Volleyball State Tournament, 2022: Class A Championship

Championship

A much-anticipated showdown between the top two Class A volleyball teams in Minnesota during the 2022 high school season left fans and participants drained on Saturday, Nov. 12. The rematch of the 2021 Class A final between Mayer Lutheran and Minneota had all of the twists, turns and drama befitting of a state championship match.

In the end, the seeds held true as top-seeded Minneota defeated No. 2 Mayer Lutheran in five tense sets, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 19-25, 18-6, in the Class A championship match at the Xcel Energy Center. In a match that took 2 hours, 15 minutes to complete, it was far from certain which team would emerge with a state championship.

Would it be Mayer Lutheran, the defending Class A champion, which was looking for its fourth title overall? Would it be Minneota, which was also looking for its fourth state crown and first since 2019?

The narrative changed with each riveting point, especially in a deciding fifth set, which was necessary when Mayer Lutheran staved off defeat by winning Sets 3 and 4, respectively.

Minneota (34-3) built a modest 8-4 advantage in the fifth set before Mayer Lutheran rattled off four unanswered points to tie the score at 8-all. From there, it was a back-and-forth with six ties along the way. Sophomore right side hitter Elivia Faris put the Vikings in position to clinch a championship when she had a kill to give Minneota a 17-16 advantage. Moments later, the celebration began after an attack error by Mayer Lutheran (28-6).

Junior outside hitter Ella Johnson led Minneota with 22 kills. Teammate Ireland Stassen, a senior setter, had 40 kills as the Vikings ended their championship season on a 12-game winning streak.

Senior outside hitter Gabrielle Wachholz paced the Crusaders with 24 kills.

Third place

Mabel-Canton went the distance in defeating Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 25-20, 16-25, 26-24, 27-25, 15-11 to capture the third-place trophy. After winning the first set, the Cougars (36-3) dropped the next two, including Set 3 that went into extra points. Facing defeat in Set 4, the Cougars outlasted the Jaguars (26-8) to win prior to closing out the match in Set 5. Freshman middle hitter Kinley Soiney had 28 kills for Mabel-Canton. Senior outside hitter Ava Mueller counted with 25 for Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa.

Consolation

Badger/Greenbush-Middle River, the Section 8 champion, defeated its Section 7 champion neighbor to the east, Ely, in a 25-27, 25-18, 25-15, 26-24 victory for the consolation trophy. Sophomore outside hitter McKenzie Dahl led the Gators (32-3) with 13 kills and senior outside hitter Kinsley Hanson had 12 kills and 24 digs. Senior middle hitter Rachel Coughlin had 11 kills for the Wolves (30-2).