CROOKSTON -- For the last two seasons, Lake of the Woods won Minnesota Section 8A volleyball titles on the strength of its two tall middle hitters, 6-foot-2 Ashley Feldman and 6-footer Ali Hasbargen.
The two graduated last spring. And the Bears got a taste of their own medicine in the championship match of the 8A tournament Saturday night.
Win-E-Mac, with four players in its lineup ranging in height from 5-11 to 6-1, won the title by sweeping Lake of the Woods 25-15, 25-19, 25-18. Win-E-Mac will make its first appearance since 1999 at the state tournament, which begins Thursday in St. Paul.
"We've been going against (bigger teams) all year and we didn't have a bad year," said Lake of the Woods coach Jim Magnusen. "But their size was a big factor tonight. It took us out of our attack some. We had less kills and we had to change our hitting approach some."
Win-E-Mac players had 16 blocks, led by 6-1 junior Olivia Kaster with seven and 6-foot sophomore setter Erica Handley with three.
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"It's huge, a big factor for us all year," Win-E-Mac coach Lynette Kaster said of her team's height. "We frustrate teams. They can't attack like they normally do. Our girls are tall; that definitely helps. But they work at their blocking. They have good timing."
Just as there was balance in the blocking, so was there in the hitting for the Patriots.
Shelby Kaster had eight kills to lead the way, followed by Kynndyl Ross with seven and Korbyn Ross with four.
"That balance has been a key for us all season," Lynette Kaster said. "We're very tough to defend. We run a fast offense, so defenses don't know where the ball will go. And it's that height again."
Win-E-Mac, after controlling the first game, struggled early in the second. The teams were tied 9-9 and Win-E-Mac held an 11-10 lead before going on a 6-0 run sparked by a pair of kills by 5-11 freshman Shelby Kaster.
Lake of the Woods never regained the lead in the game. After the teams jockeyed for points to start the third, a Kynndyl Ross kill started a 5-0 run, with the 6-foot senior also getting a service ace and floating a kill from the back row in the spurt. Lake of the Woods never regained the lead. Win-E-Mac closed on a 12-7 run, with Olivia Kaster's block finishing off the match.
"I think we got a little tentative at the start of the second game," Lynette Kaster said. "We have some young girls playing. A lot of them haven't been through this experience.
"But that run (in the second game) got the momentum back. We had some aggressive play in it, and we maintained that aggressiveness the rest of the way."
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Shelby Nosan, the lone returning regular hitter from last season's Lake of the Woods team, paced the Bears with eight kills.
