Welcome to our house: Blossoms sweep Medford in first ever match in new gym

Published 10:41 pm Monday, October 16, 2023

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BLOOMING PRAIRIE – The Awesome Blossoms opened their new gym just in time to put out their best volleyball performance of the year as they stepped up in the clutch in a 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 win over Medford (13-15 overall) Monday.

BP (5-18 overall) has struggled in close games most of the season, but it found a way to prevail. The first game was tied at 23 when Ella Smith put down a big kill, the second game was tied at 23-23 when Addison Doocy put down a key score and Annaka Forsberg ended the match with a big hit in the final game.

“The mental side is really hard and you have to kind of push back on that. I think that we did that today and we finally put our best out there,” Forsberg, a senior, said. “It was so fun and it was so loud. It was a lot louder than our other gym.”

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Doocy finished with 11 kills and 11 blocks as she played with relentless fire near the net. The senior had a lot of motivation to create a positive atmosphere as BP will begin the playoffs next week.

“They knocked us out of the playoffs last year and this was a good revenge win for us,” Doocy said. “I think we came in here kind of knowing we were going to win and we just ran with that.”

BP sophomore Sam Hefling stepped at the service line in the final game as she delivered back-to-back aces during a seven-point run that put BP up 19-10.

BP head coach Gina Hendrickson said her team gave her a pleasant surprise by sweeping the Tigers.

“If you would’ve told me today that we would’ve gotten out in three, I would’ve said, I don’t know about that because Medford’s got a great program,” Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson said that it meant a lot to get her team in the new gym on senior night, especially since the squad began the season practicing next to a literal construction zone in the old gym.

“People really pushed to make sure that we got in there tonight and I appreciate that,” she said. “The contractors, the administrators and the janitors did a great job and it’s huge because it matters to the girls. I’m really proud of the girls for turning that empty box into our gym now.”

BP stats: Addison Doocy 11 kills, 11 blocks, 2 aces; Macy Lembke 16 assists, 8 digs, 4 aces; Elizabeth Miner 1 kill, 2 blocks; Annaka Forsberg 5 kills, 3 blocks; Brianna Deplitch 6 digs; Sam Hefling 1 kill, 8 digs, 2 aces; Claire Schwarz 1 kill, 8 assists, 10 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace; Ella Smith 8 kills, 8 digs, 3 blocks; Madelyn Harvey 5 digs