After the Sauk Centre High School
volleyball team won in Friday’s Class 2A state semifinals, coach Jim Klaphake
admitted he was somewhat surprised that the Mainstreeters were headed to
Saturday’s state championship match.
“I thought this was going to be a good
team, and it’s a great team,” he had said Friday.
When Klaphake and the team’s seven seniors
arrived for a postgame session with the media on Saturday – following their gold-clinching
3-1 victory over Jackson County Central – the coach began by smiling broadly
and addressing his statement from a day earlier.
“I thought
this was an awful good group,” he said. “I didn't lie, either.”
A few
minutes later, as the Mainstreeters talked about their come-from-behind, stomp-on-the-gas,
13-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19 win over the talented, gritty Huskies,
the seniors were asked, “Raise
your hand if you thought you would be state champs.”
Only Emma
Kittelson, alternating between tears of joy and a buoyant grin, raised her
hand. She looked at Klaphake, her smile broad, as the coach and the other
seniors laughed. It was quite a moment.
The whole
thing seemed like a dream come true for the Mainstreeters. They had a wonderful
season, coming to the state tournament with a 30-1 record, finishing 33-1 and
taking home all those gold medals and a state championship trophy. But
surprised they were.
“I've been
doing this for a while,” said Klaphake as he wrapped up his 18th
season as a head coach with a state title in his first title match. “We were here
in 2010, 2011 and 2012. We've been in the section championship five times in
between there (and now).”
Asked about
the dream of winning and the actual experience of winning, the answer was easy.
The coach looked at his seniors and said, “Girls, what do you think? Yeah, I
think this more than matches the dream.”
State Volleyball Tournament
Class 1A
Championship: Mayer Lutheran defeats Minneota
25-15, 25-20, 25-18
Third place: Bethlehem Academy defeats
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 25-18, 15-25, 25-22, 25-16
Fifth place: Legacy Christian defeats
Breckenridge 24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21
Class 2A
Championship: Sauk Centre defeats Jackson
County Central 13-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19
Third place: Hawley defeats Mounds Park
Academy 29-27, 12-25, 22-25, 31-29, 19-17
Fifth place: Southwest Christian defeats
Cannon Falls 25-18, 25-19, 25-16
Class 3A
Championship: Marshall vs. Kasson-Mantorville
Third place: Grand Rapids vs. New Prague
Fifth place: Monticello defeats Chisago
Lakes 19-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-17
Class 4A
Championship: Wayzata vs. East Ridge
Third place: Rogers vs. Eden Prairie
Fifth place: Lakeville North defeats
Bloomington Jefferson 25-21, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of
Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn
and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts.
Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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