Volleyball State Tournament: Day 1 Recap
Semifinals set in Class AAA and Class AAAA
Posted: Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - 10:05 PM
In the first day of play at the 2021 Volleyball State Tournament, the Class AAAA and Class AAA teams took to the floor at the Xcel Energy Center. Wayzata, Rogers, Eden Prairie and East Ridge advanced to the Class AAAA championship semifinals, and Marshall, Grand Rapids, Kasson-Mantorville, and New Prague moved on in Class AAA.
Class AAAA
Top-seeded Wayzata and No. 5 Rogers will meet in the first round of Class AAAA championship semifinal action at 1 p.m. on November 11. Eden Prairie and East Ridge will follow suit at 3 p.m.
Wayzata sent Roseville Area to the consolation round after posting a 3-0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-14) victory and Rogers upset No. 4 Lakeville North 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-19, 26-24). Sophomore Stella Swenson had 37 assists and five kills for Wayzata. Anya Schmidt, a ninth-grader, led Rogers with 24 kills.
Unseeded Forest Lake took No. 3 Eden Prairie to five sets before the Eagles prevailed 24-26, 24-26, 25-22, 25-18, 21-19. Junior Lillian Ekness had a team-high 13 kills for Eden Prairie and Cameron Berger added 51 assists.
East Ridge, the No. 3 seed, was the final AAAA team to advance; the Raptors beat Bloomington Jefferson 3-1 (11-25, 25-17, 25-21, 28-26). Senior Camryn Greenwald paced East Ridge with 11 kills.
In the consolation round, it will be Roseville Area against Lakeville North. Forest Lake will face off against Bloomington Jefferson.
Class AAA
Marshall, the No. 1 seed, will play No. 5 Grand Rapids in the first AAA championship final. The Tigers and Thunderhawks will meet at 5 p.m. on November 11. Kasson-Mantorville, the No. 2 seed, and New Prague, the No. 3 seed, will then face off at 7p.m.
Marshall made short work of St. Paul Highland Park 3-0 (25-14, 25-4, 25-10) in the opening quarterfinal. Marshall senior Tessa Gannott had nine kills for the Tigers.
In the second game of the evening, Grand Rapids defeated No. 4-seeded Monticello 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-16). Kyra Giffen, a Grand Rapids junior, had nine kills and sophomore teammate Braya LaPlant added a game-high 25 assists.
In the final two games, Kasson-Mantorville dismissed Sauk Rapids-Rice 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-15) and New Prague defeated Chisago Lakes 3-1 (20-25, 25017, 25-19, 25-11). Kasson-Mantorville senior Annika Larson and sophomore Ellie Ask tallied 11 and 10 kills, respectively. New Prague senior Anna Molstad put up 17 kills for the Trojans.
St. Paul Highland Park will play Monticello in the first consolation semifinal. Then, Sauk Rapids-Rice will match up against Chisago Lakes.
