The question became how to stop Willmar's Leah Ruter.
Unfortunately the Brainerd Warriors never discovered an answer Tuesday leading to a 3-1 Central Lakes Conference loss at Brainerd High School.
The 5-foot-10 Ruter finished with 25 kills. Teammate Dani Rosen added 10 more kills helping Willmar come back from a 25-21 opening-game loss and rattle off game wins of 25-18, 26-24 and 25-22.
"When we played Bemidji (Monday night) 95 percent of their sets went to the outside because we couldn't stop the outside hit," said Warriors coach Jared Diem. "That was true tonight. (Ruter) was just swinging away and nothing we did worked. We just couldn't stop the outside set. That's the tale of the tape. She probably set 85 percent of the balls to that spot."
Ruter, a senior outside hitter, exploited Brainerd's shorter block and continued to find an opening. This despite the best efforts of Brainerd libero Maddie Stall, who recorded 32 digs to go with six ace serves.
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"Maddie Stall had one of the best defensive games I have ever coached," said Diem. "The amount of digs she had, she touched just about every single ball. She worked her tail off."
Brainerd secured the Game One win thanks to chest-pumping kills by Tedi Ramberg and Heather Fletcher. The two seniors combined for 18 kills. Jenna Degen added 28 set assists and seven digs.
The Warriors jumped out to a 4-2 edge in Game Two before Willmar woke up.
"I just gave them some things to think about," said Willmar head coach Traci Grussing. "It seemed like they were not focused. They were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I was just giving them some things that they could focus on and relax and play."
Willmar had two runs of four straight points and then built a 24-14 edge thanks to six straight points before closing out the 25-18 win.
Brainerd jumped out to a 7-2 edge in the third game before Willmar closed the gap and took its first lead at 22-21.
"We try and run a really fast offense and even fast to our outsides," said Grussing. "They seem to hit better the faster it is so once we started passing better we could set quicker to all of our hitters."
Brainerd secured a 5-3 advantage in the final game. The score was tied 16-16 before Willmar rattled off five straight points and claimed the 25-22 win.
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"Willmar was fresh," said Diem. "They came in and made some hitting errors. Once their outsides found their rhythm and saw that our block wasn't effective they felt very comfortable. Once you have that confidence that's a game-changer."
Willmar 21 25 26 25
Brainerd 25 18 24 22
Brainerd statistics
Chelsie Gould 2 ace serves
Hannah Chisholm 2 digs
Jenna Degen 2 kills, 1 ace serve, 7 digs, 1.5 blocks, 28 set assists
Katy Johnson 7 kills, 4 digs, 1 blocks
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Kirsten Johnshoy 4 digs
Madison Stall 6 ace servers, 32 digs
McKenzie Peterson 3 kills, 1 ace serve, 6 digs, 0.5 blocks
Mercedes Stavig 1 kill, 4 digs, 0.5 blocks
Nicole Borg 2 kills, 3 ace serves, 1.5 blocks
Tedi Ramberg 10 kills, 1 dig, 3 blocks
Heather Fletcher 8 kills, 2 digs
For Photo Gallery go to http://brainerddispatch.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=529521...
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Willmar 3, Warriors 1
Key: Brainerd did not have an answer for Willmar's outside attack
Conf: Brd 1-2, Will 4-0
Overall: Brd 7-5, Will 6-2
Next: Brainerd at Sauk Rapids 7 p.m. Thursday
