Athlete of the Week: Lauren Fjerstad, Byron Bears

BYRON, Minn. (KTTC) –

“Probably relentless,” answered Byron Volleyball head coach Shane Plummer when asked to describe senior, outside hitter, Lauren Fjerstad as a player.

“My teammates motivate me a lot. There’s a lot of other teammates on the team who will give everything they have, and I think when they do that, it’s really easy to give everything you have,” added Fjerstad.

A thirteen-season drought is over for Bears Volleyball. They’re headed to the state tournament for the first time since 2009.

“It means a lot to be able to break that streak and get our -- me and Lexie as seniors to get us to go to state,” said Fjerstad. “Which is phenomenal and gets the rest of the generations coming up to look forward to.”

Fjerstad had a team-leaded sixteen kills in the Section 1 AAA championship match.

“It was pretty cool. That’s Mya Boelter. She’s my friend and I love her and she’s so sweet,” noted Fjerstad on a first-set kill that knocked an opposing player off her feet. “I know. I think it’s when it’s that competition though, it feels pretty good to get a kill like that.”

She also led the Bears with six aces against the Komets.

“So you know, she’s come in really clutch especially these last two games, 12 aces and two games is phenomenal. You know, that’s awesome to do,” said Coach Plummer.

The Bears’ state tournament journey begins Wednesday facing the Monticello Magic.

“Our big message, even when we went to the Civic Center, was making sure that our environment wasn’t what was changing in our hearts,” spoke Fjerstad. “We knew that our environment was going to look different at the Civic Center, at home, at other places, even at the Excel center, up in the cities, because ultimately this is the last go of the season, and we don’t have anything else after this. And so we want to make sure that we get everything out on the court while we can.”

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