John's Journal: The Most Experienced Coach At State Volleyball

Of all the coaches at this year’s Minnesota high school state volleyball tournament, no one has more experience at the game’s highest levels than Alexandria’s Mary Byrne. From her first time at a state tournament when she was a ninth-grader at Marshall High School in the late 1970s through this week’s tournament, she has seen it all as a player and coach.

Now in her seventh year at Alexandria, Byrne has a record of 104-57 with the Cardinals, who are seeded fifth in the Class 3A tournament and will meet top-seeded Delano in Friday’s semifinals at Xcel Energy Center.

Alexandria defeated fourth-seeded Mahtomedi 3-0 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals while Delano beat eighth seed Hermantown 3-0. In the other half of the 3A bracket, second-seeded Marshall and third-seeded Stewartville will decide who advances to Saturday’s championship match.

If Alexandria and Marshall play for the title, that would be a full-circle moment for Byrne. She is a 1981 Marshall graduate whose team lost to St. Paul Johnson in the 1979 Class 2A championship match at Met Center.

She played college volleyball at Nebraska, where she was a three-time All-Big Eight selection. She returned to Marshall to coach the Tigers in 1991 and 1992 (they were 2A state runner-up in 1992) before embarking on a college coaching career. She was head coach at South Dakota State from 1993 to 2000 and head coach at North Carolina State from 2001 to 2005.

At South Dakota State, Byrne had a record of 175-88, leading the Jackrabbits to their first NCAA Division II Tournament in 1997.

After stepping away from her job at North Carolina State, Byrne was involved in club volleyball. Wanting to be closer to relatives in Minnesota, Byrne’s family moved to the Alexandria area. When the high school job opened up, she was encouraged to apply.

After she was hired, then-Alexandria athletic director Bob Brakke told the Alexandria Echo Press, “She has Division I college coaching experience, Division II college coaching experience (and) just a wealth of volleyball experience and knowledge. You can tell she's passionate for the game and also for the kids. I feel like we're lucky to have a coach of her caliber.”

It's been pretty much a perfect fit.

“Coaching volleyball is in my blood,” Byrne said during this week’s tournament. “I have had a real passion for volleyball ever since I was young. I played at Nebraska, so you definitely spend time investing in this game. But more importantly, now it’s just sharing that passion with young women and there's so much to teach in high school; the game of volleyball, life skills, and having them go on and pursue their passions. So it's just really rewarding.”

The Cardinals have a strong volleyball pedigree, playing at state 12 times, most recently in 2009. Alexandria won 2A state titles in 1995 and 1999 and was runner-up in 1991 and 1994.

If all goes well for Alexandria’s Hadley Thull, the 2025 girls state basketball tournament will add another in a long string of state appearances -- in two sports --  for the 6-foot-2 senior.

She plans to play basketball at South Dakota State after considering a multitude of other college offers, including from some Big Ten schools. Alexandria has played in the state basketball teammate in three of the last four years under Hall of Fame coach Wendy Kohler, placing third last year in Class 3A.

This week’s appearance in the state volleyball tournament is the first for Thull in that sport, and she is relishing the opportunity. She had 15 kills and 13 digs in Wednesday’s victory over Mahtomedi.

She has played volleyball since she was 12 years old and enjoys her two-sport life.

“I don't find it that hard to balance each sport out,” she said. “I think it's good to kind of get out of the rhythm of basketball, get into volleyball, and then just go back and forth.”

The acts of rebounding and scoring close to the hoop in basketball are similar to hitting and blocking at the net in volleyball.

“Yeah, for sure,” Thull said. “Both sports use quick-twitch muscles, so working on that during volleyball and moving into basketball is good.”

With volleyball a four-class sport, the state tournament has expanded from three to four days. Class 3A teams played their quarterfinals Wednesday, had Thursday off before resuming play Friday, and 4A teams will not play Friday. Under the previous three-day format, teams played three matches in as many days.

“There's certainly a number of positives to it, just from a physical standpoint, letting them recover and whatever else,” said Champlin Park coach John Yunker after the Rebels survived the 4A semifinals with a 3-2 win over East Ridge on Thursday.

“There are a few quirks,” he added. “Now they're back in school for a day, and they got all the noise around, and everybody’s excited and talking. And of course, armchair quarterbacks will have plenty of ideas for us, I'm sure. But overall it's something we have to get used to. … I think their bodies will definitely enjoy a lighter day tomorrow and then not having to play a match until Saturday night.”

When the football team from Renville County West meets LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli in the Nine-Player state quarterfinals Friday at Kasson-Mantorville, the RCW band will have a familiar person driving their bus. The man behind the wheel for the 159-mile drive to Kasson – along with other trips for the band -- will be Brad Johnson, RCW superintendent of schools.

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