Sports from the week of August 31, 2005

Panthers edge MCC in opener

The defending Class AA volleyball champion Panthers opened the 2005 season with a narrow win over the MCC Rebels at Slayton Monday night. Game scores were 25-21, 18-25, 22-25, 26-24 and 17-15.

“The match was quite ragged, a typical first match of the season,” said Beth Lanoue, Panther Assistant Coach. “They gave us a window of opportunity in the fourth game when we were down 16-20 and we took advantage and built momentum that carried over into the fifth game. They are a good team that has played together for three years and they have a pair of outstanding players in Rachel Christiansen and Danielle Gengler.”

The Panthers took the first game 25-21 but the Rebels came right back and took the second and third game convincingly by scores of 18-25 and 22-25. The Panthers had their backs to the wall, down 16-20 in the fourth game when Rachel Gervais served five straight points to give T/M/B the lead at 21-20.

Christiansen put up three points to keep the Rebels in the game but each time Emily Miller came through and her kill, that found the line gave T/M/B the lead at 25-24. Gervais then got the kill to win the game and tie the match.

Game five saw the lead go back and forth. T/M/B got up 4-0 but the Rebels came back to assume the lead at 11-8 and worked to match point on Christensen’s tip at 15-14 but a net serve tied the score. On the next point one of the line judges, from the opposite side, awarded the point to MCC on a ball that was hit long by the Rebels by claiming a brush. The officials overruled the call and gave the point to T/M/B. Another hitting error by the Rebels gave the Panthers the game and match.

Emily Miller led the offense with 12 kills and Rachel Gervais had 6. Miller had 7 blocks (3 solo) and Gervais had 5. The Rebels’ Christensen had 16 kills and Gengler 9. Miller was 12 of 14 serving with 3 aces and Gervais had 5 aces. Miller also led the defense with 11 digs while Sarah Fritz had 6. Krysta Tholen had 25 set assists.

"We didn’t earn the win," said Panther Coach Katie Gervais. "But when they gave us the window of opportunity we took advantage of it. We also had fewer ups and downs in that fifth game."

Murray County Central won the B squad match 3-0 with game scores of 8-25, 14-25 and 14-16.

The Panther volleyball team will be at Marshall Thursday night. Their first home match is Thursday, Sept. 15 when the Windom Eagles come to town.

Milroy still unbeaten in State baseball tourney

The Milroy Yankees are one of four unbeaten teams in the Class C state amateur baseball tournament.

Milroy won twice last weekend, 1-0 over Granite Falls and 4-3 over Maple Plain in 12 innings, to stay in the winners’ bracket. Andrew VanLoy pitched 8 1/3 shutout innings for the Yankees against Granite Falls with Nathan Deutz coming on in the ninth to get the save. Andy Schmidt drove in the winning run in the top of the ninth.

In Sunday’s game against Maple Plain, Nathan Deutz, Ryan Rohlik and Jacob Mertz combined to hold Maple Plain to 3 runs on 12 hits over the 12 innings. In the last of the 12th inning, with the score tied at 3-3, VanLoy led off with a double, was sacrificed to third and scored on Dean Zwach’s single to win the game. It was Milroy’s third straight tournament game without an error.

Milroy 000 000 001 1 9 0

Granite Falls 000 000 000 0 6 1

Maple Plain 000 100 101 000 3 12 2

Milroy 000 020 100 001 4 15 0

The Yankees will now play Holdingford on Friday at 5 p.m. in Hutchinson.

Grid opener Thursday

The Panther football team engaged in a practice scrimmage with Windom, Sleepy Eye St Marys and Red Rock Central last Saturday with mixed results.

“We did all right but made a lot of mental errors,” said Quarterback Kyle McIntire.

“We made a lot of mistakes and I know we can do better,” said Center David Schiller.

“We did not do very well but I still believe we have the potential to do better,” said Assistant Coach Derek Flann.

All agreed that Windom had the best team of the four teams in the scrimmage combining good size and good skills. Tracy/Milroy/Balaton opens the 2005 season against Canby at Tracy Thursday evening. “We sure do not want to lose to Canby,” said Erik Frisvold.

“I think it was a wake-up call for the kids,” said Panther Coach Randy McIntire. “The players were much more intense at practice on Monday than they had been.”

The players expected to do much of the playing on defense Thursday are: Kyle McIntire, cornerback; Chris Swenson, linebacker; Derek Daniels, linebacker; Cody Arnold, linebacker; Drew Nelson, corner back; Travis Cambronne, defensive tackle; David Schiller, line backer; Derrick Vandromme, defensive tackle; Sean Fox, defensive end; Gary Knott, safety; Paul Carlson, defensive end.

On offense the players will be: Tristan Larson, quarterback; Derek Daniels, tight end; Seth Swan, running back; Drew Nelson, wide receiver; Travis Cambronne, running back; David Schiller, center; Ryan Thooft, guard; Dan Malmberg, guard; Derrick Vandromme, tackle; Sean Fox, tackle; Paul Carlson, tight end; Matt Bauer, kicker.

Game time is 7 p.m.