Pierz's Przybilla a passing pro

Miranda Przybilla must own a good shovel because the girl can dig.

The senior collected 48 digs to help the Pierz Pioneers win the Ogilvie Invite for the fourth straight year.

Pierz defeated Rush City, Milaca and Aitkin in pool play before downing Cromwell in the semifinals and Rush City again in the championship game.

Miranda Przybilla

Year: Senior

School: Pierz

Sport: Volleyball

Position: Libero

Key stat: Finished with 48 digs in the Ogilvie tournament

"Her great passing made our setting better, which made our hitting better," sad Pierz head coach Wally Brown. "She got to a lot of balls that other people might not get to. Her energy kept us up. She's our little general back there. She keeps everyone up."

In Pierz's 3-0 win over Crosby-Ironton Sept. 8, Przybilla tallied nine digs. She posted six more in the Pioneers' 3-1 victory over Kimball Sept. 10.

Brown said Przybilla's athletic ability and work ethic in practice make her an asset in the back row as a defensive specialist or libero.

"She's stepped into that role and loves it," said Brown. "Many players don't want to be a libero, but she takes pride in that position. She just has that attitude.

"She's played around the rotation before and she can play left side for us, but for the team she's better being the libero and being able to come in and out of the game. She could play front row, but this is better for the team. She's giving up a little more glory to be the specialist on our defense."

Last season she finished with 184 digs, 14 ace serves and one kill.

"I definitely do miss getting a kill and the excitement that comes with that, but passing is something I love to do," said Przybilla. "It's my favorite part of volleyball and I'm the best at it out of everything else. I'm not very good at hitting. Libero is the best for me."

Przybilla said a good libero is controlled and stays down on the ball. She said she must remain focused and read the hitters. Brown echoed the focus part and added a relentless attitude. He said Przybilla is a bulldog, who goes after every shot.

"She's not a captain, but that hasn't swayed her from being a leader," said Brown. "She's exactly what you would what in terms of senior leadership.

"She likes volleyball. It's a passion for her. I like the fact that she wants to be the best defensive player possible."

Przybilla hopes to lead the Pioneers to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. That's the site of the state volleyball tournament.

"We haven't been to state in a long time so that's a huge goal of ours," she said. "For myself, my goal is to just get better."

Other notable performances:

Cross country: Manon Gammon-Deering, Little Falls, won the Wadena-Deer Creek Invite in 15:49.14.

Lisa Borden, Crosby-Ironton, won the Wildwedge Invite in 15:53.

Swimming: Whitney Weisz, Little Falls, set pool records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles and was a member of the winning 200 freestyle relay against St. Cloud Tech.

Tennis: Allie Carlson-Kaitlyn Davies, Aitkin, went 4-0 to win the No. 1 doubles title at Pine City.

Kirsti Harmdierks-Cori Lundmark, Pequot Lakes, went 4-0 to win the No. 2 doubles title at Pine City.

Volleyball: Kelsey Meyer, Pierz, finished with 113 set assists, 44 digs, 19 kills, eight blocks and three ace serve last week.

Sammi Lucking, Pierz, finished with 66 kills, 13.5 blocks, 17 digs and six ace serves last week.

Katie Wangberg, Pine River-Backus, finished with 49 digs, 48 set assists, 19 kills and six ace serves and four blocks last week.

Courtney Volkmann, Wadena-Deer Creek, finished with 50 set assists, 13 kills, six digs and eight ace serves in two wins last week

Brittney Noon, Wadena-Deer Creek, finished with 20 kills, five digs and six ace serves in two wins last week.

JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.