K-M volleyball downs Byron, heads to state

ROCHESTER — A classic volleyball match occurred last Saturday, Nov. 5, in the Section 1AAA championship round at Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center. Friendly foes Kasson-Mantorville and Byron met-up for a hard-fought battle, with a trip to the state tournament at stake.

After five grueling sets, the No. 1 Lady KoMets (24-8) claimed victory over the No. 3 Lady Bears (19-9), in a true contest of highly talented and determined young athletes. It’s just a shame that both teams couldn’t have been awarded a state berth.

Kasson-Mantorville again heads to the state tournament, marking the second time in as many years that the KoMets are big-dance bound.

Ella Babcock scored the first point of the game for Kasson-Mantorville and that ignited the offense early. The Bears pulled the set within one, 18-17, before K-M went on a 7-0 run to win the first set. Gartner closed out the second set with two kills, and the Bears tied the game at one set each.

The third set again began with a Babcock kill, but Fjerstad responded with three kills in a row, to give the Bears a 6-5 lead. K-M continued to fight and tied the set at 7. Byron went on an 8-1 run, but the KoMets scored twice, putting Byron’s lead at 16-11. Both teams traded points, but Byron kept a five-point lead. The KoMets made it interesting at set point, but the Bears won the third set by 9.

For the first time all game, Byron secured the first point of the fourth set, and the offense continued to click, going up 4-1 on K-M. The set was a ping-pong-like skirmish, tied at 24 and 25, before a bad pass by Fjerstad sealed a 27-25 K-M set win. From a battle to an all-out war, set five saw the KoMets best the Bears, 15-12, on a Byron defensive miscue. Set scores were 25-17, 14-25, 16-25, 27-25, and 15-12.

Kasson-Mantorville: Abby Distad, 34 assists; Whitney Deno, 15 kills, 24 digs, 2 blocks, 3 aces; Ella Babcock, 9 kills, 9 digs; Ellie Ask, 8 kills, 6 digs; Sophia Sutton, 4 kills, 3 blocks; Aryss McAdams, 21 digs; Adi Kelley, 2 aces, 4 digs. (Byron stats were unavailable).