Volleyball teams come from far and wide to
the state tournament, where the destination all season long is Xcel Energy
Center in downtown St. Paul. This year for example, the Breckenridge Cowgirls drove
212 miles to play at state, the Hawley Nuggets drove 233 miles and the Badger/Greenbush-Middle
River Gators spent six hours on the highway, covering 355 miles between home
and downtown St. Paul.
But not every team travels long distances
to get to state. Two of the most intriguing stories of the week are centered on
hometown teams from schools located right in St. Paul. Let’s start with Mounds
Park Academy, which is only eight miles from Xcel Energy Center.
The unseeded Panthers dropped some heavy
ordnance in Thursday’s Class 2A quarterfinals, defeating top-seeded Southwest
Christian 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-11.
Mounds Park Academy is not an unknown in
volleyball circles. They played in the Class 1A state tournament in 2019 – the last
time a state tourney was held – and played a five-set match with Fosston in the
quarterfinals. They lost that time.
After moving up to 2A, their 26-4 record this
fall wasn’t enough to convince the tournament coaches to make them one of the five
seeded teams. A random draw matched them with Southwest Christian.
As Mounds Park Academy junior Lola Pinon
put it after the big win, “The
people that have nothing to lose are the scariest people.”
The Panthers
also were not ranked in the final Class 2A coaches poll, which was kind of a ho-hum
thing.
“We've
always been considered the underdog because we're unranked,” said coach Jeff
Kunze-Hoeg.
The experience of playing at state two
years ago was important Thursday.
“I was
really frazzled the first time and then today I was like, ‘I belong here,’ ”
said Pilon. “I want to prove that we belong here as a team, and it was just
better to have that experience.”
The two
teams had met in a tournament in Burnsville this season, with Southwest
Christian winning 2-1. The Panthers had played a five-set match only once
before state, defeating Nova Classical Academy 3-2 in the Section 4 title
match.
The Panthers
came out strong Thursday, winning the first set and putting the Stars on their
heels. Southwest Christian coach Jessy Tow-Arnett said, “I knew they were going
to be a great opponent. They're smart players. They just they make smart plays.
They’re not flashy, but there are a lot of athletes out there.”
The Stars
came in with a record of 29-3, losing only to Class 3A teams Lakeville North,
Eagan and Rogers. They will meet Annandale in the consolation bracket on
Friday, while Mounds Park Academy will face Jackson County Central in the
semifinals.
Great Scots Are Back After 44
Years
Until Wednesday, St. Paul Highland Park
High School had not played in the state volleyball tournament since 1977. Forty-four
years is a long time to wait, even if the distance between the school and Xcel
Energy Center is just five miles. … which, according to Google Maps, can be
traversed in 26 minutes on a bicycle.
The big arena has been standing in downtown
St. Paul for two decades, and considering the Scots’ long absence from the
state tourney, it probably shouldn’t be surprising that some of the Highland
Park players had never set foot inside the Xcel Center until this week
Highland Park senior Azeria Stagg’s first
look inside of the big barn came when the Scots arrived for their Class 3A
state quarterfinal match with Marshall.
“For me personally,
I've never been to the Xcel Energy Center, so I was honored to play here and
have the opportunity to play with my team, my seniors,” she said after the
Scots were defeated 3-0. “The lights were so bright, and it was very nerve-wracking
with such a big crowd.”
Another Highland
Park senior, Kiyomi Callahan, said, “It's kind of an amazing experience. It’s
completely different than being in a gym, with all the lights on you here. It
was a pretty cool opportunity that we got to take this year. And it’s an
amazing way to end our senior year. We are ready to go back on Friday.”
The Scots
will face Monticello in the consolation bracket on Friday, giving them at least
one more match inside their hometown arena. The winner will play for a third
time, in Saturday’s fifth-place match.
Scots coach Sonje
Odegard, who spent two years as an assistant before becoming head coach this
season, knew the challenge was large against Marshall, which has played in 10
state championship matches since 2004, winning six times.
“Marshall
is known for being a great team, but I'm really glad we have the opportunity to
play this high level of volleyball and really get pushed,” she said. “And we
were just grateful. Honestly, we're grateful to be here. I think our goal is to
make the most of this and come back Friday and enjoy this.”
Vikings,
Packers and Volleyball
Maysa
Gillingham (left in this photo), a senior at Class 3A Marshall, is the granddaughter
of Gale Gillingham, who graduated from Little Falls High School, played at the
University of Minnesota and spent 10 years with the Green Bay Packers. He
played in five Pro Bowls and was the inaugural winner of the Forrest Gregg Award as the NFL Offensive
Lineman of the Year following the 1970 season.
Lakeville
South freshman Josie Tingelhoff (right in this photo) is the granddaughter of Vikings
great Mick Tingelhoff. After playing at Nebraska, Mick Tingelhoff signed as a
free agent with the Vikings in 1962 and went on to become one of the team’s
all-time stars, named to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2015. He became the Vikings’ starting center in his rookie season and held
that spot until he retired in 1978. He started 240 consecutive games.
Gale
Gillingham passed away in 2011 and Mick Tingelhoff died in September.
State Volleyball Tournament
Wednesday’s Quarterfinals
Class 4A
Wayzata defeats Roseville 25-9, 25-9, 25-14
Rogers defeats Lakeville North 21-25, 25-15,
25-19, 26-24
Eden Prairie defeats Forest Lake 24-26, 24-26,
25-22, 25-18, 21-19
East Ridge defeats Bloomington Jefferson 11-25, 25-17, 25-21, 28-26.
Thursday’s semifinals
Wayzata vs. Rogers
Eden Prairie vs East
Ridge
Class 3A
Marshall defeats St. Paul Highland Park
25-14, 25-4, 25-10
Grand Rapids defeats Monticello 23-25,
25-15, 25-13, 25-16
Kasson-Mantorville defeats Sauk
Rapids-Rice 25-16, 25-11, 25-15
New Prague defeats Chisago Lakes 20-25,
25-17, 25-19, 25-11
Friday’s semifinals
5 p.m.: Marshall vs. Grand Rapids
7 p.m.: Kasson-Mantorville vs. New Prague
Thursday’s Quarterfinals
Class 2A
Mounds Park Academy defeats Southwest
Christian 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-11
Jackson County Central defeats Annandale
25-15, 25-14, 25-19
Cannon Falls vs. Hawley
Sauk Centre defeats Greenway 25-18, 25-19,
19-25, 25-10
Friday’s semifinals
9 a.m.: Mounds Park Academy vs. Jackson County
Central
11 a.m.: vs. Sauk Centre
Class 1A
Mayer Lutheran vs. South Ridge
Bethlehem Academy vs. Breckenridge
Minneota vs. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Legacy Christian vs. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
Friday’s semifinals
1 p.m.:
3 p.m.:
For complete brackets, click here: https://www.mshsl.org/2021-state-volleyball-brackets
--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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