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| Coach Mike Woody (photo by J. Lindquist) |
Farmington (19-11) who has won eight of its last 11 matches will get back on the bus Thursday night and head to Rochester to take on top-seeded Mayo.
Tiger coach Mike Woody said his team would have to find a way to win the close games if it was to defeat the Tigers of Albert Lea and it did exactly that.
"We did everything we needed to win," Woody said. We passed well and were aggressive on offense and with our serves... and we didn't panic after losing a close game one.
"It was fun to see the girls be the aggressors down the stretch in games two, three and four..."
Albert Lea used a 6-3 closing run for a 25-22 win in game one before the visitors rallied to win the next three by scores of 22-19, 25-22 and 25-21.
Farmington held a comfortable 20-10 lead in game two but had to dominate play down the stretch to prevail in games three and four.
The Tigers closed out game three on s 7-3 spurt and then broke a 20-20 tie in the finale with a 5-1 closing burst.
Kenzie Hesse had a huge offensive day for the winners with a 25-kill performance. Emma Fahning added 13 kills and also recorded a half dozen service aces.
Setter Ruthie Schmitt spread the ball around the court and tallied 35 set assists for the four-game set.
Defensively, Fahning led in digs with 15. Schmitt added 11 and Hesse and libero Diana Comes each came up with nine.
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| Kenzie Hesse (right) and Emma Fahning combined for 38 kills (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
Thursday's contest with Mayo (22-4), a 3-1 winner over Winona in the quarterfinals, is a rematch of a regular season get-together that saw the Spartans post a 3-1 victory at Tiger Gym.
"The girls approached last week with an air of confidence about them," Woody said. "This seemed to continue on the bus when they received the news about their Thursday night opponent. They verbalized their belief that they can beat Mayo and felt they should have in September."
