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Wednesday

Section Playoffs

      The Aitkin Gobbler volleyball team takes on Greenway Wednesday in the opening round of the Section 7AA Tournament. The 8-18 Gobblers are the #7N seed and will play the #2N seeded Raiders in Greenway. The regular season stats are in and here's a look at how the Gobblers did.

Kills

168-Madyson Burgstaler

116-Natalie Stueven

108-Taya Hawkins

 97-Kate Palm

 95-Haley Shereck

Assists

363-Gabi Price

155-Allie Goeritz

 34-Abbey Presto

Digs

347-Abbey Presto

213-Natalie Stueven

189-Taya Hawkins

170-Haley Shereck

Aces

43-Gabi Price

42-Natalie Stueven

27-Taya Hawkins

18-Madyson Burgstaler

17-Haley Shereck

Blocks

40-Madyson Burgstaler

23-Gabi Price

17-Kate Palm

14-Zoey Van Camp

      The Aitkin Gobblers won one and lost three at the Upsala Tournament on Thursday. They lost to Holdingford 25-17, 25-15 and Osakis 25-19, 25-21 before beating Ashby 25-15, 25-18. They lost their final match to Brandon-Evansville 21-25, 25-20, 10-15. Coach Wade Zubke after the event, "It was good to add another win to the season, but we also added three more losses. Establishing service pressure and in-system passing was a challenge for us resulting in limited offense and a hard time earning points. Today ends our regular season with a record of 8-18. Back to work to prep for the post-season next week."

      The eight Aitkin Gobbler seniors (and everyone else), played their hearts out on the court Tuesday and lost a gut-wrenching five set match with the visiting Mora Mustangs. The home season ended for the Gobblers with the loss, but fans couldn't have asked for a more courageous effort against the 17-9 Mustangs. Aitkin won the first two sets before the Mustangs caught fire in the third set and went on to the win. 

    The Gobblers trailed 3-2 in the first set before Haley Shereck tied it with a winner at 3-3. The two teams traded points until a point-winning block by Madyson Burstaler gave the Gobblers an 11-8 lead. It was close at 19-18 when Burgstaler nailed a winner and Allie Goeritz drilled an ace for a 21-18 edge. It was 23-19 when Burgstaler put down a winner and then brought the set to a close with another winner. Set number two was more of the same as Aitkin jumped out to a 3-0 after a Haley Shereck kill. Burgstaler scored a pair of points off blocks and they led 5-3. It was 10-5 later after a Burgstaler ace and they took a 13-9 lead on a block by Zoey Van Camp and went up 15-9 on a winner and a block from Gabi Price. Natalie Stuevens kill made it 17-11, Goeritz served for three points and Van Camp had a kill for a 21-12 lead. The set ended with another Burgstaler block. The third set was as good as you will see. Aitkin led 5-4 after a Tika May kill and after the two teams went back and forth Abbey Presto produced a winner for a 14-12 lead. The set was tied 11 times, and it was 18-18 when Shereck came up with a kill and then she served for three more Gobbler points for a 22-18 lead. That's when the match turned around as the Mustangs ran seven straight points to win the set and make it a 2-1 match. The fourth set was all Mustangs in the first part of the set. They led 12-5 and later 17-10 before Burgstaler came up with a winner off a block and later produced an ace to make it 20-15 but the Mustangs were not to be denied and went on to win the set setting up the race to "15". Aitkin led 3-0 early with Goeritz at the service line. She had a winner later to make it a 4-2 set and when Burgstaler scored off a block it was 5-3. Mora was not done, They took the lead at 8-6 before a kill by May made it 8-7. The Gobblers would score just one more point as the Mustangs scored the final five points to win the set and the match.

       Coach Wade Zubke after the exhausting matchup, "It was a hard-fought match against Mora. It was our Senior Night and final home game of the season.  We took two sets off of a strong team and I am very proud of my team for that tonight. We have a tournament Thursday and the post-season coming so still lots of volleyball to play and I'm feeling good about this team right now."

