Edina volleyball rises to .500 with 10-10 mark

With a pair of wins last week, the Edina High girls volleyball team reached the .500 mark with a 10-10 record.

In the longest match of the season so far, the Hornets needed five games to defeat Benilde-St. Margaret’s Sept. 24 at Edina High Activity Center. Scores of the match were 27-25, 21-25, 12-25, 29-27, 15-10. The outlook was bleak after the third set, but Edina reached deep to pass well and lock down defensively in sets 4 and 5.

Edina switched to a 5-1 formation two weeks ago, leaving the setting to senior captain Greta Granberg, who played one of her best matches of the season in the win over BSM. Granberg had a season-high 45 set assists. She spread the wealth amongst her hitters. Emmie Bireley led the Hornets with 19 kills. Middle hitter McKenna Simmons added 14 kills and Liv Peterson added 12. Addie Eaton blocked well in the middle and had five kills.

Edina’s main defender, Paola Contreras-Diaz, had a great night with 29 digs. Granberg added 14 digs and Bireley had 10. Eaton and Contreras-Diaz led Edina from the service line with three aces each. Bireley, Kaylee Roth and Aubrey Mueller each chipped in with two aces.

In a Lake Conference match Sept. 26, Edina was sharp in defeating Hopkins 25-20, 25-16, 25-22.

With a shorter match, the Hornets didn’t match the kill total of the BSM match. Bireley continued to hit effectively with 15 kills. Simmons came through with eight kills and Miklayne Koppen had seven.

Granberg had 30 set assists and came up with 11 digs. Others with double-figure digs were Contreras-Diaz with 12 and Bireley with 11. Eaton was a force at the net with four blocks while teammates Bireley and Peterson each had a pair of blocks.

“Addie Eaton is a really good blocker,” coach Nelson said. “Emmie Bireley has become a good anchor for us and Paola covers a lot of the court in every match.”

The next match for the Hornets is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Osseo.

Lake standings

St. Michael-Albertville 5-0, Wayzata 4-1, Minnetonka 4-2, Eden Prairie 2-3, Edina 2-3, Hopkins 1-4, Buffalo 0-5.