Lange, Fruechte meet on volleyball court at 4 p.m. today
Caledonia is becoming a bit of a hot bed in the football world. Karl Klug is in his fifth season with the Tennessee Titans. Isaac Fruechte was just signed to the Minnesota Vikings practice squad.
But it’s not just football, where these players from Caledonia High School are thriving. It’s on the volleyball court, too.
Emma Lange is playing a vital role on the No. 3-ranked Concordia-St. Paul volleyball team. Last week, the Golden Bears beat the top team in the country – a team that won the National Championship last year – before falling in the title game of the Colorado Premier Challenge – the toughest volleyball tournament in the country.
Here’s a clip of Lange with the block, then a kill to the rafters from the ESPN3 broadcast:
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You can still watch the replay of that game here, by signing in with your cable provider. C-SP beat top-ranked Tampa 3-0 before falling to No. 13 Ferris St. 3-2.
At 4 p.m. today at McCown Gymnasium, Lange will be back home, so to speak. It’s Winona State University’s home-opener and Lange has come crash the party of former teammate Maria Fruechte.
They were seniors when Lange and Fruechte led Caledonia High to the Minnesota Class 2A state championship match in 2012. Lange went on to C-SP, while Fruechte headed to Iowa State. Three years later, Fruechte has transferred to WSU.
Why Fruechte transferred from Iowa State to Winona this season was quite simple: “I felt things weren’t working really well there,” she said. “I didn’t see myself playing in the future, so I just thought, I only have these four, five years playing volleyball, so I might as well play while I can. It would be a better experience for me and I’d be happier somewhere else.
“There were just a couple (players) that were in front of me in the lineup and they were really good. I just wasn’t quite to (their) level and I didn’t see myself getting enough coaching and work to improve myself to beat those girls out.”
It’s honesty you don’t often hear from an athlete and something anyone who’s played can relate. Sometimes you just know the person or people ahead of you are better, and no amount of work is going to change that, so unless you wish ill will upon them, something else has to change for you to get on the court.
Of course, there could have been 100 other factors into Fruechte’s decision, but playing time is as good as any. And in a sport where you only get four years to play, and you just lost one of those, you have to make some tough decisions.
So, Fruechte changed scenery and she’s much happier for it. When she decided she wanted to transfer her two choices were Winona and, of course, Concordia.
Lange and Fruechte are good friends, but Fruechte hid the fact that she was unhappy at Iowa State and had already made a decision she was going to transfer the spring of their sophomore years, but wasn’t sure where. On a ride to open gym one night during Christmas break last winter, Fruechte told Lange what she was thinking, and explained she was trying to decide between Concordia and Winona State.
“That car ride was me telling her everything about the program and how I liked it,” Lange said. “She text me a few days later and told me her decision.”
In other words, on a drive to open gym volleyball from Caledonia to Mabel, Lange blew it.
“I had 20 minutes and I messed it up,” Lange said sarcastically, laughing. “No, I respect her decision.”
Why, exactly, Fruechte picked WSU over C-SP could be anything – maybe she wanted to be separate from something Lange had going or maybe she wanted to be closer to home. It doesn’t matter.
“It was a really hard choice,” Fruechte said. “Emma was really helpful. I (asked) her questions about the program, the coaches and the school in general (during that car ride). I just felt like Winona was a better fit for me and now I get to play against her. And now I’m only 45 minutes away from home.”
Lange and Fruechte met earlier this season in St. Paul, and Lange took it, 3-1. Fruechte had 11 kills in her first organized matchup against her former Caledonia teammate, Lange, who had seven kills.
Today’s matchup seems a bit lopsided, as C-SP has been a Division II powerhouse for more than a decade, while the Winona State program is beginning to show life the past few seasons. The Golden Bears have won the Division II National Championship each year from 2007 to 2013.
The Warriors were 19-8 last year and 20-11 in 2012. But aside from those two seasons, since 2007, they haven’t had a record above .500.
“The first time we played, every (set) was really close,” Fruechte said of the C-SP 25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21 win.