Boys volleyball: Stillwater rallies past Bears in five sets

WHITE BEAR LAKE — After falling short in two previous matches that went to five sets, the Stillwater boys volleyball team outlasted White Bear Lake for a 3-2 East Conference victory on Tuesday, May 30 at White Bear Lake High School.

The Ponies (3-5 EC, 7-14) dropped the first two sets before storming back for a 23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20 and 15-10 victory.

Stillwater fell to Tartan and East Ridge 3-2 in conference matches earlier this season, which will likely contribute to the Ponies missing out on the conference playoffs — where six teams will compete to determine the league’s two state qualifiers.

Even if the Ponies were able to knock off conference champion St. Paul Harding (8-0, 10-2) on Thursday, May 30 in the last match of their inaugural season as a varsity sport, they would finish tied for sixth with Forest Lake (4-5, 6-15), but the Rangers defeated Stillwater head to head.

More consistent play in the final three sets allowed Stillwater to turn the tide against the Bear (1-8, 1-15).

“It was a real gut check against our great rival,” Ponies coach Pete Farrell said. “We played well in spurts in the first two sets, but ultimately made a few too many errors in dropping both.

“In the third set, our blocks began to stifle the Bears attack. Balls were repeatedly being rejected, led by middle blockers Conor Boyum and John Dieterle.”

Stillwater was even more assertive down the stretch.

“During the fourth and fifth sets, we got out to early leads and we were able to maintain with better passing, coverage, and ball control while maintaining our attacks and blocking,” Farrell said.