Girls Tennis: Short on wins but long on improvement

On the basis of wins and losses, the 2010 season wasn't one for the time capsule but veteran coach Jack Olwell said despite his team's 0-13 dual meet record (0-7 in the Missota Conference), it did not lack for accomplishment.
"We improved greatly from the start of the season to the finish," he said. "Even though we lost early in the section tournament, the girls hit their peak at that time.
"I was most pleased that our effort did not flag during the losing streak. It has been said that character is best defined as the willingness to fulfill commitment after the desire has faded. I don't know if the desire diminished but the effort certainly didn't."
Thirteen players received varsity letters at the post-season awards banquet, including six seniors: captains Danielle Froehling, Brianna Kashak and Emilee Shearer, Lucy Gentilini, Mila Jacobson and Sam Leighton.
"I hope the seniors realize that they provided the coaches a very special experience," Olwell said. "More importantly, they have set a wonderful example for the younger players."
Underclasssmen earning letters included juniors Jessica Autey, Katie Burgess, Meghan Lindstrom, Rachel Molitor and Maggie Rudorfer; sophomore Melanie Kappes and freshman Megan Stivers.
Rudorfer, who occupied the No. 1 singles position all season, won the team's Most Valuable Player award and also received all-Missota Conference honorable mention. Lindstrom, who had the best individual record, took home the Player of the Year award.
"We had 34 players who demonstrated a growing love for the game," Olwell said, "and the team formed a strong bond as the season progressed."
The Tiger coach said he was obviously disappointed with the lack of victories but added that some of the circumstances were out of his players' control.
"The season was a little like running a race in which your opponents have a head start and it was too great to overcome in the time allowed," he said. "We ran hard and closed the gap but couldn't overtake them."
The Tigers have not won a Missota Conference dual meet since the 2008 season and Olwell said that in order for that to change, players here need to start playing competitively at a younger age.
"Most of the teams we play have their key players who have been under the watchful eye of a professional for years." he said. "They have seventh and eighth graders who have played in section and state tournaments.
"In Farmington we develop players on our own courts, usually starting in middle school. That helps account for the head start we concede to our opponents."
To help even the playing surface, Olwell advocates starting players at a younger age, at least in elementary school. Until that process evolves and begins to produce results, however, the Tiger coach said there is much to be learned from the game, regardless of the win-loss numbers.
"There are so many life lessons to be learned," he said. "Sacrificing for other team members, dealing with adversity and handling both success and disappointment with maturity are things we all want our kids to learn.
"Ultimately the journey toward that end includes striving for one's best effort and best performance against the obstacles that face you."

Boys Soccer: A step forward

Last fall first-year coach Julian Buss inherited an inexperienced and undermanned squad that finished the season with four wins. This fall the win total went up by 50 percent.
The Tigers posted a 6-11 record, going 3-4 in Missota Conference play and tying for fourth place in the league standings.
"Last year we beat three teams and this year we beat six," Buss said. "We had increased participation numbers and got great leadership from our captains. Our parent leadership was also outstanding.
"We played some of the best teams in the state and were competitive. I feel our program is becoming competitive with every team we play."
Buss awarded 17 varsity letters to team members this fall, including six seniors: Aaron Dahl, Elijah Kierski, Mike Moser, Christian Thao, Justen Thelen and Zach Wyatt.
Other letterwinners included juniors Chad Stivers, Brandon Scott, Mike Ricker, Sam Leske and Cole Landwehr; sophomores Reid Wolfe and Tyler Petter-McCauley and freshmen Jared Holt, Blake Smith, Hunter Meyers and Jeff Hanson.
Junior Tyler Vue, a starting defender last season, was injured during the pre-season, and did not play. Buss expects to have him back in the lineup next fall.
Elsa Saari and Nikki Websters served as team managers this fall.
Thelen (8 goals, 6 assists) and Leske (3 goals, 2 assists) landed spots on the all-Missota Conference team. Thao (2 goals, 1 assist) and goalie Stivers received honorable mention.
Stivers, whose 157 saves tied for eighth in the state, won the team's Most Valuable Player honor while newcomer Wyatt took home the Most Improved Player award. Smith and Hanson shared the Rookie of the Year award.
Buss pointed to his team's 2-0 start; an exciting 4-3 win over Chaska; the development of Stivers as a goalkeeper and a quality effort against state champion Apple Valley as major highlights of the 2010 Tiger season.
On the downside, he pointed to a six-game losing skid in the middle of the season that included a 3-2 overtime loss to conference champion Chanhassen in which his team led 2-1 with a minute left in regulation.
"We also lost a tough overtime game to Winona and didn't play well in losses to Northfield and Park," Buss said.
Buss has named Leske, Scott and Stivers as tri-captains for the 2011 season and said the trio will have to work hard to provide the leadership provided by departed senior captains Thelen and Thao.
"Justen was a great goal scorer but he was also very unselfish," he said. "He has what it takes to play at a higher level.
"Christian is an outstanding soccer player with outstanding character. He was an amazing resource in terms of knowledge and skill. He made the players around him better."
Buss said he hopes to add a fourth level of competition either next year or in 2012 while continuing to add to participation numbers.
"We've also scheduled more games against section teams so we have a better chance to move up in the seedings for the section tournament," he said.
"I'm looking forward to next year. We'll be returning quite a few strong soccer players."

