We momentarily interrupt the cruise (yeah, I know, it’s taking me forever to do Naples, et al?) to bring you a volleyball game.  Thursday night our Cards swept Brainerd to remain undefeated in the conference and in first place!  🙂  The girls’ soccer team is also in first place in the conference and is on a 10-game winning streak!  🙂  That’s a lot of smiles.  But first, did you happen to catch the sunrise on September 24?

[Later that day, the class of ’65 held a luncheon at Interlachen in anticipation of our 50th reunion in two years.  I always have my picture taken with CC, a/k/a, Cindy Cupcake.  Anyway, among the topics of the conversation was a lead-in to the following report.  We lamented we had no girls’ sports in our day, back in the time before the internal combustion engine.]

[So, to the volleyball game.  This is only my second coverage of a Cardinal event this fall (the other was also a volleyball game) – the supervisor made me go gallivanting all over the globe and I apologize for not signing a substitute cub reporter for my extended absences.  This is warm-up time, a good chance to reintroduce ourselves (the supervisor actually went to the game with me!) to the team.  As you’ll remember from the first game, Kalley is No. 2, Emily is No. 6, Wensia is still in her warm-up shirt, then it appears to be Morgan (4) and Liz (1).]

[Kalley and Gretchen (3).  Gretchen is my sister’s name, ergo, another 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon?]

[Gretchen is obviously the libero (the white jersey is a dead giveaway); Kalley is hard to place, because she appears to do everything – even at 5’6″, she is among the leaders in kills?]

[Brooke (16)]

[Liz (1) – I  believe she leads the team in kills at 5’9″; the only players taller at 5’10” are Emily (6), Amanda C (5), and Brooke.  As I noted before, this is not a team of size or depth – but they are very athletic.]

[Amanda H (11) – I thought she was probably MVP of the game because she is the setter, and she did a great job all game setting up the hitters.  Like her “twin” (similar size and play), Kalley, she can also kill and is often a blocker at the net on defense.]

[Liz swoops in for a blast.  Our leapers can hit the ball pretty hard.  And in this game, for the first time in all my experience (at least dozens of games), a Brainerd player got hit directly in the face by a kill – and she was at mid-court, not at the net.  She sat out a few plays but was able to return to the game.  We suspect she was probably black-and-blue the next day.]

[Kalley shows her hops!]

[Wensia, at 5’8″, has a 26″ vertical, making her play at about 6’2″.  In our day, a lot of us referred to each other as “Dimes,” meaning our vertical could barely lift us over a dime on the floor.]

[Proof that aliens have visited our planet.]

[Polite golf clap for the Warriors.]

[The coaches.  It appears head coach Becky (on the right) will soon be a mom (again, I don’t know).]

[Morgan (4).  I don’t know what they toss into the crowd each game, but whatever it was this time didn’t have much carry.]

[Emily (6), exits stage right.]

[Wensia (10) wings one down the rightfield line.]

[Brooke (16) has her eye on a receiver.]

[Cheers for Liz (1) . . .]

[As she goes airborne with her toss.]

[Kalley (2) likes who she sees.]

[Amanda C (5), having noted that all previous tosses landed far short of their targets . . .]

[Raced into the stands to hand her gift to her sister, Angela.]

[Alexis (8) races to the far end.]

[Amanda H (11) and then . . .]

[Gretchen (3)]

[If we can wrap this up before 9:00, DQ will still be open for Blizzards!]

[Blizzards sound good, coach!  Is our hair OK?]

[And whoever gets there first, I’ll have a medium Heath bar, macadamia nut – hold the mayo!]

[Did she say hold the mayo?  Alexis started and played the first game.  She’ll be a player – and was named player-of-the-game.  🙂 ]

[Katie (7) serves bullets, occasionally knocking the receiver on her babushka (and I don’t mean her Russian grandmother.)  If Roger Clemens is Rocketman, she’s Rocketwoman.]

[The Warrior moves right, Alexis moves left, Amanda H moves right, Liz guards the net – I believe it is orchestrated such.]

