By Brett Boese
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

Comparing the volleyball programs at Stewartville and Red Wing is a quick and easy exercise.

The Tigers have won 10 of the last 11 Section 1AA West championships.

They are currently ranked fourth in the state and own the top seed in the subsection tournament.

Stewartville has appeared in four state tournaments since Red Wing, which recently snapped a three-year winless streak in the Missota Conference, last visited the Mayo Civic Center. Wingers coach Neal Newman overheard some of his players reminiscing about watching the program's last trip to Rochester -- when they were in elementary school.

That background provides a glimpse at the expectations each team faced as they took the court Saturday afternoon in the Section 1AA West semifinals, and why the less-than-dominant sweep left Stewartville so unsatisfied.

The Wingers gave nearly as good as they got in the first game, eventually falling 25-19. They displayed none of the wide-eyed, we're-on-the-big-stage feeling Newman was expecting. The heavy underdogs then jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the second game before the sleeping giant -- and its fans -- finally awoke.

The Tigers claimed the final two games 25-21, 25-14.

"We did some good things," Newman said. "Stewartville has been down here so much it's kind of old hat for them. They were comfortable. They were used to it. But we hung in there."

Junior Lauren Boldt led the Wingers with six kills, while sophomore Katie Stegora had six set assists.

After a strong performance Thursday against Pine Island, Stewartville expected to keep rolling through the weekend. Instead, the day was full of stops and starts.

Stewartville sophomore Danielle DeGeus finished with eight ace serves, but her teammates struggled at the stripe. The Tigers had 13 service errors, which allowed the Wingers to stay close. That irked senior standout Julie Rainey.

"A win's a win," said Rainey, who finished with a team-high 11 kills and 13 digs. "It doesn't matter how we do it (but) it was a little rough. ...We played really well at times and not very well other times."

Senior Jill Oftedahl led Stewartville with 12 set assists, while junior Lindsay Blahnik had seven kills and four ace blocks.

The Tigers improve to 22-5 heading into Wednesday's subsection title game against Byron.

Red Wing ends its year 12-16. It graduates just three seniors, and Newman is expecting the 12 underclassmen to learn from the trip.

"I hope the enjoyed the experience and had fun," he said. "Now that we're familiar with (the Civic Center), hopefully we can make a statement next time we're down here."

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