St. Francis Borgia Tournament Championship
The Borgia Tournament lived up to the field that billing for this year’s event. With Willard and St. Dominic coming in supporting undefeated records and Borgia and Timberland having tough teams, we figured this would be a battle till the…
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Continue ReadingThe Borgia Tournament lived up to the field that billing for this year’s event. With Willard and St. Dominic coming in supporting undefeated records and Borgia and Timberland having tough teams, we figured this would be a battle till the end.
Gold Pool
St. Dominic 5-1 St. Dominic and Timberland split 25-23 St Dominic and Timberland 16-25.
Timberland 4-2 Timberland also lost one to Howell North, dropping them to second in the pool finish.
Howell North 3-3
Washington 0-6
Blue Pool
Borgia 5-1 Borgia and Willard split their match with Borgia taking a 25-21, then Willard winning 30-28.
Willard 5-1
Howell Central 1-5
Troy 1-5
The showdown in the cross pool semifinals set up the matchups I wasn’t expecting but glad I got to see—Borgia versus Timberland and Willard versus St. Dominic. Borgia came out on fire with Ella Brinkmann Ella Brinkmann 5'9" | OH St. Francis Borgia | 2022 State MO n, Caroline Glastetter, Lily Brown, and Lynsey Batson and got the Knights a clean sweep over Timberland 25-20, 25-16. Carly Glendinning Carly Glendinning 6'1" | OH Timberland | 2022 State #109 Nation MO did all she could do on the outside for the Wolves but just wasn’t enough against the Knights. Borgia would move on and play the winner of Willard and St. Dominic, which was going to game three while Timberland would wait for the loser for the third-place match.
Willard and St. Dominic was a slugfest. Maddy Bushnell Maddy Bushnell 6'3" | MB Willard | 2021 State MO was slamming balls from the middle, and on the slide, Payton Van Veen Payton Van Veen 6'2" | OH Willard | 2021 State MO hitting rockets from all over the court for the Tigers had them rolling in game one and squeezed out the 25-22 winner. High flyer Breanna Schriemann took off for St. Dominic in the second and pushed the Crusaders out to a big lead 16-8. With Audrey Weber, Grace Catlett, and Emma Blaine all taking turns to put balls down, the Crusaders quickly put the game away at 25-17. With the lady Knights of Borgia watching to see if they would get a rematch with the only team to beat them this season, the Crusaders of St. Dominic, or a rematch with Willard. With the strong net play from Maddy Bushnell Maddy Bushnell 6'3" | MB Willard | 2021 State MO and Payton Van Veen Payton Van Veen 6'2" | OH Willard | 2021 State MO , Willard would edge out in front early 10-7. With Paige Gayer feeding the big Willard hitters and Kindall Smithson Kindall Smithson 5'5" | DS/L Willard | 2022 State MO and Taylor Crighton keeping the balls from hitting the ground, Willard was off and running for a 25-15 win. Willard on to the finals for an all Blue Pool final.
St. Dominic would beat Timberland for third place 25-16, 22-25, 25-22. Carly Glendinning Carly Glendinning 6'1" | OH Timberland | 2022 State #109 Nation MO for Timberland sure can put on a show. St. Dominic has a stacked team with Emma Blaine, Grace Catlett, McKinley Curran, Breanna Schreimann, and Audrey Weber pounding balls all over the place. Olivia Skiljan keeping balls from hitting the ground and Rachel Schipper Rachel Schipper 5'8" | S St. Dominic | 2022 State MO dishing out the assist, St. Dominic will be a challenger state playoff.
The finals between Borgia and Willard were what I expected it to be after the pool play match. A battle of bombers going at each other. With Ella Brinkmann Ella Brinkmann 5'9" | OH St. Francis Borgia | 2022 State MO n and Caroline Glastetter setting the done early on the outside and Kaitlyn Patke and Lynsey Battson controlling the net from the middle, Annie Arand Annie Arand 5'8" | DS/L St. Francis Borgia | 2022 State MO feeding her hot hitters and making some great digs from right-back, Borgia was kicking on all cylinders and blew by Willard in the first set 25-18. Set two was back and forth with Willard getting great play from its role players Grace Hancock, Taylor Crighton, and Kindall Smithson Kindall Smithson 5'5" | DS/L Willard | 2022 State MO . Paige Gayer was putting balls where the Borgia block wasn’t vital in getting Willard the points it needed to inch ahead of Borgia to finish off the second 25-21. The third was nothing but two excellent ball clubs getting it their all for the title. With Caroline Glastetter and Ella Brinkmann Ella Brinkmann 5'9" | OH St. Francis Borgia | 2022 State MO n taking over for Borgia on the outside and outmuscling Willards, two big hitters Maddy Bushnell Maddy Bushnell 6'3" | MB Willard | 2021 State MO and Payton Van Veen Payton Van Veen 6'2" | OH Willard | 2021 State MO , Borgia was able to inch ahead and hold on for the win 25-22. Borgia repeats and moves on to 7-1-1 on the season. Willard and St. Dominic both leave the tournament suffering first season losses but gaining tremendous experience.
These four teams Borgia, Willard, St. Dominic, and Timberland, will be teams to watch come late October early November for state playoffs. Borgia can fix the passing, libero woes it seems to have during matches, Willard can add a third offensive threat to complete this team. St. Dominic can get someone to match what Breanna Schreimann and Audrey Weber have, and Timberland can find a second Carly Glendinning Carly Glendinning 6'1" | OH Timberland | 2022 State #109 Nation MO ; these teams will be final four Class 5 contenders.
Borgia will host St. Dominic Thursday the 17th in a rematch of the season opener in which St. Dominic swept Borgia 3-0. One key in this game is Borgia middle Kaitlyn Patke missed the first matchup and should be back for this one. Either way, with Ella Brinkmann Ella Brinkmann 5'9" | OH St. Francis Borgia | 2022 State MO n and Caroline Glastetter battling Audrey Weber and Breanna Schriemann, this should be a fun one to watch. Too bad we can’t get this one streamed for others to watch.