John’s Journal: History, Success and Family At Wadena-Deer Creek

The first time I interviewed Courtney Volkmann was in 2010, a few days before the state volleyball tournament. Courtney was a senior at Wadena-Deer Creek, where her mother, Sue, was (and is) the head volleyball coach.

The story of the 2010 Wolverines remains one of the most heartbreaking – and uplifting – stories I have ever witnessed. In June that year, an F4 tornado ripped through Wadena, destroying the high school, the Volkmann family farm and a whole lot more.

“It was a huge miracle that nobody was killed,” Courtney told me back then.

The Wolverines made history that year by winning their first volleyball state championship. Courtney was named the Class 2A player of the year in 2010 and she went on to play volleyball at Bemidji State.

Wadena-Deer Creek returned to state in 2011 and 2017 (Courtney’s sister Casey was on the 2017 team). The Wolverines are at state once again this week at Xcel Energy Center, with Courtney – now Courtney Tumberg -- on the bench as an assistant coach along with Heidi Van Dyke.

Sue Volkmann has been coaching volleyball for 38 years and this year’s team is the sixth she has led to the state tournament. Her career record is 634-333 after Thursday’s 3-1 Class 2A state quarterfinal loss to top-seeded Southwest Christian.

“She brings a lot of knowledge, a lot of skill,” Sue said when asked about her daughter. “She played college ball and came back and the kids like having her around.”

Courtney has been on the coaching staff since her collegiate career ended in 2015. She owns an acupuncture business in Wadena and loves being around volleyball.



“Whenever I ask her a question, she always knows the answer,” said ninth-grader Payton Gravelle, who had a game-high 19 kills Thursday. “There's really no dumb question to ask because she'll help you with anything that you really need. Courtney is always ready.”

None of this year’s players had any experience playing at Xcel Energy Center, unlike their assistant coach.

“They ask things but they were like babies,” Courtney said. “I remember them being in diapers, literally, when we played. This isn’t an experience that they’ve really had, so it's like kind of starting all over now.”

Some of Courtney’s teammates from 2010 were in attendance Thursday, which brought back lots of wonderful memories.

“It feels like yesterday,” Courtney said. “It does not seem like it was 10-plus years ago.”

Where’s New Prague? In The State Championship Game

The New Prague Trojans are making their third appearance in the state volleyball tournament, the previous two coming in 2001 (when they were the Class 3A runner-up) and 2021.

Something else is new this season, because the Trojans are playing with the state’s largest schools in Class 4A for the first time. To call the team unfazed would be an understatement, because they will meet Wayzata for the 4A state title on Saturday.

Second-seeded New Prague advanced through Wednesday’s quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over Minnetonka and beat Stillwater 3-0 in Thursday’s semifinals. They will take a record of 27-5 into the title contest against the top-seeded Trojans (32-0).

“I think when we found out we were going to 4A we were kind of scared,” said New Prague junior Emerson Dillon. “Because we're the underdogs, we're just coming in, we're new and we're a smaller school but not really a lot of people know us. A lot of people ask, ‘Oh, where's New Prague?’ And I think that us getting this far is a huge accomplishment for us.”

Roaring Back And Having Fun

Pequot Lakes, which was the state runner-up in Class 2A volleyball last year and returned to state with a record of 27-5 and the No. 2 seed, was in a real pickle during Thursday’s state quarterfinal against Redwood Valley.

The unseeded Cardinals swept the first two games 26-24 and 25-19 and appeared to be on the cusp of quickly moving on to the semifinal round. But the Pequot Lakes Patriots figured some things out, gritted their teeth and clawed their way back.

The Patriots won the third set 25-13 and the fourth by score of 25-12 to set up a winner-take-all fifth set. Pequot Lakes triumphed 15-6 to complete a comeback that will be talked about for a long time.

Patriots coach Christine Ganley said her message to the players was very simple: She wanted them to play as if they were in their gym at home.

She told them, “I want the kids back that play in my gym. And I said, ‘You're going to need to act like this is our gym.’ Because when they go in our gym, they play and have fun and relax and chase balls everywhere. So that's what I asked them to do.”

State Volleyball Tournament

Class 4A Semifinals Thursday

Wayzata defeated Anoka 3-0

New Prague defeated Stillwater 3-0

Class 3A Semifinals Friday

Marshall vs. Detroit Lakes

Delano vs. Byron

Class 2A Quarterfinals Thursday

Southwest Christian defeated Wadena-Deer Creek 3-1

Rush City defeated Annandale 3-0

Pequot Lakes defeated Redwood Valley 3-2

Caledonia defeated Concordia Academy 3-0

Class 1A Quarterfinals Thursday

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton defeated Pine River-Backus 3-0

New Life Academy defeated West Central Area 3-2

Mayer Lutheran defeated Ely 3-0

Mabel-Canton defeated Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 3-0

--MSHSL senior content creator John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected]