Trojan volleyball faces rugged competition

The New Prague Trojan volleyball team dropped a non-conference game at Hopkins Tuesday, Sept. 6, then spent the weekend in Marshall at the Southwest Minnesota Challenge. The Trojans won one of five matches and placed 24th of 32 teams.

New Prague (2-8) hosted Belle Plaine (No. 3, Class AA) in a non-conference match Tuesday, Sept. 13. They will host Mankato East on Thursday, Sept. 15, and open their Wright County Conference schedule with a match at Orono Thursday, Sept. 22.

Royals 3, Trojans 0 Hopkins (No. 5, Class AAA) swept New Prague 25-9, 25-19, 25-17 Tuesday at Hopkins High School.

"We struggled with the fast-pace game Hopkins brought to the court," Coach Angie Andersen said. "They are a very strong and aggressive team and they took us out of any sort of rhythm early on."

Andersen said after a rough first set, the Trojans battled back and played better in the last two.

Sophia Andersen had the team’s only ace serve and she led the team in kills with six. Anna Eaton added five. McKenna Vacek led with 18 serve receptions and 11 digs. Brooke Buthe had six set assists and Andersen four, and Amanda Giesen and Johnson both led in blocks with three.

Southwest MN Challenge

New Prague split two matches on Friday and lost all three matches on Saturday to place 24th of 32 teams at the Southwest Minnesota Challenge at Marshall last weekend.

New Prague opened with a three-set loss to Eastview, 25-23, 17-25, 15-11, then rebounded with a win over Yellow Medicine East, 25- 22, 25-13. The Trojans lost their opener Saturday to Sioux Falls (SD) Roosevelt....

To see more on this story pick up the September 15, 2016 print edition of The New Prague Times.