[I’m so proud – I “scored” on my first attempt at capturing a Cardinal block! 😉 ]

[Liz and Alexis.  I always wonder how they get players to first do this?  When the other team goes up for a kill, hitting the ball as hard as they can, I want you to jump up from two feet away and try to block it.]

[Two fingers down means a slider on the outside corner.]

[Amanda H turns to receive a pass for a set, Liz begins to circle around for the kill . . .]

[Amanda H does the set . . .]

[Liz goes up to whomp it.  Look out, Warriors!]

[The “twins” think, “That was good.”]

[The “twins” join Emily, making a front line of 5’10”, 5’6″, and 5’5″.  Really?]

[It was here that Emily’s mom, who had been sitting next to us, introduced herself.  So I fired off this slightly fuzzy shot of good ole No. 6.]

[Over the years, Amanda C has given us some of the best facial expressions . . .]

[Remember this one (taken by the staff photographer a couple of years ago)?]

[The “twins” discuss strategies for confusing the Warriors.]

[The stare down begins!  Your mother wears combat boots!]

[A volleyball hangs in the air, defying the laws of physics and gravity.]

[The lonely life of the midfielder.]

[Gotta talk to coach about getting some help here!]

[Rotate!]

[She’s still in stare down mode?]

[Stuff!]

[Stuff 2!]

[Boy, it’s hot in here!  Liz thus displays the sentiment long expressed by “Weakie” and the supervisor.]

[Game 1 over.  Obviously the Cards played great.]

[The team’s male fan club.  Oy!]

[One of the two girls’ sports in 1965.]

[Cheer oh cheer for Alex . . .]

[Game 2.  Change sides.  Confusion reigns.  The 5 players in the photo are all walking in different directions?]

[And nobody wants the ball?]

[Now where’d the ball go?]

[Rocketwoman serves.]

[Liz and Amanda H move into the fray.]

[Another set by Amanda H.]

[Liz prepares to serve.]

[Then Amanda H goes with her jump serve . . .]

[I always thought it a high risk serve, but this year Liz and Amanda C have gone to it as well.  They don’t seem to miss them any more than “regular” serves.]

[A full-court over view.]

[Game 2 is over, a little closer but still no problem.  Gretchen’s dad makes a cameo appearance.]

[Yup, it’s a sport . . .]

[And they get a little help . . .]

[Who are those masked . . . bodies?]

[One more win to go . . . the DQ beckons.]

[“The Voices” were in fine . . . voice.]

[You’ve never tried the No. 5 at Jimmy Johns?]

[You gotta try the No. 5 – with all the peppers.]

[Here I am, all by myself again?]

[But Kalley’s just guarding her rear flank.]

[OK, Rocketwoman, launch one!]

[I wanna hold your hand . . .]

[Are you kidding?  Kim Kardashian?  Finally?]

[And Amanda H sets again for . . .]

[Amanda C]

(Could that really have been Kardashian?)]

[Another set.]

[That was good.  Now let’s try No. 6.]

[Liz and Wensia go up for a block.]

[Wensia kills.]

[Liz stuffs.]

[Amanda H and Liz.]

[Liz and Kalley – appears to have been back-to-back stuffs by a front line whose tallest player was 5’9″.]

[Kalley, by herself.]

[This is the rhumba step I learned in dance class last night.]

[Amanda H jump serves.  I made several attempts to get a good photo here, as she had a good serving run.  This was the best of a bad bunch.]

[Morgan (4) comes in.  She could make the “twins,” “triplets”!  😉 ]

[Just a couple more points and it’s Blizzard city.]

[Two-thirds of the “triplets.”]

[BOOM!]

[Wrap it up, Morgan.]

[That oughta do it!]

[An impressive sweep and another cameo from Gretchen’s dad.  🙂   I think Amanda C, Liz, and Wensia may all have had double figures in kills.  The coach said on the radio after the game that the Sauk Rapids coach told her she hoped the Cardinals wouldn’t jump as high the next time they played.]

[My high school principal wandered into the celebratory photo.]

[Congrats, ladies!]

Up next:  Either Naples, or homecoming.  Who knows?