Girls Soccer: Another winning season

For the second straight season the Tigers put together a winning record, finishing 9-8-1 overall and 4-2-1 in Missota Conference play. Their league record and third place finish stand as school records.
Rob Carpentier has been head coach for the last two years and although he is pleased that his teams own the only winning seasons in school history, he said he could only speculate how much better things could have been had the injury bug not struck his team with a vengeance.
"We lost 71 player games this season," he said. "In my 17 years of coaching I have never had so many kids out with such crazy injuries. I would love to have seen what this team could have done if it had been healthy."
All in all, Carpentier and his staff awarded 25 varsity letters this season. Of that number, eight were seniors: Devyn Alberts, Laine Trowbridge, Shelby Calhoun, Elena Koch, Liz Gallus, Bree Brower, Amber Johnson and Janine Miller.
Junior monogram winners included Ashley Kimmel, Kelli Harstad, Sammie Johnoff, Natalee Chromy, Tia Jacoby, Taylor Meyer, Alyssa Parco, Gabby White and Rachel Beck.
Sophomores Leah Zak, Nadia Lorencz, Grace Gavin, Alex Frost and Kelsy Humpfer and freshmen Kayla Kucala, Kelly Kormann and Hannah Miller also picked up letters.
Captain Alberts who finished with team-highs in goals (10) and assists (10) received unprecedented post-season recognition. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit made the all-state and all-metro teams; won the Missota Conference Player of the Year award for the second straight season and earned team Most Outstanding Player honors.
Two other senior captains, Trowbridge (5 goals) and Calhoun (3 goals) made the elite all-Missota Conference team as did goalie Meyer whose 91 percent save percentage garnered her the league's Keeper of the Year award.
Other post-season awards went to Koch and Harstad (all-Missota honorable mention); Lorencz (Most Improved Player); Beck (Rookie of the Year); White (Coach's Award) and Gallus (team captain).
Carpentier said the 2010 campaign was filled with highlights, including a 1-0 win over Park; a 3-2 comeback victory over Sibley on a last-second goal and tying conference champion Shakopee.
"We played the toughest schedule in program history and still tied for most wins in a season with nine," he said.
The spate of injuries led the Tiger coach to sum up the season in two words "unrealized potential."
"We never got blown out against some very good competition," he said. "We lost Hannah Miller in our first scrimmage and then Ashley Kimmel was out for both Northfield and Shakopee, the two teams in front of us in the conference.
"Then Shelby Calhoun and Taylor Myer both missed our playoff game with Rosemount. With those two on the field we would have had a real good shot at a win."
Carpentier called Alberts a "one of a kind" player but added that replacing Calhoun and Trowbridge might present as difficult a challenge next fall.
"They were our engine room and shield for our defense," he said. "If we can adequately replace them, we will be very, very tough next year.
"With the B-squad and junior varsity players moving up we will have one of the fastest teams in the state and that should lead to a great deal of success....barring injuries, of course."
The second year Tiger coach said he couldn't tie a ribbon on the 2010 season until after a final salute to his four senior captains.
"The community should know that I have never been around four people who gave their all for the team and led both in word and action like they did," he said. "For me, it was like having four assistant coaches on the field. Next year's captains have some big shoes to fill."

