Schools

Roseville girls volleyball defeats Cretin-Derham Hall in exciting match

Get to know Roseville Varsity Girls Volleyball

Greg Simbeck

02 Oct 2026 — 7 min read

Whitney Walen Sets the Ball for a Hit | credit: Greg Simbeck/The Roseville Reader

A tenacious Roseville Area High School Raiders Girls Volleyball squad defeated a talented Cretin-Derham Hall team 3-0 in a match at Roseville Area High School on Tuesday night, September 29 . It was a clash of East Suburban Conference powerhouses, extending the Raiders' unblemished conference record.

After the match, I caught up with Raiders coach Greg Ueland and senior setter Leah Biyadglin to discuss the match and the season.

Roseville's Maddy Gaedy and Sophia Gholson-Johnson Go for the Block - Greg Simbeck/The Roseville Reader

Raiders Struggle Early, Then Find Their Stride

Roseville started the match looking disjointed and out of sync. CDH soared to a 14-8 lead in the first game, and it looked like it would be an uphill climb for our Raiders. But the serving prowess of Roseville junior outside hitter Kaia Jensen turned the tide as they reversed their fortunes to take the set 25-17.

The Raider’s Stella Rivard Gets Set to Serve | *Greg Simbeck/The Roseville Reader*

The Raiders momentum carried into the second set as the Raiders took the early lead, taking advantage of some unforced errors by Cretin. As the game progressed, both sides played excellent defense, refusing to let the ball hit the surface. But excellent defensive digs by Whirtney Walen and Stella Rivard and strong work at the net by Maddy Gaedy and Blommquist turned the tide as Roseville would wear CDH down to prevail 25-15.

In the third game of the match, the Raiders built up a lead they would never relinquish. Powerful kills by senior Sophia Gholson-Johnson off perfect sets by Whalen were too much for Cretin’s front line to stop. And a back-set by Biyadglign to Gholson-Johnson proved to be the back breaker for CDH’s chances. Coach Ueland put in a few reserves and as Roseville cruised to 25-11 game and match win.

Interview with senior Leah Biyadglign

Leah Biyadglign Returns a Serve | *credit: Greg Simbeck/The Roseville Reader*

The Roseville Reader: Congratulations on the match, and congratulations on reaching 1,000 digs. How's this year been? Tell me how much fun you had.

Leah Biyadglign: “It's been super fun. I feel like our team has grown a lot and we have improved so much from last year. I feel like we're more experienced and we're just having a lot of fun. We love each other so much, so each game is so much fun. Each practice is so much fun and I'm excited to see how the season ends.”

TRR: What have you learned most from your team?

LB: “I've learned To continue to uplift them and pour into them. They're an easy team to love, and I feel like when I pour into them, it helps my game improve. So, just continuing to give to my team as it helps my play as well.”

TRR: As a leader what do you try to instill in your teammates and give back to them?

LB: “I try and instill a lot of confidence in them and give them a lot of support. I continue to lift them up and make them feel like I got their back no matter what every situation may bring.”

Interview with Coach Greg Euland

Raider Coach Greg Ueland Directs His Team| *credit: Greg Simbeck/The Roseville Reader*

TRR: Hey Coach, congratulations on beating a very good team tonight.

Greg Ueland: “They are a very good team. Erin (CDH Coach Brown) does such a good job with her team. She's just elevated that program since she's come there and they're a juggernaut. They beat us last year and we didn't forget that.”

TRR: What did you say to your team after the match?

GU: “I said we didn't start the best like we have been doing, and I'm so proud of their resiliency and how they hung in there and decided we're gonna change the dynamic of this match. and we talked about how we're not done. We have a lot more to push and elevate and grow so we really want them to challenge them to come back ready to go tomorrow at practice. That's what this team does, and I guarantee they're going to keep pushing and clawing and doing whatever it takes to get better.”

TRR: Tell me about what the expectations were coming into the season?

GU: “I think outside people had big expectations for us, but I think we have really really big expectations for ourselves. I mean in Roseville volleyball, that's just kind of an understanding like we're gonna push and be the best that we can be. I think one of the things I really like about this team is that they haven't gotten caught up in outcome based goals. They're focused more on how they can individually improve, and how they can improve as a team. I feel like individually they've grown tremendously, but I'm starting to see that team piece start chipping away. I definitely want a lot more.”

TRR: You had a couple of losses at the beginning of the year. Was there a switch that flipped at some point where your team started to improve?

GU: “We've done a lot with Gold Medal Squared coaching, where they talk about the 2% improvement rule. I think just the little 2% of things that we can control getting better on is what we've been working on and trying to push. We did schedule incredibly hard non-conference games because we wanted that challenge. It's not just about wins and losses.

“It's about growth and you want to absolutely face the toughest opponents and we faced a gauntlet, and I love how our team responded and didn't crumble. They learned a lot about themselves so I think the switch is they just learned to bet on themselves a little bit more. They've always believed in their teammates and then they started believing and betting on themselves. And you saw that in how they played tonight.”

TRR: Your team tenaciously went after the ball on hard spikes and your communication was amazing.

GU: “Well, thank you. We always want more of that. We really challenged them because defense is something, where at Roseville, we hang our hats on. But I I wanted more execution and you asked about what was the switch, well I think our defense elevating their game a little bit both on the block and just digging hard-driven balls and things like that”

TRR: What is the growth potential, what do you want to see from this team?

GU: “I just want to keep seeing, honestly this sounds really basic, but I just want to keep seeing us improve our skills even more as a team. Can we dig more balls? I would like to see our blocking improve. I'd like to see, even though you saw how great it was, our communication improve and our serving keeps improving but we need to keep the pressure on and do that consistently. As consistently as we've been doing lately.”

TRR: So, from here on out, is it just taking it one match at a time?

GU: “Absolutely! I think from the moment we started the season it's one match at a time, one practice at a time. The thing I like about this team is they obviously have big goals and aspirations that they want to do but they are really grounded in the moment. I really love that and even our seniors, which it can be hard to be a senior sometimes and not stay present, but I really love how they are staying present as well.”