Allison Hyatt won’t have to budget for any manicure appointments for the next while. There’s not enough of her fingernails left at this point in the season to worry about it.
The former Muskie is on the cusp of the biggest achievement in her athletic career as she and her Rainy River Community College Voyageurs teammates are one game shy of qualifying for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III volleyball championships in Rochester, Mn.
But first, there’s a demon to be dealt with in the form of Central Lakes College, which will host the Voyageurs this Saturday in Brainerd—with the winner getting an invitation to the big dance.
“Nerves will be a big thing for us to deal with,” admitted Hyatt, who has had an outstanding freshman season at the libero position (as her top-15 ranking nationally in Division III play would suggest).
“We’ve got so many first-year players. And intimidation is going to be a factor, considering they’ve beat us three out of four times this year,” noted Hyatt.
“But we can definitely beat them. When we come together, we’re unstoppable,” she enthused.
Hyatt and the Voyageurs put themselves into Saturday’s showdown with a third-place finish at last weekend’s Minnesota Community College Conference tournament, which involved the best schools in the state at the Division III level.
Rainy River won their pool Friday, winning a combined seven of nine sets against Rochester, Fergus Falls, and Mesabi Range (Virginia).
That put them up against Central Lakes College in Saturday’s semi-final. The Voyageurs grabbed a 30-23 win in the opening set, but then dropped the next three by scores 30-19, 30-24, and 30-12 to lose the best-of-five showdown.
“We seem to shut down after the first set,” remarked Hyatt. “We were doing everything right, but I don’t know if we get it in our heads that we’re not going to win, or we’re just not confident enough.
“But they didn’t beat us at all. We beat ourselves.”
The defeat meant the Voyageurs had to beat Mesabi Range in the third-place game to make it to regionals.
With a 3-0 sweep by scores of 30-27, 30-19, and 30-25, it was mission accomplished for Rainy River, who are 24-8 overall this season.
With a second-place finish at the nationals last year, the No. 6 nationally-ranked Voyageurs have been working towards returning for another title shot since day one of practice this year.
If they can halt the march of third-ranked Central Lakes, they’ll be one step closer.
“No one’s mind can be anywhere else but on volleyball on Saturday,” Hyatt stressed. “No one can have a bad game. We’ve got to go to bed this week thinking about winning.
“I’m really excited for this chance.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
