Some of the state champion Grantsburg volleyball team stopped by the WCMP/WXCX station to discuss their season with myself and Sam Klemet (sports director).
Here is an interview from Coach Bill Morrin after the pep rally.
Here’s audio of the pep rally.
Here’s an interview with Grantsburg head coach, Bill Morrin
Here’s the play-by-play of the sectional final match with Melrose-Mindoro.
Here’s the sectional semi-final audio.
Here’s an interview I had with Grantsburg head volleyball coach, Bill Morrin after the match.
If you weren’t at the Grantsburg/Washburn volleyball match tonight you missed out on some great volleyball. Not perfect, but great.
Grantsburg won the match in five sets.
Washburn won the first set 25-23. Grantsburg was down 24-21 (if I remember right) and got back into it needing only one more point to force it to deuce. Unfortunately, the Pirates couldn’t get that done and they dropped set one.
Set number two saw Grantsburg win by a decent margin 25-19. It seemed like they were kinda figuring things out and looked like they might be able to catch some momentum and win the next two.
Uh, no. The Castle Guards won set three 26-24 in another epic battle. Grantsburg again had to come from behind late and tie it at 24. Obviously Washburn scored the next couple points and got the victory and went up 2-1.
Things were pretty tense in the stands after that. With how close the sets were it seemed like Grantsburg’s season might come to an end tonight.
Not so fast, my friend. In the fourth set Grantsburg looked like a college team. Grantsburg got out to a 9-1 start and never looked back. They ended up winning 25-10. That score is phenominal considering their opponents.
Then came set number five. It was intense as Grantsburg got out to another fast start (all night it seemed the Pirates took a decent early lead). But this time they were able to hold the Castle Guards off and they won 15-10.
The crowd went wild and so did I on the radio. I don’t think I’ve ever been as tired after a broadcast as I was after tonight’s match. Whew.
I want to point out two things…
One… Washburn is as good as Grantsburg. They played extremely hard and their coach is great. Their fans are great and their program is great. Grantsburg and Washburn have been sooooo fortunate to have the programs we have seen over the past couple decades and I for one hope both coaches and programs stick around for a lot longer. It was so much fun to see two high quality teams. I can’t say enough about what Washburn brought tonight.
Two… Kortney Morrin is a stud. She showed up in the fourth set and brought her team with her. For a long stretch it seemed that whatever she did with the ball it was getting to the floor on the other side. It seemed that she just got into this hyper-focused zone and the game slowed down for her. She was seeing the floor, making the correct reads, spiking when appropriate, tipping when appropriate… it was unbelievable. I was thoroughly impressed.
Three… (yeah, I know I said two) Bill Morrin really knows the sport. It was just incredible to watch him manage the match. He was going against his friend, head coach Mike Meierotto from Washburn and the two were just incredible. My hat’s off to both coaches, but especially Coach Morrin. What a legacy his coaching has left in our community.
Wow… what a night!
The Grantsburg volleyball team gets set to travel to Hammond, Wisconsin today to defend their regional championship for the 16th consecutive year.
They take on the St. Croix Central Panthers (7-2, 9-7 with six games unreported) from the Dunn-St. Croix conference.
Grantsburg coach Bill Morrin won his 800th match of his career last night by beating Prescott in straight sets. 800, people… that’s pretty dang good. I’ll write more about that acheivement in a later post and try to put it into some perspective. Congratulations, Coach Morrin! (thanks to Deb Johnson for giving me the heads-up on this one)
The Pirates have already defeated the Panthers this year 2 -0 during the Grantsburg tournament.
SCC defeated seventh seed Unity 3-1 last night to advance to tonight’s regional championship.
SCC lost earlier this year to Prescott (which Grantsburg solidly dispatched last night in straight sets) and Clayton (not a bad thing, but another common opponent for the two teams. Grantsburg beat Clayton easily during the conference season).
Grantsburg is 31-1 this year with only three set losses. Their set record is 76-3… there is nobody remotely close to that in all of Wisconsin womens’ volleyball.
The match starts at 7pm tonight and you can hear it on 105.7 WXCX.
The Grantsburg volleyball team heads north to the annual Ashland tournament held in, uh, Ashland.
The tournament starts with pool play and then ends with the top teams squaring off to determine the big winner. My hunch is Grantsburg will be one of those teams left standing at the end of pool play.
Did you know Bill Morrin (Grantsburg’s head volleyball coach) got his volleyball coaching start at Ashland Washburn? Well, you do now.
All the info in this post was blatantly and brazenly ripped off of the girls’ volleyball website maintained wonderfully by Deb Johnson. How she has time to update that site with all the time she spends on Facebook is anyone’s guess. But thanks to her anyway… it makes life just that much easier for this guy.
The year was 1989…
This year the Grantsburg Pirates will win their 20th consecutive conference championship dating back to the old Upper St. Croix Valley Conference days.
The clinching match will be held on Tuesday, October 14. All alumni of the past 20 years of Grantsburg Volleyball are invited to the match to be honored.
Also… I think the game on Tuesday should go retro… please, coach Morrin… bring back the spacesuits.
The following is from the Grantsburg Volleyball page:
On Tuesday, October 14, the Grantsburg volleyball team hosts the annual Parents Night event before the match against Turtle Lake.
As the Pirates push for their 20th consecutive conference title, all varsity volleyball players since 1989 are invited to attend the match. There will be a cake reception immediately following, along with fabulous prizes!
Alumni should sign in at the ticket booth, get free admission to the game, and plan to be announced at approximately 7:00 PM prior to the start of varsity warm ups.
Special recognition will be given to members of the state runner-up 1989 team, the first winners to be part of the legacy of twenty consecutive conference championships.
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Aug | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
Annie Palmquist Ben Larson Bill Morrin Brennan Olson burnett blizzard burnett county sentinel Byron Higgin Cameron Comets Carley Emery Clayton Bears Colfax Vikings Eau Claire Regis Emily Cole Frederic Vikings Glenwood City Hilltoppers Grantsburg grantsburg baseball grantsburg basketball Grantsburg fastpitch Grantsburg football Grantsburg Pirates grantsburg softball Grantsburg volleyball Ingrid Ames Janey Emery Jason Jensen Kortney Morrin Lauren Romanowski Luck Cardinals Michelle Lund Northwood Evergreens Pine City Dragons Sarah Wald Shell Lake Lakers Siren Dragons St. Croix Central St. Croix Falls Saints Steve Johnson Trent Bonneville Unity Eagles Washburn Castle Guards Webster Tigers West Lakeland Conference WIAA wxcx
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.