[In a stunning display of athletic prowess, our Cards overwhelmed the Rocori Spartans in three straight games to claim the conference championship on Thursday night. The Cards came into the game undefeated in the conference; the Spartans were 9 – 1, their only loss was to the Cards who came back from a 1 – 2 deficit (as they had against Tech earlier) at Rocori. The Spartans were the real deal – their front line were all at least 6-footers. But the Cards just out-leaped and out-quicked them all night. Earlier in the year, the Cards often had to come back from early deficits. Now they are a very confident team who have shut out their last three opponents. They have one conference game left – at Fergus – but since both Rocori and Fergus have two conference losses (Fergus’s to Alex and Rocori), the Cards are champs! 🙂 ]
[Last home game of the regular season, senior night. The Cards are a young team, only two seniors, but Amanda C and Emily are key players and leaders who will be hard to replace. And at 5’10” each, they are our height! 😉 ]
[It was a big enough game that they rolled out the southside bleachers. Good crowd, including a large contingent from Rocori. The supervisor and I opted for the southside – it seems to be “cooler” over there, there are seat backs, but I forgot we’d be shooting into the advertising lights of the scorer’s table. That caused lighting issues on several photos, among them, unfortunately, the end of game celebration (see above).]
[“The Competition” was ready . . .]
[“The Voices” were ready . . .]
[The seniors were ready.]
[Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the court for the photo op . . .]
[The competition weren’t . . .]
[Their teammates paid homage to the seniors, to much laughter.]
[Liz reads here . . .]
[What happens on road trips, stays on road trips! 😉 ]
[The coaches]
[I wanna go to Jimmy Johns after the game . . .]
[And then I wanna Blizzard!]
[The Card seniors present mementos to the Spartan seniors . . .]
[Now let’s wrap up this championship!]
[Amanda C’s big sister, Angela, once patrolled this floor and helped lead her team to state.]
[Wensia warms up.]
[As does Alexis . . .]
[It appears likely she will fill one of the senior’s roles next year.]
[The cheerleaders properly hydrate.]
[Alexis practices her kill shot . . .]
[And her one-point landing.]
[As does Emily.]
[And Amanda C.]
[Morgan (4), on the far side, will also see more PT next year.]
[Amanda H works on her sets.]
[And Brooke more PT next year.]
[Amanda C with a two-point landing.]
[“The Voices” brush up on their background material.]
[Hmmm, I didn’t know that.]
[Being the PA announcer can be a lonely job . . .]
[But, hey, at least I’m retired now. 🙂 ]
[The Cards were obviously tight at the start. 😉 ]
[Liz liked it!]
[Face-off]
[A lunging save by Liz.]
[Wensia!]
[Keep it . . .]
[Going!]
[Keep it quick.]
[Kalley signals a play.]
[Good call!]
[In my now numerous years of covering the sport . . .]
[I have come to the conclusion that there is no joy in the world comparable to the joy of scoring a point in volleyball . . .]
[Even the dads and little girls are beside themselves! 🙂 ]
[High fives all around.]
[Game 1 in the books.]
[Katie leads off game 2.]
[Amanda C serving . . .]
[Nicely framed by the Cardinal wall hanging. 😉 ]
[And it’s away.]
[Gretchen’s turn.]
[Now Liz.]
[And now Kalley.]
[And we win game 2!]
[The scoreboard was cleared so fast, I didn’t get the score? I believe it was 25 – 17.]
[Let’s bring it on home, ladies!]
[What’s the Blizzard of the week?]
[Rock, paper, scissors – go!]
[Ah, c’mon. Do it again.]
[We win! Seniors buy!]
[Too bad, I left my wallet at home. 😉 ]
[And out of the darkness, Amanda H readies for a set . . .]
[It must have been a good one.]
[Joy!]
[Joy, part II!]
[Gretchen]
[Liz goes up.]
[AND WE WIN!!]
[WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!]
[I’ve been asked, who’s the star? There isn’t one . . . or they all are. Most teams rely on one, maybe two, dominant players, and that’s fine if you have some superstars. But the Cards literally run plays for at least five players – and that’s what makes them so hard to defend. Different players have led the team in kills all year long.]
[The fan club joins in.]
[Good game, good game, good game . . .]
[Good game, good game, good game . . .]
[Good game, good game, good game . . .]
[Good game, good game, good game . . .]
[GREAT SEASON! 🙂 ]
[A slight homage to fellow Super Fans, Bob (“Weakie”) and Viv Annen. Last weekend they were in the cities for Viv’s 55th high school reunion.]
[She was a Minneapolis Roosevelt Teddy. 🙂 ]
[A shout-out to the Hasz sisters, Megan and Bethany (photo on lifetime lease from Echo Press). They finished 1 – 2 at the Lions’ Cross-Country Meet at Arrowwood last weekend, both setting course records (as I recall) on a rainy, windy day on a wet track. I believe they are currently ranked 2 & 3 in the state. I don’t think I’m telling any tales out of school here, or have a need to issue a spoiler alert, but this has all the makings of being a super natural year in the annals of Cardinal girls’ sports. The soccer and volleyball teams have already won conference titles; in winter, the basketball and hockey teams look to make similar runs; and in the spring, the golf and softball teams should be excellent. We’ll just sit back and enjoy the rides. And thanks also to the Lynx, who with our Cards and the Gopher womens’ hockey team, prove indeed that in Lake Wobegon, all the women are strong! 🙂 ]
Up next: I have to finish Rome sometime, but there’s a lot of stuff going on today.
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