On our maiden voyage we covered the Packers and the Superbowl, Bill Morrin's sabbatical, and we spoke with Jay Messar from Wisconsin Sports Network.

Northwoods Sports Report – Episode 1

Give it a listen. Let me know what you think. And become a fan of the show on Facebook.

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Northwoods Sports Report debut

Here's Todd Beckmann's article in the Burnett County Sentinel.

Here's my column with some of my thoughts on Bill as well as incoming coach, Deb Johnson.

Here's Deb Johnson's blog post about her new and exciting undertaking.

If/when more coverage is given to this I'll be sure to post.

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Volleyball coaching news

Listen to the interview

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Bill Morrin opens up about future plans

Grantsburg girls volleyball head coach, Bill Morrin has won the AVCA's High School Coach of the year award. That means he has been recognized as the top coach in all the land.

The following is the Press Release from the AVCA. Congratulations, Bill!

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 30, 2010) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is proud to announce that Bill Morrin, head girls' volleyball coach at Grantsburg High School in Grantsburg, Wis., and Amy Steininger, head girls' volleyball coach at Marion Local High School in Maria Stein, Ohio, have been selected as the 2010 AVCA National High School Coaches of the Year.

 

"Bill Morrin and Amy Steininger not only had outstanding seasons in 2010, they have stacked a bunch of great seasons on top of each other," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "Building a program is hard; sustaining a program is much harder. They have, between them, many years of sustained excellence."

 

Morrin has been coaching at Grantsburg for 25 years, a time during which his program has strung together 22 consecutive conference championships, 17 consecutive regional championships and 14 sectional championships. He has marched Grantsburg to the state tournament 11 times, which has resulted in five runner-up finishes (1989, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2010) and two state titles (2001, 2009). He has amassed a career record of 841-84 in his 29 seasons as a head coach, which included an impressive 36-1 mark this season. Prior to his time at Grantsburg, Morrin coached at Webster High School from 1984-86, guiding the team to state championships in both 1985 and 1986. He began his coaching career at Washburn High School, where he led the program to the state tournament in just his first season at the helm.

 

In her eight years as the taskmaster at Marion Local, Steininger holds a career mark of 185-29. In 2010, her squad rolled to a 24-2 record, which included a perfect 9-0 mark in Midwest Athletic Conference matches, allowing the team to capture its third conference championship under her mentorship (2007, 2009, 2010). Steininger led Marion Local to three consecutive Ohio Division IV state championships from 2007-09, putting together a remarkable 82-4 record during that three-year stretch. She has built an extensive list of accolades for her work on the court, which includes: three Midwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year selections, three Ohio District VIII Coach of the Year honors and four Ohio Division IV Coach of the Year awards. She has also served as a coach for Team Atlantis Volleyball Club for 10 years.

 

Morrin and Steininger were selected from an outstanding group of nominees, which included: Kari Bensend (Texas), Stephanie Bloom (Indiana), Tanya Bond (Colorado), Jill Christensen (South Dakota), Kelly Drobek (California), Dale Grupe (Kentucky), Yasmin Ortiz (Florida), Lisa Pawlik (Indiana), Brian Rosen (North Carolina), Tad Sahara (Georgia) and Jodi Webster (Indiana).

 

The AVCA will formally present the National High School Coach of the Year awards to Morrin and Steininger at the 2010 Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, December 16.  The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 2010 AVCA Annual Convention.

 

As a result of winning AVCA National Coach of the Year honors, Morrin and Steininger will lead Team Swagger and Team Shatter in the third-annual Under Armour All-America Volleyball Match & Skills Competition, Saturday, December 18 at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.  Tickets for the Under Armour All-America Volleyball Match & Skills Competition are on sale now through Ticketmaster (http://www.ticketmaster.com/).

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Bill Morrin gets a HUGE award

AUDIO: Glenwood City @ Grantsburg: Regional Quarterfinals

As expected, the Grantsburg Pirates got the tournament off on the right foot by stomping the Glenwood City Hilltoppers in straight sets (25 – 3, 6, 11).

The Pirates move on and will face the winner of Clear Lake and Prescott (bracket here).

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Grantsburg rolls into the second round

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State champs on WXCX

Here’s audio of the pep rally.

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Pep Rally Audio

Here’s the play-by-play of the sectional final match with Melrose-Mindoro.

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Audio of sectional final

Grantsburg vs. Washburn

Here’s an interview I had with Grantsburg head volleyball coach, Bill Morrin after the match.

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Audio of the sectional semi-final

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!

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That was AWESOME!