Volleyball: Goodhue advances to sub-section semis

After dropping a tight first set, the fifth-seeded Goodhue volleyball team was able to recover, clinching the next three on the way to a 3-1 victory over No. 5 Rushford-Peterson in the second round of the Section 1A-East playoffs Thursday in Rushford.

The Wildcats won the match 22-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-18.

Mikayla Tipcke had 49 set assists, 25 digs and nine kills on for Goodhue, with Mikayla Miller finishing as the team’s top hitter with 19 kills. Miller also had 29 digs, while Emilee Roschen dug up 33 balls in the back row.

“We didn’t have a lot of blocks because they were really good hitters,” said Wildcats head coach Andy Kimball. “It was a game of defense for both teams. That was the story of the night.”

Laurie Pearson added 10 kills and nine digs, including the game-clinching swing down the line to put Goodhue in the sub-section semifinals.

“The big thing was defense. That was about the best we’ve played in a while,” Kimball said. “I can’t say enough good things about what they did. They did everything that we’ve been working on and we’re happy with the way it went.”

Saturday, the Wildcats will take on the sub-section’s top-seeded team, Wabasha-Kellogg. The Falcons are ranked No. 2 in Class A, and are coming off a 3-0 sweep over Kingsland on Thursday.

Amy Todd was Rushford-Peterson’s top hitter with 22 kills. Kendra Crawford had 43 digs and setter Emily Wade collected 37 set assists in the loss.

Tags: sports, prep, volleyball, goodhue