WOODBURY — The Stillwater boys volleyball team overcame a rough start to collect it’s first-ever East Conference victory with a 3-1 triumph over the Royals on Tuesday, April 23 at Woodbury High School.
The Ponies (1-0 EC, 3-5) dropped the opening set 25-23 before storming back to prevail 25-15, 25-12 and 25-18.
“The first game our team just came out flat and they were making physical and mental errors,” Ponies coach Pete Farrell said. “We beat ourselves. We just told them to play their game and have fun and not worry about anything else and they stopped the service errors and just took care of themselves.”
John Dieterle supplied seven kills and four blocks for the Ponies while Griffin Stone finished withi 10 set assists. Conor Boyum added four kills and three blocks.
“It was just a matter of having fun playing the game, really,” Farrell said.
After defeated Cretin-Derham Hall in its opener the previous week, the Ponies were also happy to notch a victory in its first match in conference play.
“It was our first conference match ever and we won on the road after being down a game,” Farrell said. “It’s very gratifying.”
Competing in their inaugural season, the Ponies also remained unbeaten against programs that are also fielding boys volleyball teams for the first time.
Ponies 7th in tourney
At Coon Rapids, the Ponies closed out the eight-team Coon Rapids Tournament with a victory over Brooklyn Center on Saturday, April 20. The Ponies, who placed seventh, lost to the host team 2-0 (25-16 and 25-13) in the opener before also getting swept by Grand Rapids (25-18 and 25-20) and St. Paul Johnson (25-20 and 25-21) in the next two rounds of pool play.
Stillwater rebounded with a 25-16 and 25-19 win over Brooklyn Center.
Ponies coach Pete Farrell said he was pleased with the team’s resolve throughout the day, especially after senior Joe Hoheisel suffered an injury in the second match that kept him sidelined for the remainder of the tourney.
“One of the big takeaways I saw was how well our team dealt with adversity,” Farrell said. “We competed really well despite having to move players into unfamiliar positions. We played Johnson in the next match and we gave ourselves a chance to win and then going on and collecting themselves to win the consolation match.”
All four teams in Stillwater’s pool won their cross-over matches to finish out the tournament.
“Our bracket was full of teams with experience,” Farrell said. “They all did a really good job of being able to convert defensive situations back into offensive situations. They did that better than us and were more consistent.
“We’re just excited to get a lot of match play under our belt early this season. We have another tourney this weekend and we’re watching that progression for the players continue.”
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