Freeman built a 2-0 lead over unbeaten Gayville-Volin in Gayville Thursday night, Sept. 10, but the Raiders rallied to take the win in a thrilling volleyball match featuring two good teams. The Raiders (5-0) won 23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16, 17-15.

The volleyball team from Freeman High School beat Centerville in straight-sets Tuesday night, Sept. 8, to improve to 3-1. The Flyers defeated the Tornados easily, 25-19, 25-14. 25-11 in Centerville. Senior Rijjy Peterson had an all-around great game with seven kills and led the team with 12 digs and eight aces. Oddy Pankratz had a team-high 10 kills and added nine set assists and four aces while Mesa Mehlhaf and Kate Miller had four kills each. Ava Ammann led the team with 12 set assists.

Canistota/Freeman moved to 3-0 with a 40-6 win over Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Friday night, Sept. 4. The Pride led 32-0 at halftime of Freeman Public's homecoming game. The Raiders dropped to 2-1. Also Friday, 9AA top-ranked Viborg-Hurley defeated Menno/Marion 52-0 to improve to 3-0. The Razorbacks dropped to 0-3. Viborg-Hurley played without starting quarterback Chase Mason, who tore his ACL against Arlington-Lake Preston and will miss the remainder of the season. 

CANISTOTA/FREEMAN FOOTBALL Aug. 21: Pride 46, Chester 0 (1-0) Aug. 28: Pride 14, De Smet 12 (2-0) Sept. 4: Pride 40. O-R/R 6 (3-0)

Freeman Public moved to a 2-0 early in this volleyball season with a straight-set win over Irene-Wakonda in Freeman Tuesday night, Sept. 1. The Flyers won 25-13, 25-20, 25-20.

Top-ranked Canistota/Freeman trailed De Smet by a touchdown going into the fourth quarter, but a 5-yard run by Tyce Ortman put the Pride ahead 14-12 and the two-time defending champions held off the Bulldogs for a dramatic road win Friday night, Aug. 28.

The Menno Wolves won their volleyball opener 25-18, 26-24, 25-18 over Centerville Thursday night, Aug. 27 at home. Jesse Munkvold had a big game with 10 kills and 21 digs to lead Menno. Kylie Harriman had 12 digs, 11 set assists and 3 aces, and Kaylie Schempp added a dozen digs. Additionally, the Wolves got 5 kills and 2 blocks from Madelyn Heckenlaible and 5 kills from both Bridget Vaith and Adrian Nusz.

Freeman High School lost its first set 27-29 but came back to win the next two 25-18, 25-16 to take down Avon in the season opener in Freeman Tuesday night, Aug. 25. Rijjy Peterson had seven kills, a pair of blocks, 12 digs and nine aces to lead the Flyers while Oddy Pankratz added six kills, two blocks of her own, 11 set assists and five digs. Mesa Mehlhaf had six kills and Cara Maske 11 set assists. The Flyers host Irene-Wakonda on Tuesday, Sept. 1.    

Two-time defending 9A champion Canistota/Freeman raced ahead to a 26-0 lead in the first quarter en route to a 46-0 win over Chester Area as the 2020 season got underway in Canistota Friday night, Aug. 21. Senior quarterback Tyce Ortman rushed for four touchdowns, Isiah Robertson ran for two and Blake Anderson carried the ball for one to lead a ground game that accounted for 282 of the Pride's 348 total yards. Canistota/Freeman's defense forced five turnovers and held the Flyers to just 127 total yards. Clayton Smith led the Pride defense with four solo tackles.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER For the Menno town team, a 13-8 win over Irene in the first round of the District 6B Amateur Baseball Tournament on Friday, July 24, put the second-seed Mad Frogs in the position they had hoped for — one win away from a return trip to Mitchell’s Cadwell Park and the state tournament. That’s what makes their elimination so confounding and tough to take.