The axis of small-school volleyball in Minnesota shifted
on the evening of Nov. 4. Inside a jam-packed R/A Facility at Southwest State
University in Marshall, Minneota and Russell-Tyer-Ruthton met for the Section 3
championship and trip to state.
The talented Paul Raymo was broadcasting the action on
KLQP radio in Madison, as well as tweeting results after each set.
If anyone had been wagering, Minneota seemed like the
safe pick. After all, the Vikings are one of the legendary Minnesota volleyball
programs, with 15 trips to state between 2001 and 2022 and state titles in
2006, 2009, 2018, 2019 and 2022. The Knights of Russell-Tyler-Ruthton,
meanwhile, had never won a section title and had never played at state.
Minneota and R-T-R had faced off twice during the
regular season, with Minneota winning both times.
Paul’s Tweets told the story…
At 9:15 p.m. he posted this: Minneota 25 RTR 22 set 4 Going to a set 5!!! Who's going
to state! Listen on KLQP.
And this dispatch went out at 9:40: RTR
17 Minneota 15 set 5! Congratulations to the Knights.
The R-T-R fans rushed the court and the celebration
was on. It felt for all the world like the Knights had won a state title, but
that big victory was just one step on the path.
They have completed two more steps this week at Xcel
Energy Center, where they are the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A state tournament. The
Knights defeated Pine River-Backus 3-0 in Thursday’s quarterfinals and got past
New Life Academy 3-1 in Friday’s semifinals. They will play for the state title
on Saturday against Mayer Lutheran.
R-T-R coach Daynica Brown, a 1998 graduate of the
school, knows as well as anyone how much work has gone into the team’s success
and what this week’s mission was.
After
beating Minneota, she told the girls to relish the moment.
“I told them
to enjoy it, and then we’ll be at practice on Monday and we'll regroup because
our mission wasn't done at that point,” she said Friday. “That was just one of
the goals that the girls wanted to do. And so they had to refocus. That was a
big moment for the R-T-R program. But we knew we still had three more wins
left. The state tournament title is our ultimate goal.”
R-T-R will
take a record of 29-6 into the final, with the two losses to Minneota as well
as defeats against Marshall, Champlin Park, Watertown, S.D., and a split of two
matches with Mayer Lutheran (28-6).
If there’s ever been a case of the top-seeded team
feeling little or no pressure, it’s the Knights.
“Not
everybody knows us because we've been overshadowed for a long time,” Brown said.
“So I don’t think the girls really felt all that much pressure.”
Knights
senior Abigail Carr, who has a team-high 30 kills in two games at state, said
the group could handle any pressure they felt.
“There was
definitely some pressure. I think we all kind of feel a lot of pressure being
here for the first time ever, but I think it's manageable. I think we're
confident, especially because we beat Minneota. We have lots of confidence.”
A Season To Remember For Delano
In Class 3A, Delano will play for a state championship
on Saturday. That match will end a season to remember for the Tigers. They
defeated Byron 3-0 in Friday’s semifinals and will face three-time defending champ
Marshall in Saturday’s final.
Delano’s only losses this season were against Wayzata
and New Prague, the teams that will play for the Class 4A championship.
“Last night
I was talking with the other coaches and that was in my mind; ‘Oh my gosh, New
Prague and Wayzata, they're going to the championship round and those are our only
losses,’ ” said coach Becca Rue. “Just kudos to this team. I mean, they can
play with anyone in the state. So that's really fun.”
A
Wonderful Season And High Hopes For 2024
If anyone is
putting together a list of volleyball teams to watch next season, Mabel-Canton should
be high on the list. After a 21-year drought, the Cougars played at state a
year ago and finished third in Class 1A.
They
returned to the big show this week and will meet New Life Academy in Saturday’s
third-place game. Friday’s 3-1 loss to Mayer Lutheran in the semifinals was
only the Cougars’ second defeat this season, the first coming against Minneota.
After the last
point of the third-place contest, 30-year Mabel-Canton coach Lonnie Morken said
he will begin thinking about 2024. The Cougars have no seniors on the 2023 roster
– a first in Morken’s career -- and
reaching state for the third year in a row will be among the goals.
“We want to
finish strong tomorrow,” Morken said. “And we want to honor the season that
we've had thus far and end with a win.”
Morken
talked about the strength of Section 1 (which Mabel-Canton won) and Section 3
(won by R-T-R). Among the top 10 teams in the final Class 1A rankings by the
Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association, seven came from those two sections:
1. Minneota (3), 2. Mabel-Canton (1), 3. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (3), 5. Kenyon-Wanamingo
(1), 6. Canby (3), 7. Fillmore Central (1), and 8. MACCRAY (3).
“The thing
about Section 1 and Section 3, those two sections are just the deepest in
volleyball in the state,” Morken said. “Every year there are three or four
ranked teams in Section 1 and three or four ranked teams in Section 3.”
On The Road, Thinking Of Home
Wild equipment manager Tony DaCosta was on the road
with the NHL team during the state volleyball tournament, but his mind was on
volleyball. That’s because his daughter, Rylee DaCosta, is a senior libero on
the New Life Academy volleyball team.
State Volleyball Tournament
Class 4A Semifinals
Wayzata defeated Anoka 3-0
New Prague defeated Stillwater 3-0
Class 3A Semifinals
Marshall defeated Detroit Lakes 3-1
Delano defeated Byron 3-0
Class 2A Semifinals
Southwest Christian vs. Rush City
Pequot Lakes vs. Caledonia
Class 1A Semifinals
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton defeated New Life Academy 3-1
Mayer Lutheran defeated Mabel-Canton 3-1
Saturday’s Championships
1A: Russell-Tyler-Ruthton vs. Mayer Lutheran
2A: Southwest Christian or Rush City vs. Pequot Lakes or Caledonia
3A: Marshall vs. Delano
4A: Wayzata vs. New Prague
--MSHSL senior content creator 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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