Rainy River Community College’s volleyball team has qualified for the Region 13B volleyball tournament after clinching a top-four finish in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference’s Northern Division this past week.
On Friday night, the Voyageurs won a road match in five games against Mesabi Range, 25-19, 9-25, 25-21, 14-25, 16-14.
Emily Ziegler led RRCC with 15 kills, followed by Tiffany Schumacher with 14 and Haylee Gates with 12. Kelly Sorensen recorded 33 digs, while Nakita Estling had 40 set assists.
On Saturday, the Voyageurs swept Vermilion in three games, 25-14, 25-17, 25-23, and Gogebic in two, 25-23, 25-17.
Against Vermilion, Katrina Wreggitt had 14 kills and four ace blocks. Sorensen added 17 digs. Estling had 29 set assists.
Today at 6:30 p.m., the Voyageurs host Central Lakes in the RRCC gym. This final home match of the season will also determine seeding in the Region Tournament.
The Region 13B Tournament will be held at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls starting Oct. 28. RRCC head coach Mel Millerbernd said the Voyageurs will open the tournament at either 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.
She said the winners will play at 1 p.m. on Oct. 29 for the chance to go to the National Tournament.
RRCC has a season match record of 18-11 overall and 9-4 in the MCAC Northern Division. The Voyageurs entered this week’s action tied for third with Itasca in the conference standings.
‘Libero of the Week’
For the second week in a row, Sorensen has been named the MCAC Northern Division’s “Libero of the Week.”
Sorensen, a sophomore from Roseau, helped RRCC win all four of its matches last week and clinch a tournament spot. She had 85 digs for the week, including 33 in the victory over Mesabi Range.
In 92 games this season, Sorensen has 453 digs for a per-game average of 4.92, the second-best average in the MCAC Northern Division.
Gates leads the Northern Division in serving aces with 57 for a per-game average of .62.
Estling ranks third in assists per game at 8.35 with 745 total assists.
