Volleyball: A first division goal

Ruthie Schmitt moving to setter (photo by J. Lindquist)

Veteran Tiger coach Mike Woody likes what he has seen in early practice sessions and is hoping the return of six letterwinners and a ball-control, defensive-minded game plan will help improve on last fall's 14-15 record.

"We see ourselves in the top half of the Missota Conference and a top-six team in the section," Woody said. "We are excited about the upcoming season."

Four of the six returnees are upperclassmen:senior middle hitter Morgan Cecchittini, senior setter Ruthie Schmitt, senior defensive specialist Diana Comes and junior outside hitter Summer Skokan.

Cecchittini missed much of last a season with an injury and Schmitt is moving into the setter slot from last year's role as a multiple-position player.

The other two returning players with varsity experience are freshmen Emma Fahning and McKenzie Hesse. Fahning was an all-purpose performer as an eighth-grader last fall, leading the team in several statistical categories. Hesse provided a powerful offensive game after moving up the varsity later in the 2012 season.

"They (Fahning and Hesse) might only be freshmen but they are going to be the foundation of what I believe will put us in the top half of the conference," Woody said.

Newcomers expected to vie for varsity court time include  junior middle hitter Vanessa Garke and junior setter/defensive specialist Hanna Baer.

Emma Fahning statistical leader last year (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Woody says ball control and strong defensive play figure to be the keys to success for the season ahead.

"Teams should struggle to put the ball away against us," he said.

Shakopee and Chaska both return veteran lineups and according to Woody should once again be the class of the Missota Conference. Section 1 pre-season favorites include Owatonna and Winona of the Big Nine Conference.

Troy Hedtke joins veterans Jon Ostgaard and Kelly Amie as varsity assistant coaches for the 2013 season.

The Tigers play Thursday night with a non-conference home match against Austin at Tiger Gym.

Girls Soccer: New coach; same goal

All-stater Isabelle Ferm moves the ball upfield during a pre-season scrimmage

First year coach Tracie Randall takes the reins of the Tiger program this fall and she expects no drop off from last year when Farmington set a school record for wins (12) while advancing to the finals of the Section 1AA tournament.

"We definitely have another shot at the section championship," Randall said, "with our goal to advance to the state tournament."

The Tigers return two players who won state-wide recognition last fall: midfielder Isabelle Ferm who made the first all-state squad and goalkeeper Ashley Becker who received honorable mention.

Ferm and  Becker lead a a long list of veteran players returning from last year's section runner-ups, including seniors Kelli Elmer, Kelly Kornmann, Kayla Kucala, Hannah Miller, Kenya Macias and Marissa Muelken and juniors Kali Allard, Destiny Schmitz, Nicole Doran. Megan Graham and Sarah Zak.

Ferm,, Becker and Kucala were all-Missota Conference selections in 2012 while Miller received all-league honorable mention.

Three ninth-graders-Lea Kiage, Shannon McKnight and Morgan Reigner- along with senior newcomer Kaitlin LaCroix also figure to battle for varsity playing time this fall.

 

Randall said defense and goaltending (Becker posted 10 shutouts last year) should be two of her team's strongest assets.

"Hopefully we won't see much scoring in our end of the field," she said. "That plus we are strong in the middle and have powerful attackers in front...We are very team-oriented and our chemistry is unbreakable."

 

Ashley Becker 10 shutouts in 2012 (photo by J. Lindquist)

The first-year coach said that in the early going she expects her team to take some time to adjust to its new 4-3-3 offense and for younger players to get used to playing on the synthetic turf of Tiger Stadium.

Randall predicted Northfield could supply a stiff challenge in her team's run for Missota Conference honors with defending champion Lakeville North and Owatonna the primary obstacles to a first-ever trip to state.

Linda Crawford returns as B-squad coach with two new faces filling the other two high school assistant positions: Jennifer Gerwin (JV) and Kim Hall (ninth grade). Tiger baseball coach Jon Graff will coach the middle school team.

The Tigers kick off their 2013 season this Friday and Saturday with an appearance in the four-team Prior Lake Invitational tournament.

 

 

 

 

 

Girls Tennis: Tigers runner-up at Mound Doubles

Beth (above) and Lindsey Fairchild (below) went 2-0 at Mound Doubles Invite

Lindsey Fairchild (photo by J. Lindquist)

Farmington came within a point of defending its Mounds Doubles Invitational title, falling to Mound-Westonka 9-8 for the top spot. The third team in the mix, Bloomington Kennedy, scored one point.

The unique format featured doubles play in six flights with each team going up against the other two. The Tigers swept Kennedy 6-0 but went 2-4 against Mound.

"Fittingly it came down to the final match on the the court where we lost a tight 4-6, 4-6 match," Farmington coach Jack Olwell said.

Two Tiger tandems finished the day unbeaten to account for half of Farmington's pint total. Lindsey and Beth Fairchild went a perfect 2-0 in the second flight as did Molly Rudorfer and Kayle Rees at the No. 4 slot.

The other four Tiger pairings each finished 1-1; No. 1 Megan Stivers and Ryan Jara; No. 3 Callie Olmscheid and Jessie Novotny; No. 5 Sam Gallagher and Hannah Toomey and No. 6 Becky Genzler and Bridget Lensing.

