Volleyball: Tigers take 6th at Invite

Hitter Makenzie Hesse (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington won two and lost two to place sixth in the annual 16-team Farmington Invitational held Saturday at Tiger Gym.

 "I was very pleased with the day and the week," coach Mike Woody said. "Watching the girls turn around our 2-5 start and finish Saturday at 8-7 on the season made me very proud.

The Tigers experienced a rollercoaster type of day, defeating St. Charles 25-18, 25-23 in their opener before losing 19-25, 15-25 to Owatonna in the quarterfinals.

Farmington won its first contest in the consolation bracket, 25-21, 25-22 over Bloomington Kennedy, and then fell 19-25, 10-25 to Delano in the fifth place match.

In the tourney opener, Emma Fahning led the way with nine kills, 11 digs and eight serve receptions. Rachel Eckert had a team-high 19 serve receptions and also added seven digs. Mia Johnston and Ruthie Schmitt topped the team charts in assists with 11 and seven respectively. Kaylene Seurer added four blocks and Schmitt had a trio of service aces.

Schmitt had a team-best 10 kills in the loss to Owatonna while Eckert led in both serve receptions (19) and digs (6). Johnston and Schmitt tied for the lead in assists with seven apiece. Kelsey Lindell blocked three shots and Johnston served up a pair of aces.

Fahning put together another solid match in the win over Kennedy, finishing with 11 kills, 10 digs and eight serve receptions. Summer Skokan was tops in serve receptions with 13 and second in digs with 10. Johnston led in assists with 11; Lexie Wenskaug added seven. Schmitt and Seurer each had three blocks.

Summer Skokan serves up a winner (photo by Jim Lindquist)

In the finale, Makenzie Hesse tied Schmitt for the lead in kills with six and also finished with a team-high six digs. Fahning recorded 19 serve receptions while Eckert had 10. Schmitt and Johnston led in assists with eight and seven respectively.

With their eight wins this season the Tiger have already surpassed last year's output where they finished 7-20.

"I continue to see my senior class compete more and more every match," Woody said, "and Emma Fahning continues to impress leading us in hitting and digs most of the time.

"We believe now that we can play with good teams. Once we start to believe that we can beat them, we just might become a force to be reckoned with."

Farmington resumes regular season play Tuesday with a non-conference home match against Section 1AAA rival Rochester Century.