Mustangs  20 16 25 25 15

Gobblers   25 25 22 17   8

    The Aitkin Gobbler JV suffered a tough loss to Mora Tuesday but still finished the season with a record of 14-8. Coach Kristen Ratz, "It was a great group of girls, and they showed so much improvement during the season."

Mustangs 21 25 15

Gobblers  25 17 12

     The "C" Squad posted a win, beating Mora 25-17, 19-25, 25-10, 25-17, 15-5.

     The Aitkin "JH" Gobbler volleyball teams both swept the Mora Mustangs on the road Tuesday completing their regular seasons. The 7th grade "A" team won 25-14, 25-10, 25-10 and the "B" team won 25-11, 25-13, 15-8. The 8th grade added a pair of wins. The "A" team won 25-11, 25-11, 15-3 and the "B" team won 25-14, 25-7, 15-11. Coach Lena Broeckel after the wins, "It was a great way to end a fantastic season. I'm so proud of the time and work these ladies put in to get to where they are today. It has been truly an honor to coach such a fun and energetic group of girls. It's such a cool experience, as a coach, to share my passion for the sport with these ladies and see it ignite in them. The 7th grade ended their season 14-0-1 with a tie with Pillager but unbeaten in the conference. The 8th grade ended their season 13-0-2 with two ties with Pillager but also unbeaten in conference play."

     The Aitkin "JH" Gobblers swept the C-I Rangers Monday on the road. The 7th grade won 25-11, 25-23, 25-22. The 8th grade also won, the A" team won the first set 25-14 and the "B" team split the final two sets 25-19, 21-25. The Gobblers are at Mora Tuesday.

      The Aitkin JV Gobblers finished 4-1 at the C-I Tournament Saturday, good enough to capture 3rd place in the event. They went 3-1 in their pool play beating Ogilvie 25-17, 25-20, Pine City 25-21, 25-16, then lost to Rush City 23-25, 22-25 before beating Hinckley-Finlayson 25-19, 25-20. They defeated Braham 25-14, 25-21 in their final match of the day. Coach Kristen Ratz after the days play, "Great sportsmanship and positivity from the girls all day long. Much deserved 3rd place medals."

       The Aitkin Gobblers needed a win Thursday night, and they needed it badly. They got just what they needed with a three-set sweep of the Cherry Tigers on the road. Madyson Burgstaler led the Gobblers with 10 kills followed by Taya Hawkins with 7, Haley Shereck and Kate Palm each with 6 and Natalie Stueven with 5. They were able to spread the wealth around in the kill department in the win. Gabi Price added 29 assists and 5 aces, and Abbey Presto had 17 digs. 

Gobblers 25 25 25

Tigers       10  13  15

The Coach-"Tonight was a great showing for all the players. Lots of great play all around. Great service pressure and passing set us up for some great setting by Gabi and strong attacking. My players of the game are Haley Shereck and Gabi Price."

      The Gobbler JV also picked up a win, 25-18, 23-25, 15-4. The "C" Squad got the night off to a good start with a 25-18, 25-21 win. Coach Shelby Coombs after the win, "We had some challenges, but the girls played very well. Brittany Hacker was all over the court in coverage. She really stood out for me."

The Players

Natalie Stueven-"It was a good win tonight. We played as a team all the way through, and it feels good to get a win under our belt. Fun game!"

Haley Shereck-"I'm very happy with the outcome tonight. I think we did a great job with our serve receive and siding out which is so important in our rotations. We had strong swings along with good blocks to help our defense. I hope to continue being successful in the few games we have left."

Taya Hawkins-"That game was a great win which we really needed. We played like a team, passing, hitting, setting and serving was very well executed. I'm excited going into next week."

Kate Palm-"It was a good game an everyone was on, whether it was hitting, passing or setting. I hope we can carry that into the next few games to finish off the season."

Madyson Burgstaler-"We played some really good volleyball. We kept our foot on the gas and didn't let off."