2024 Volleyball State Tournament: Day 2 Recap

The state championship match was set in one enrollment classification while two more started state tournament play with quarterfinal matches Thursday as the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Volleyball State Tournament continued at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Here’s a look at what happened:

Class AAAA

The top two seeds advanced with semifinal wins Thursday.

Lakeville South 3, Roseville Area 0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-11) – Junior Romi Chlebecek totaled 18 kills with just two attack errors and No. 1 seed Lakeville South swiftly advanced to its first state volleyball championship match since Lakeville split into North and South high schools in 2005. Ten of Chlebecek’s kills came in the third set, including six in the Cougars’ opening 12-1 run. South senior Josie Tingelhoff had a match-high 20 digs and sophomore setter Kaelyn Bjorklund contributed 28 assists. Sam Bloomquist led the fourth-seeded Raiders with nine kills.

Champlin Park 3, East Ridge 2 (25-16, 20-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-12) – Senior Carly Gilk piled up 38 kills and classmate Reese Axness compiled 57 assists as No. 2 seed Champlin Park rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the match to advance. The Rebels will play for their first title since winning the Class AAA crown in 2018. Gilk’s kill in the fourth set held off an East Ridge rally to force a decisive race to 15, then the Rebels scored the final four points of the fifth set. Senior Kathryn Adler added 22 kills for the winners. Senior Paige Belfield led No. 3 seed East Ridge with 13.

Up next: Lakeville South (31-2) and Champlin Park (30-3) will square off for the fourth time this season on Saturday at 7 p.m., this time in a best-of-five setting with a state championship on the line. Champlin Park won two of the three previous meetings, but all three were best-of-three regular-season tournament matches.

Roseville Area (27-6) and East Ridge (25-7) will play for third place Saturday at 5 p.m.

In consolation matches Thursday, St. Michael-Albertville swept Apple Valley 28-26, 25-21, 25-16 and Minnetonka got past Anoka 25-20, 25-16, 17-25, 25-21. The consolation final match between the Knights (25-8) and Skippers (18-14) is Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

Class AA

Albany 3, New London-Spicer 1 (25-12, 24-26, 29-27, 26-24) – Albany’s first-set dominance belied the thrilling quarterfinal match that played out between the No. 1 seed Huskies and No. 8 seed Wildcats. Senior Hannah Klein delivered 33 kills for Albany, including the winner in set 3 after the Huskies fought off a pair of set points and three straight in the fourth set to end the match. She also led the team with 13 digs. Junior Katelyn Delzer had 10 kills for New London-Spicer.

Southwest Christian 3, Annandale 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) – No. 4 seed Southwest Christian notched its fifth consecutive postseason sweep to advance to the semifinals for the second straight year. Sophomore ​​Avery Beckering (16) and junior Claire Lemkuil combined for 30 kills. Beckering also had 10 digs. Senior Libby Weckman served three aces and tallied 36 assists. Senior Julia Bishop led Annandale with 10 kills.

Chatfield 3, Rush City 1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-12, 25-16) – Junior setter Harper Goldsmith handed out a whopping 50 assists and second-seeded Chatfield’s state volleyball tournament debut was a victorious one. Senior Jaelyn LaPlante set the tone with 10 kills in the opening set. She finished with 26. Junior Hannah Tweeten served five aces and posted 30 digs. Sophomore Abigail Telander paced Rush City with 14 kills, matched by the Gophers’ Trindy Barkeim and Cora Bicknese.

Hawley 3, St. Croix Lutheran Academy 2 (19-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-17, 15-13) – No. 3 seed Hawley extended its win streak to 14 while snapping the Crusaders’ own streak at 18. The Nuggets have been to the state tournament twice and have produced memorable victories both times. Their 2021 debut also featured a five-set quarterfinal win in which they came back from 2-1 down. Sophomore Katarina Vetter had a match-best 13 kills in this one. Junior Callie Oakland was the Cruasders’ leader in that category with 12.

Up next: Albany (29-2) takes on Southwest Christian (20-12) at 5 p.m. and Chatfield (29-4) faces Hawley (27-5) at 7 p.m. in Friday’s semifinals.

Class A

Mayer Lutheran 3, Sebeka 0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-19) – Sebeka’s last lead of the match was 2-1 in the first set as No. 1 seed Mayer Lutheran was convincing in advancing to the state semifinals for the fourth consecutive season. The last three ended with the Crusaders playing for the title. Senior Marley Martin and sophomore Courtney Tuttle both had 13 kills for Mayer Lutheran.

West Central Area 3, Kittson County Central 1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-14) – No. 4 seed West Central Area responded to a first-set defeat by rallying for its first state quarterfinal victory. The Knights made their tournament debut last year and finished sixth. Senior setter Macy Grosz dished 42 assists and three of her teammates had double-digit kills: Mya Foslien (19), Isabelle Puchalski (12) and Madison Fagre (10). Junior middle hitter Kaydence White tallied 17 kills for the Bearcats, including eight in the opening set.

Minneota 3, Ely 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-16) – No. 2 seed Minneota returned to familiar territory after missing last year’s state tournament. The Vikings are back in the semifinals after advancing to the Class A title match in the previous five tournaments, winning three titles. Minneota ended the first set on a 9-1 run, including four Jaylyn Coequyt kills. Teammate Elivia Faris finished with a match-high 16. Lilli Rechichi had 11 kills for Ely.

Fillmore Central 3, New Life Academy of Woodbury 2 (25-20, 25-18, 27-29, 20-25, 15-7) – Fillmore Central became the only team seeded sixth or lower to advance to the semifinals in this year’s tournament by winning a marathon final match of the quarterfinal round. The sixth-seeded Falcons are used to upsets by now. They were the No. 6 seed in Section 1A and knocked off No. 1 seed Mabel-Canton in the final. New Life Academy didn’t make this one easy. Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Eagles faced five match points and answered each time, rallying for a 29-27 third-set win. They jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the fourth set to force set 5, but ran out of steam. Fillmore Central junior setter Aubrey Daniels clinched the victory with back-to-back aces. Freshman Madilyn Zwart led the Falcons with 13 kills. Junior Marisa Michaelis had 22 for the Eagles.

Up next: Friday’s semifinals feature Mayer Lutheran (29-5) and West Central Area (28-4) at 1 p.m., followed by Minneota (23-11) and Fillmore Central (18-15) at 3 p.m.