Alumni Tracker: Rotty part of MIAC championship volleyball team

Kirstee Rotty

During her stellar high school volleyball career 2009 FHS female Athlete of the Year Kirstee Rotty never got to play on a championship team. Despite a couple of 20-win seasons, the Tigers were unable to carve out a Missota Conference title and twice they were stopped in the semifinals of the Section 1AAA tournament.
Rotty, a sophomore defensive specialist for nationally ranked St. Olaf College, can now cross the championship goal off her to-do list. The Oles (27-4), rated 11th in last week's NCAA Division III national poll, tied for the 2010 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) crown with the University of St. Thomas with a 10-1 league mark.
Rotty has played in all 31 matches in her first season with St. Olaf. The former Tiger, who piled up more than 2000 digs in her high school career, ranks second on the Oles team with 337, an average of 2.96 per game.
2009 Tiger graduate Danielle Dombeck, who recorded more than 1000 kills in her high school volleyball career, is a defensive specialist for the North Dakota State University women's team this fall.
Former Tiger Cody Eich ranks as the second leading tackler for the unbeaten University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs who are the No. 1-ranked NCAA Division II football team in the nation. Eich has recorded 31 solo tackles, 18 assists, four pass break-ups and two tackles for a loss and in nine games.
2009 FHS male Athlete of the Year Derek Waldbillig, a sophomore running back at Bethel University, hasn't carried the ball too much (13 carries for 47 yards) in his first season with the Royals but is the team's second leading kickoff returner with 94 yards on seven returns, an average of 13.4 yards per try. Bethel is 7-1 this season and ranked 20th in the most recent NCAA Division III poll.
Former Tigers Wade Fischer and Jimmy Deegan continue to hold down starting lineman positions for William Penn University (7-1), currently 15th in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) rankings. Last week the former Tiger duo helped the Statesmen rack up an astonishing 607 yards rushing in a 70-6 win over Peru State (Nebraska).
Danny Tutewohl of the FHS class of 2009 was the leading tackler for St. Olaf College in its 42-10 win over Hamline last week with four solos and two assists...Another 2009 Tiger grad Drew Schaeppi, a redshirt freshman at Minnesota State, Mankato, has six tackles and two assists for the Mavericks this season.
Ex-Tiger Rachel Harstad is a midfielder on the University of Minnesota-Morris women's soccer team...2007 Tiger grad Erin Johnson has a goal and an assist in eight games for the Bemidji State University women's hockey team.
Former Tiger cheerleader Becca Doll is a senior on the cheerleading squad at St. Norbert's College in Wisconsin. In addition to performing at her school's games, the team also cheers at Green Bay Packer home games.
Former Tiger swimming and diving standouts Katrina Fitzgerald and Kristin Peters are members of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's swim team...Three former FHS swimmers are on the roster of the University of St. Thomas men's squad: Erik Huls, Taylor Trowbridge and Nick Haugen. Huls, a junior, won all-MIAC honors for the Tommies last winter.

Volleyball: Tigers out in section quarterfinals

Jordan Bridges (above) and Katie Habeck

For the first time in four years Farmington won't be playing in the Section 1AAA semifinals.
Missota Conference rival Northfield scored a lopsided win in the first game and then held off a spirited Tiger rally in a 25-6, 25-20, 25-23 win over the defending section champs in a semifinal match played Friday, Oct. 29, in Northfield.
Sixth-seeded Farmington opened post-season play on Wednesday. Oct. 27, with a 25-16, 25-23, 25-13, shutout victory over No. 11 Hastings.
"We really struggled in the first game against Northfield," coach Mike Woody said, "but we bounced back in the next two. They could have gone either way.
"I am very proud of our girls. We were a different team in the section than we were most of the season. We had a very solid and fun week."
In the opening round win over Hastings, all-Missota Conference jack-of-all-trades Katie Habeck led the way.
Offensively, the Tiger senior accounted for 20 of her team's 35 kills and also served for nine points. Defensively, she registered a team-high 18 digs and came up with a dozen serve receptions.
"We were hitting on all cylinders in the first game," Woody said. "We got off to a slow start in game two but came back to play well at the end and carry momentum into game three. It was a great way to finish our home season."
Habeck had plenty of help in the win. Jordan Bridges turned in a solid performance, finishing with six kills and a pair of blocks while serving for a team-high 16 points. Renee MacLean and Mia Johnston served for 14 and 13 points respectively.
Johnston also had a good night distributing the ball, accounting for a team-high 17 assists. Andrea Smith added nine.
In the back row, Brook King continued her quality play, coming up with a team-best 24 serve receptions and ranking second in digs with 15.
The post-season split leaves the Tigers with a final season mark of nine wins and 19 losses.