Mayo eventually won the 56-point set and FHS
needed to win the final two sets to reach the semifinals, a tough task against
a talented foe.
"It was
back and forth as both teams played phenomenal volleyball," said
Woody. "That close loss, which
could easily have been ours, sort of set the tone for the rest of the
match."
In the
second set, however, Farmington was resilient and led 12-5 with a balanced and
solid offense as they took advantage of some Mayo errors to forge ahead. The Spartans then made four or five key
blocks to mount a comeback. Mayo's
well-designed block and some errant Farmington passing allowed them back in the
set. It was a seesaw affair until the final points, when the home team pulled
away for a deceiving 25-20 win.
In the third
set, the Tigers started pressing and was a bit too aggressive. Faulty passing trying to get the ball to the
net hindered any chances for hopes of extending the match. Down 8-6, Woody's
charges were buried by a Spartan run and they cruised to a decisive win.
The Tigers,
a bit shorter on the outside and younger than the Spartans, served well and
their defense was strong. Woody
commented, "In the first two sets, we played very good volleyball and each
set could have went either way. Our
passing was good and we were fine at the net and our misses were close. I was pleased with our effort and our
execution."
"Emma
Fahining had some tremendous digs in the back row and Kaylene Seurer and Kelsey
Lindell, our two senior middle hitters had strong performances, too,"
stated Woody. "
The Spartans
had beaten the Tigers in three sets on Sept. 25 but Farmington was hampered by
injury as they lost 25-13, 26-24, and 25-12.
Senior
setter Ruthanne Schmitt led Farmington with 11 assists while another senior
setter, Mia Johnston, totaled seven.
FHS, which was hoping to serve at over 90%, finished at 93% with
eighth-grader Emma Fahning 13 for 13 and Schmitt 12 for 12. Schmitt, senior defensive specialist Rachel
Eckert, and senior middle hitter Kaylene Seurer each contributed two aces to
lead the Tigers.
Meanwhile,
Eckert and Fahning lead the way with 21 and 18 receptions, respectively. Senior left-side hitter Emily Nelson added 10
receptions and also had a team-high five kills with junior right-side hitter
Lexi Wenskaug totaling four and Fahning, Seurer, senior right-side hitter
Courtney Johnson, and eighth-grade left-side hitter Makenzie Hesse chipping in
with three apiece.
Seurer led
FHS with three blocks as the Tiger had just nine for the entire match. Schmitt
had a team-high of six digs while Eckert, Fahning, and Mia Johnston all had
five of Farmington's 27 digs.
"We
were fortunate to have a quality group of seniors," added Woody. "With all the injuries we had to deal
with, I couldn't be more proud of our girls. They really went down fighting in
the last match."
