By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Frazee Hornets wrapped up their season last week with a thrilling 3-2 win over ninth seeded Roseau, before falling to top seeded Barnesville in the quarterfinals of the section tournament.

The loss ends the Hornets season with a record of 17-9 overall and 5-3 in the always competitive Heart O’ Lakes Conference. 

Wednesday

The eight seeded Hornets hosted the ninth seeded Roseau Rams on Wednesday night in an extremely competitive opening round match up. 

After falling behind 2-0 after the opening two sets of the night by scores of 25-21, 25-20, the Hornets were able to get back in the win column by securing a 25-14 win in the third game to avoid an opening round sweep and force a fourth game. From there on out the match between the Rams and the Hornets kept the fans on the edge of their seats as Frazee charged back to win the fourth game by a score of 26-24 to tie the match up at two games apiece.

Down to the fifth and final game, the two teams played point-for-point with extra points needed once again. The Hornets came out on top by a score of 16-14 to advance to the quarterfinals of the section tournament. 

Frazee was led by junior Ruby Eckert who had a solid night on the floor as she led the team with 27 kills on .306 hitting, while  also leading the way with 27 digs. Ella Ullrich and Jordan Nelson each finished with 21 assists apiece, while Nevaeh Wirth finished with 17 digs, Nelson finished with 15 digs and Kaija Aschnewitz also reached double figures with 12 digs. 

Kills – R. Eckert (.306) 27; A. Aschnewitz 8, N. Wirth 5, M. Blaine 4, L. Schmid 2, E. Ullrich 2

Assists – E. Ullrich 21, J. Nelson 21

Aces – K. Aschnewitz 4, N. Wirth 3, K. Courneya 3, J. Nelson 1, R. Eckert 1

Digs – R. Eckert 27,  N. Wirth 19, J. Nelson 17, K. Aschnewitz 15, E. Ullrich 12, A. Aschnewitz 9, K. Courneya 8

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

Solo Blocks – R. Eckert 2

Friday

Frazee was unable to keep the momentum they had going from Wednesday’s thrilling win over Roseau as they fell to top seeded Barnesville 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the section tournament. The Trojans won all three matches 25-11, 25-12 and 25-10 to come away with the sweep.

Ruby Eckert led the way with 10 kills and 21 digs, while Jordan Nelson finished with a team-high eight assists. Katie Courneya finished with 16 digs and Nevaeh Wirth also reached double figures with 10 digs of her own. 

The loss ends the Hornets season with a record of 17-9 overall.

With the win the Trojans will take on fifth seeded Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and second seeded Thief River Falls will take on third seeded East Grand Forks in the other Section 8AA semifinal game. 

Kills  – R. Eckert 10, L. Schmid 3, N. Wirth 3, B. O’Hara 1, E. Ullrich 1, M. Blaine 1

Assists – J. Nelson 8, E. Ullrich 7

Digs – R. Eckert 21, K. Courneya 16, N. Wirth 10, A. Aschnewitz 6, K. Aschnewitz 5, E. Ullrich 5, B. O’Hara 4

Block Assists – B. O’Hara 3, R. Eckert 2, N. Wirth 1