By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Frazee Hornets picked up four more important wins, including a sweep over Staples-Motley in the Heart O’ Lakes Conference, as the team gears up for the final two weeks of regular season action.

On Tuesday night the Hornets swept the Sebeka Trojans 3-0, before picking up another 3-0 sweep two nights later against Staples-Motley. 

On Saturday the Hornets went 2-2 in the annual Barnesville Tournament as they defeated both Battle Lake and Menahga 2-0, while falling to both Fertile-Beltrami and Breckenridge by an identical 2-0 score. 

Barnesville won the tournament with a record of 4-0, while Breckenridge went 3-1 to capture second place. Fertile-Beltrami finished in third place with a 2-2 record and the Hornets finished in fourth place out of the seven team tournament with a record of 2-2.

After a lengthy road trip of late, the Hornets will return home on Tuesday night when they host Park Rapids Area in HOL action, before traveling to the defending state champion Hawley Nuggets on Thursday for another conference match up. The Hornets are currently 11-7 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

Tuesday

The Frazee Hornets were able to control the tempo from the opening tip as they came away with a 3-0 sweep over Sebeka on Tuesday night. The Hornets won the opening game by a score of 25-14, before continuing their pressure on the offensive end of the court by securing a 25-17 and 25-18 win to complete the sweep.

Maggie Blaine had a solid night from the floor as she finished with nine kills and had a hitting efficiency of .571. She finished with just one error in 14 attempts.

Ruby Eckert continued her solid junior season with another double-double with a team-high 17 kills to go along with 19 digs. 

Jordan Nelson the team with 19 assists, while Ella Ullrich chipped in with 16 and Nevaeh Wirth, Katie Courneya and Nelson all reached double figures with 10 digs in the win. 

Kills – 17 – R. Eckert (.233) 17; 9 – M. Blaine (.571) 9; L. Schmid (.227) 8; N. Wirth (.333)5 ; B. O’Hara 4; A. Aschnewitz 2

Assists – J. Nelson 19; E. Ullrich 16

Aces – E. Ullrich 4; K. Courneya 2, K. Aschnewitz 2; R. Eckert 1

Digs – R. Eckert 20; N. Wirth 19; K. Courneya 10, J. Nelson; E. Ullrich 9; K. Aschnewitz 6

Block Assists – R. Eckert 2, N. Wirth 2; B. O’Hara 1, L. Schmid 1, A. Aschnewitz 1, M. Blaine 1

Thursday

Ruby Eckert continued her impressive double-double streak as the junior finished with a team-high 17 kills with a hitting efficiency of .577 and a team-high 13 digs as the Hornets swept the Staples-Motley Cardinals 3-0 on Thursday night. Eckert finished with just two errors on 26 hitting attempts on the night, while Ella Ullrich and Jordan Nelson once again had a solid night setting up the Frazee hitters as they finished with 18 and 12 assists respectively. 

The Hornets were able to take the first game by a score of 25-18, before winning by a near-identical score of 25-19 in the second game. Frazee was able to complete the sweep by winning the third game by a score of 25-15 to improve to 3-2 in the conference this season. 

Kills – R. Eckert (.577) 17; B. O’Hara (.455) 5; L. Schmid 4; M. Blaine (.750) 3; N. Wirth; J. Nelson 2, A. Aschnewitz 2

Assists – E. Ullrich 18; J. Nelson 12

Aces – E. Ullrich 3; K. Courneya 2; N. Wirth 1, K. Aschnewitz 1

Digs – R. Eckert 13; E. Ullrich 8; K. Aschnewitz 7; K. Courneya 6; N. Wirth 5

Block Assists – N. Wirth 5; B. O’Hara 3; L. Schmid 2, M. Blaine 2; R. Eckert 1, A. Aschnewitz 1