Hornets take defending champion Nuggets to four games

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Frazee Hornets had the defending state champion Hawley Nuggets on their heels on Thursday night as the Hornets did something just three other teams have done so far this season—won a game against the Nuggets. 

After taking the first game by a score of 25-22, Frazee was in the drivers seat of their Heart O’ Lakes Conference match up before the Nuggets were able to storm back and hand the Hornets a 3-1 loss. 

The loss dropped the Hornets to 10-2 overall and 1-1 in the Heart O’ Lakes Conference. 

This week the Hornets will be a busy one on the court as they traveled to Mahnomen/Waubun on Monday, Park Rapids on Tuesday and host Staples-Motley on Thursday. On Saturday Frazee will make the trek to Barnesville for the Barnesville Tournament. 

Frazee will play in its fifth game in eight days next Monday when they host Battle Lake, before getting a few days off from competition.

Tuesday

The Frazee Hornets were on the offensive on Tuesday night as they defeated Rothsay 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-16) in non-conference action. The win was the eighth sweep of the season for the Hornets as they improved to 10-1 overall.

Aynslee Johannsen led a balanced scoring attack with seven kills, while Brynn Larson finished with six and Ruby Eckert chipped in with five. 

Analise Olson led the way with 17 assists, while Jayden Sonnenberg finished with a team-high four aces. In all, the Hornets finished with 10 aces in the three game match.

On the defensive end, Eckert once again led the way for the Hornets with 10 digs.

Kills- A. Johannsen 7, B. Larson 6, R. Eckert 5, J. Sonnenberg 3, M. Wacker 2, A. Bristlin 2

Assists- A. Olson 17, B. Larson 8

Aces- J. Sonnenberg 4, R. Eckert 3, K. Aschnewitz 2, B. Larson 1, R. Stock 1

Digs – R. Eckert 10, B. Larson, A. Olson 6, K. Courneya 6, M. Wacker 4, K. Aschnewitz 3, A. Bristlin 3, A. Johannsen 2J. Sonnenberg 1, R. Stock 1

Solo Blocks- J. Sonnenberg 1, A. Johannsen 1, R. Eckert 1

Block Assists- A. Johannsen 2, B. Larson 1, J. Sonnenberg 1, R. Eckert 1, A. Bristlin 1

Thursday

For just the fourth time all season a team won a set against the defending state champion and previously undefeated Hawley. It just so happened that the Hornets won the first game 25-22 and actually led the Nuggets early in their Heart O’ Lakes Conference match up. Coming into the match the only other sets the Nuggets have lost this season came at the hands of Breckenridge, Ada-Borup West and Thief River Falls. 

Unfortunately, the Nuggets took over the match and went on to win the next three games (25-12, 25-15, 25-15) to come away with the 3-1 win. 

Brynn Larson, Ruby Eckert and Aynslee Johannsen led a three-headed attack offensively as they finished with nine, eight and seven kills apiece. Analise Olson and Brynn Larson remained busy throughout the match with 15 and 10 assists, while Eckert finished with a team-high 19 digs on defense. 

Kills- B. Larson 9, R. Eckert 8, A. Johannsen 7, J. Sonnenberg 4, A. Bristlin 3, M. Wacker 1, K. Courneya 1

Assists- A. Olson 15, B. Larson 10

Aces- J. Sonnenberg 2, B. Larson 1, K. Courneya 1

Digs- R. Eckert 19, K. Courneya 10, B. Larson 9, A. Olson 9, J. Sonnenberg 7, K. Aschnewitz 6, L. Moore 2, A. Bristlin 2

Solo Block- A. Johannsen  1

Block Assists – J. Sonnenberg 3, L. Moore 1, R. Eckert 1, A. Bristlin 1