Cordes, Waubonsie block Neuqua’s path to victory

Waubonsie Valley blocked its way to a third victory this season over cross-town rival Neuqua Valley.

The Warriors totaled 17 blocks, including 8 from middle hitter Caroline Cordes during a 25-22, 25-18 sweep of the Wildcats in Upstate Eight Valley play Tuesday night.

“This is the third time we’ve played them, so we know a lot of their hitters’ tendencies,” Waubonsie Valley coach Kristen Stuart said of Neuqua Valley. “We had a game plan in place for how we were going to block, and I thought the girls did a great job of executing that plan and stealing the net.”

Waubonsie Valley (15-3, 3-0) defeated the Wildcats twice at the Benet Invitational three weeks ago and jumped out to an early lead during Tuesday’s conference matchup.

The Warriors held a 6-point lead four times in Game 1, the last coming when Rachel Minarick set Cordes for a kill that put her team up 20-14.

Kaelan Haag brought the Wildcats back with a pair of kills to cut the deficit to 21-19, but Waubonsie Valley forced Neuqua Valley (7-11, 0-2) into two attack errors and one service error, which accounted for three of the Warriors’ last four points.

“Waubonsie blocked really well, so (attack errors) are going to happen,” Neuqua Valley coach Kelly Simon said. “We’ve been working to minimize our errors all season long. I think we had such a high emotion game, we lost our composure a little bit and we didn’t execute our game plan.”

Game 2 saw the Warriors jump out to a 7-point lead on the strength of service aces by Lauren Hiller, Brooke Burling and Mackenzie Bratland. A block by Cordes gave Waubonsie Valley a 16-9 lead before Simon called a timeout and the Wildcats regrouped.

Kills by Emily Krachenfels and Abby Skryd, followed by a Waubonsie Valley hitting error, trimmed Neuqua’s deficit to 16-12 and the Wildcats got as close as 18-15 after a kill by Kayln Hugdahl.

The Warriors tallied the last two points of the match as Minarick played a part in both, assisting on a kill for Burling, followed by her own kill at the front of the net.

“Neuqua has been our rival since it was built, so it’s always a great game,” Minarick said.