"Of the five sudden games with Mound, they won four of them," Olwell said, "and that was more than enough to close the deal...Still, it was exciting and our level of play was high and our strokes crisp."

The Tigers open dual meet play Wednesday with a road match with Bloomington Jefferson followed by a dual at Faribault on Thursday. Friday they host a four-team tournament at the Boeckman Middle School courts.

Girls Swimming: Stong senior class buoy hopes

Kaitlyn O'Reilly all-state in two events in 2012 (photo by Jim Lindquist)

With 24 letterwinners returning from a team that finished third in the Missota Conference and fourth at the Section 1AA Championships last year, Tiger coach Jen Marshall feels she has the personnel for another successful season.

"Chanhassen and Northfield didn't lose many people from last year and the conference should look much the same," she said. "We are also looking at a top three finish in Section 1AA."

Ten of the 24 returning swimmers and divers are from a strong senior class and include Katie Aaron, Nikki Cayard, Sydney Geiger, Chloe Holton, Abby Kampa, Sara Kintner, Courtney L'Heureux, Kaitlyn O'Reilly, Cora Ruzicka and Hannah Seitzinger.

O'Reilly will be wrapping up a brilliant career that already includes three straight trips to the state meet. Last fall she earned all-state honors in both the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.

"Her goal is to be state champion in the IM," Marshall said, "and I believe she will put the work in to attain it. November is a long way off and lots of things can happen between now and then."

Cora Ruzicka swam in two relays at state last season (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Ruzicka also competed in the state meet last season, swimming a leg on both the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.

Underclassmen returning include juniors Katie King, Kirsten Kracke, Kendall Novak, Ellie Sundet and Hanna Sundt; sophomores Kaylee Dahlberg, Chelsea Gehrke, Emily Ley and Tori Sontag; freshman Emily Krook and eighth-graders Lexie Bray, Caroline Cummings, Catherine Gehrke and Grace Roach.

Kracke swam on two relay teams at state last season where she also tied for 18th in the 100 freestyle.

"Kirsten is looking to qualify for state in one, if not two, individual events," Marshall said."I expect her to make the finals after the experience she gained there last year.

"We would also like to get two relay teams back to state. Which two have yet to be determined."

Kirsten Kracke finished 18th in 100 freestyle at state (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Newcomers expected to push the returnees for varsity positions, include freshmen Katie Anderson, Allison Kjellberg and Paige LeTourneau and eighth-graders Amanda Cavanaugh, Shannon Newman and Jessi Witherill.

Marshall said she especially likes this year's team's leadership, work ethic and camaraderie and is hoping those attributes will translate to success in the water.

Chanhassen and Northfield were Marshall's pre-season picks to lead the chase for Missota Conference honors with Rochester John Marshall and Hastings likely to battle it out for the Section 1AA title.

Former Tiger standout Joe Velaski returns as varsity assistant coach with John Tegg working with the
Tiger divers. Boys' varsity coach Ryan Hamen will work with the middle school team.

The Tigers open their 2013 season next Friday when they travel to Northfield for the annual Missota Conference Relays.

Girls Tennis: Hopes running high in Tiger camp

MVP Megan Stivers returns at No. 1 singles

With three of the top four players in the singles lineup returning and some interesting doubles possibilities in the making, hopes are running high in the Tigers' pre-season camp.

"We're obviously hoping to improve on last year's win total (5) and to climb a couple of spots in the conference," Olwell said.

"The problem with Section 1AA is that unless you move up significantly, your first round opponent will be a state-ranked team and that usually doesn't bode well for the lower seeded-team."

Based on early practices the singles lineup should feature senior MVP Megan Stivers at the top spot with freshman Ryan Jara holding down the second position. Sophomore Jessie Novotny will start at third singles with sophomore Callie Olmscheid holding down the fourth slot.

The Fairchild twins, sophomores Beth and Lindsey, have been solid in pre-season practices and appear locked in at the No. 1 doubles position. Sophomore Molly Rudorfer, who played singles last season, is moving to doubles where she will likely pair with junior Kaya Rees at No. 2.

The tandem of Hannah Toomey and Sam Gallagher and the duo of Becky Genzler and Alyson Kelly round out the likely doubles lineup.

Molly Rudorfer moving from singles to doubles

Veterans Emily Lathrop, Jordan Smith and Bridget Lensing along with three freshmen, Lizzy Sanders, Olynka Verduzco and Anna Houseal, could also see varsity court time this fall.

"This is the most experienced we have been for some time," Olwell said. "Our singles line-up had a solid record last year and should improve on that...We have new pairings at all three doubles positions so there may be a learning curve as the players learn each other's tendencies. Most are at a higher position than before so getting used to tougher competition could be an issue."

Olwell said perennial powers Shakopee, Northfield and Chanhassen should continue to be the teams to beat in the final year of the Missota Conference. The Rochester schools and Winona lead the field in powerful Section 1AA.

Joe "Doc" Emond returns as Olwell's varsity assistant coach. Brian Engebretson and Jeff Engebretson will work with the middle school program..

"We have a great group who have high expectations and who are putting in the work," Olwell concluded. "I can hardly wait for the season to start."

Olwell doesn't have long to wait as the Tigers open the 2013 campaign Monday, Aug 19, with their annual appearance at the Mound Doubles Invitational.

Ryan Jara set at the No. 2 singles position