Jaguars unable to rally versus BEA
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NORTHROP - The Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther and Blue Earth Area volleyball programs sought their first victory of the 2026 season on Thursday night. Both teams entered Martin Luther High School with a combined 0-8 record, but only one would add to their win column.
The Buccaneers walked away from the clash with a little more pep in their step. Blue Earth Area's 25-17, 25-18, 25-18 victory snapped its previous five-game losing streak before heading to Fairmont next Tuesday.
It's another loss for head coach TJ Williams and his Jaguars. However, GHEC/T/ML's third consecutive three-set defeat didn't tell the whole story from afar. The home team competed thoroughly from start to finish, even holding a firm lead for most of the final set.
But the result of Thursday boiled down to the Jaguars’ overall inexperience. It's a team that's had to replace last year's talented senior class. Williams knows it will take quite a few games to adjust to the roster turnover.
"I haven't exactly figured out the dynamic of the team yet," Williams said. "What we need in what positions, we're still working that out. It goes back to losing those 12 seniors and having basically all new faces on the court. It makes it tough."
GHEC/T/ML never had an advantage during the first two sets. Blue Earth Area began each set with a handful of points right away and immediately put its opponent behind. Every time the Jaguars took the opening punch, they never gave in. In fact, GHEC/T/ML turned each deficit into just a few points on multiple occasions.
A 11-5 Buccaneers advantage in set one prompted Williams to burn his opening timeout. Blue Earth Area's Hailey Hanson collected a pair of kills to go with a few Cassandra Hagedorn aces. But the Jaguars rallied.
Taking advantage of two Buccaneer missed serves, Lylah Becker finished the mini scoring run with a spike over middle court. 17-14 - advantage Blue Earth Area. But that's the closest the comeback ever got.
The Buccaneers finished their opening set scoring eight of the final 11 points. Samantha Meyer's spike over the right side ended things for good.
Blue Earth Area took another fast and more commanding lead to begin the second set. Hagedorn continued her serving prowess by notching five opening aces, and the Buccaneers had an 8-0 lead.
The lead ballooned to 20-10 after Hagedorn's kill and Addison Barrick's missed serve. Once again, Williams' team didn't stand down easy. Elsy Johnson's ace and a kill from Vienna Thomas started a rally that ultimately cut the disadvantage to 22-17. Blue Earth Area finished the job with two more Hanson spikes. While the result wasn't there again, GHEC/T/ML's continued effort consistently showed.
"The hustle and not giving up," Williams said when asked about what positives he saw. "There have been a few times where we get down in the game, and you can tell a different body language is there. But tonight, even though we were down, they still tried to keep themselves up and win."
GHEC/T/ML played its best volleyball of the contest during the first stretch of set three. With a spike and block from Kyana Thomas to bring the advantage back to 6-5, Williams' team pushed to take an eventual 15-12 lead. A mark that was emphasized after Meredith Miller collected a kill over the net.
"The communication is there," Williams said regarding what his team looks like when playing with rhythm. "We're getting a good pass where we can utilize more than one or two hitters. We can use everyone up there on that front row, which is a big thing. We have a lot of girls who can swing; we just have to be able to get them the ball."
Blue Earth Area fought from this point to the set's end. Averi Blair's spike and another ace, this time from Reese Olson, helped even the score at 15. The Buccaneers scored five more consecutive points after Olson picked up four additional aces. Kyannah Brandt got another service point while the Jaguars’ failure to push the ball back over the net concluded the result
Vienna Thomas led all of GHEC/T/ML with three kills. Kyana Thomas, Willow Singleton and Becker each had two. Singleton collected an additional 14 digs and two aces. Barrick had nine digs.
Another defeat for the Jaguars isn't what Williams wants to see. But the progress he's seeing with the team is visible. The goal right now is to continue stacking that progress as the season moves forward.
"Obviously, we are not where we want to be yet, which is fine," Williams said. "We're working towards the bigger picture at the end of the season. We need to find what we need by that time. It might take us a while, but as long as we get there by playoffs, that's where we need to start clicking."