Photo by Samantha Davis. Minneota celebrated after winning a point in the third set against Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Saturday night at Southwest Minnesota State University. Below: The Minneota volleyball team stands with the Section 3A championship shield after defeating WWG 3-1. The Vikings advance to state play next week.
MARSHALL — Appearing in the Section 3A championship match for the eighth straight season, the top-seeded Minneota Vikings volleyball team defeated an aggressive No. 2 Westbrook-Walnut Grove group Saturday night by a set score of 25- They won the section title against their opponents 12, 25-. He lost the second one 23, 25-16, 25-23. With this victory, the Vikings earned a ticket to the state tournament.
“I’m very excited. We worked really hard for this.” Minneota defensive specialist Autumn Anderson said. “We are overall very excited and very happy to have this opportunity.”
WWG defeated the No. 1 Russell Tyler Lewiston Knights 3-1 on Thursday to become the 3A South champions, while the Vikings defeated No. 2 Camby 3-1 in their first title match in decades. The company expanded to northern division.
“I’m very proud of my group. I mean, this is history for us.” WWG head coach Megan Westover said. “Nobody expected us to get this far, so it was about going out there and leaving everything on the floor.”
The energy inside Southwest Minnesota State University’s R/A facility was loud and intense from the jump, with one half of the bleachers filled with Chargers red and the other side filled with Minneota blue.
“They (WWG) had a great year. We knew they had a tough serve. We knew they had two strong outsiders, but their middle He also catches the ball.” Fruin said. “They made us fight tonight. Credit to them.”
After a service and receiving error on WWG’s part, the Vikings opened the game with a 4-0 lead. That was until Natalie Wall got a kill and Mineota made a serve error that gave the Chargers two points.
Minneota answered with a run to extend its lead to 10-3 before Jaylin Coquit and Sarah Grunes each had kills and WWG called a timeout.
Westover can be heard telling his team, “Just play the game.” During the huddle, to calm initial nerves.
Minneota held an 18-10 advantage after WWG fought back a bit and closed the gap. In addition to some offensive mistakes by the Vikings, Wall and Riley Parker got kills.
Parker finished with three aces and Wahl had 13 kills and 23 digs.
“I wish I hadn’t come out so nervous.” Westover said. “That’s the biggest thing.”
The Vikings were able to score the final two points on Nevaeh Hennen’s ace serve and another kill from Grunes to take the first set.
“We knew they (WWG) were a good team going for it.” Anderson said. “We knew we had to keep our energy high, keep moving forward and do what we do best.”
Several Minneota players protected the backcourt. Abigail Rorbicki finished with 27, Farris with 19, Anderson and Meagher each with 16, Sassner with 13 and Hennen with 10.
Olivia Locke had a team-high 25 digs for WWG, and Karlie Ross added 14 digs.
The Chargers came out looking for revenge in the second set and looked more confident. Both teams went point-to-point, with WWG leading 8-6 before Full-In called a timeout.
“(In the second set) I was able to limit my mistakes.” Westover said. “I feel like we couldn’t drive their errors hard enough… But in the second set, our energy level was up. They just played like they always did.”
Minneota’s offense sputtered after some communication errors, but tried to correct the errors as the set wore on to overcome a seven-point deficit.
Wahl got two more kills and took a 13-7 lead, forcing the Vikings to take another timeout.
Kills from Parker and Ross continued to build the Chargers’ advantage to 16-9.
Ross had a team-high 14 kills and 14 digs for WWG.
Minneota regained momentum with assist blocks from Koecuit and Grunes, followed by an attack error from WWG that cut the lead to 20-15.
Grunes and Koiquit led Minneota with four and three blocks, respectively, and each also had eight kills.
Minneota continued to fight back with consecutive scores from three points behind, 23-20, due to kills by Elivia Farris and Eden Meagher, and receiving errors on the Chargers’ part.
Meagher and Farris each had a team-high 14 kills.
Meagher’s kill and the Vikings’ block put them up to 23 points.
Faith Marsh and Ross each had kills, giving WWG the win in the second set and tying the match at 1-1.
“There was definitely (a lack of energy). They got ahead of us a little bit and gained some momentum.” Fruin said. “I think we just made some stupid mistakes at times and just felt the pressure.”
The Vikings were in control again in the third set, putting pressure on WWG’s defense with kills in the back corners and open pockets.
“We all talked about it in the huddle (after the second set), and we all talked about how we needed to calm down.” Faris said. “Just stay calm, work as a team, and get the upper hand in the third set.”
Several kills from Farris and Meagher, along with Libby Sussner, helped Minneota build a 16-8 advantage.
At Mineota, Sassner had a team-high 23 set assists, followed by Hennen with 22 set assists.
Hadley Geniguez paced WWG’s offense with 36 assists.
When Minneota reached match point, the Chargers scored five consecutive points to close the gap to 24-15. However, it wasn’t enough to fully recover as the Vikings secured the third set after a kill by Hennen.
“I think we served really well in the third set.” Fruin said. “We played loose, but we played with confidence.”
With a trip to state on the line, Minneota looks to end the night in four sets, and WWG seeks a fifth set.The fourth set is once again point-to-point with both teams scoring at least two points. failed to build a lead.
An error by the Vikings gave WWG a 15-13 advantage at first.
After a Minneota timeout, the set ended tied at 21-21.
“We know what’s in store for both teams in the fourth set, and you can feel it.” Mr. Fruin said. “Both sides tried to go too far at times, and that’s when the mistakes happened.”
As the Vikings reached match point, tensions rose and the gym filled with cheers of support.
“Sometimes I think we’re a very young team in that atmosphere.” Faris said. “All of the young girls are not used to playing in that atmosphere, but I think they held themselves high and performed very well. I think we did a great job.”
WWG blocked Farris’ serve and held on a little longer, making it a one-point difference at 24-23.
When the girls ran together and fell to the floor after Sussner scored the game-winning goal, giving the Vikings a chance to continue playing volleyball in November, the Minneota coaching staff immediately hugged each other.
“It definitely never gets old. Every year, it’s special. This group is a young team, inexperienced. Our veteran players have calmed down our young players in the second half of the season, especially in these playoffs. He did a really good job of staying calm and calm.” said Fruin, who has only two seniors, Hennen and Farris. “I feel so good when I think about those moments in the offseason and those early mornings when I came to practice and I was tired. But I put in the extra effort and it’s paying off now.”
WWG finished the season with a total of 23 wins and 5 losses, with five seniors graduating: Parker, Locke, Marsh, Wall, and Anna Byers.
“The seniors are very important in terms of leading the team mentally more than anything else.” Westover said. “This group of seniors had big hopes and dreams and weren’t going to quit until they achieved them. They will definitely be missed given the character they brought to the team and the ‘never quit’ attitude they brought to the team. It will be.”
Minneota, currently 24-10, last won the section in 2022 when it defeated RTR in five sets. The team became state champions that same year.
“I’m just going to take it one day at a time and keep playing like I’ve been playing the last three days.” Faris said.
The Class A state tournament quarterfinals begin Thursday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The No. 1 and No. 4 seeds will play at 5 p.m., and the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds will play at 7 p.m. Seeds are expected to be announced this weekend.
“We have to rest and get healthy, that’s for sure.” Mr. Fruin said. “Come Thursday, we have to put everything together.”
