I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Oct. 28, 1998
By Devlyn Brooks
The second-seeded Bagley Flyers and third-seeded Blackduck Drakes advanced as expected Tuesday night in the Subsection 29A volleyball playoffs held at BSU, but the Drakes had to overcome some horrendous mistakes and a feisty opponent to do so.
Playing the sixth-seeded Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Wolves, the Drakes seemed to underestimate the young squad that featured only three seniors, as WHA pushed Blackduck to three long sets, 15-13, 15-7, 16-14.
Bagley had an easier time as they downed seventh-seeded Park Rapids 15-6, 15-1, 15-10.
The Flyers were led by senior outside hitters Jaime Neujahr and Annie Nienow, who continually smashed down spikes from the outside that Park Rapids couldn't handle.
Much like Walker's Wolves, the Park Rapids Panthers are suffering from a young squad and it showed Tuesday. The Panthers handed Bagley nine points on errors in the first game, and four and seven in games two and three.
In addition, Park Rapids just didn't have the blockers to contend with Bagley's formidable frontliners of Neujahr, Nienow, Hillary Fredrickson and Caese Martine.
"We set up a strong attack (tonight)," Bagley coach Mike Larson said of his frontliners. "(Neujahr and Nienow) have been two of our most consistent hitters this season."
The two were responsible for about a third of the Flyers' points in the match. Among Nienow's countless kills were six resulting in points. Neujahr had three kills for points, and added five service aces as well.
In games one and two, Park Rapids had difficulty maintaining any momentum, with their brightest play coming in a four-point string early in game one.
However, the overmatched Panthers fared slightly better in game three versus Bagley's substitutes.
Both teams struggled early, gaining points sporadically among many sideouts, until Bagley strung together four points on Mandy Caspers serve. That gave them a 10-5 lead, but didn't wrap up the match.
The Panthers clawed back into the game with a couple Bagley errors and service aces from Stacey Criswell and Kari Gustad. But it was too little too late as Bagley closed on a Caspers' ace and a Park Rapids error.
"The girls played better on defense (tonight)," Larson said. "But we're still serving a few balls into the net. We have to make some improvements in our game there (before facing Blackduck)."
Drakes 3, Wolves 0
Blackduck, however, had trouble fending off the Wolves, whom they beat handily early in the season.
"We didn't have a good week of practice," first-year coach Sherry Hill said, "and they played like they practiced -- which wasn't good."
The Drakes' major problem was in their passing. They had problems passing not only off the serve, but on the second pass as well, resulting in many weak hitting opportunities.
In addition, the team's go-to hitter, senior Layne Backer, had a rough night, missing on a majority of her attacks.
"Layne (Backer) has played almost perfect games in the last three or four matches," Hill said of her struggling hitter. "This was probably her worst hitting performance of the season."
But luckily for the Drakes, junior hitter Mercy Fayville had an outstanding game during her rotations at the net.
In the third game alone, she had two kills and two blocks that resulted in points, and saved the match from going four games.
In game one, the Drakes mounted an early 10-2 lead, but stalled and turned the momentum over to WHA. With a few scattered points, and a four-point run, the Wolves battled back to within four points at 11-7.
The Drakes eked out their next three points on Walker errors, but couldn't close the the game. Walker pushed them to 15-13 before it was done, and it set the tone for the rest of the match.
The Drake's experience seemed to wear on the Wolves in game two, as Walker's errors started to mount. With strong runs of four points and three points, Blackduck built a 9-6 edge.
Then the Wolves' offense ceased to exist, and the Drakes closed the game on a five-point run with senior hitter Christa Fayville serving.
In game three, the Drakes' sloppiness and overconfidence caught up with them.
It took a gutsy 16-14 to end the Wolves' season, but the Drakes were behind at 9-3 and 13-6 before Mercy Fayville almost singlehandedly beat Walker with her two kills and two blocks.
"We were letting (Walker) win the (third) game," Hill said. "We're a good, come-from-behind type team, but shouldn't be putting ourselves in that position to begin with. If we play like we did (Tuesday), we're not going to win (Thursday)."
With Bagley and Blackduck winning, a No. 2 versus No. 3 match is set for the Subsection 29A semifinals Thursday at BSU. The Drakes will face the Flyers at 8:15 p.m., and will be preceded by the No. 1 Cass Lake versus No. 5 Nevis matchup at 6:30 p.m.
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