Vikings earn another state trip
Minneota was seemingly in control for most of its Section 3A championship match with Tracy-Milroy-Balaton until they had a little difficulty shutting the door.
After taking the first two sets and leading 24-16 in the third set, the Vikings allowed the Panthers to score five straight points and make things interesting before finally closing out the match, 25-18, 25-14, 25-21.
"I was nervous as heck," Minneota coach Hayley Fruin admitted with a laugh.
Minneota, the two-time Class A defending state champions, return to the Big Dance with a chance to threepeat. The Vikings are the No. 2 seed behind Mayer Lutheran. Minneota takes on Badger-Greenbush-Middle River on Thursday, Nov. 11 in the state quarterfinals at the Xcel Center.
The Vikings notched 47 kills against TMB, a team they swept earlier in the year in a conference match in Tracy without libero McKenzie Tolk. Natalee Rolbiecki led the way with 18 kills, Abby Frie had 11, Ireland Stassen eight, Ella Johnson six, Emma Bottelberghe three and Elivia Faris one.
Minneota had its full lineup this time and the defensive effort frustrated TMB, which excels at the net with a strong blocking unit, leading to lengthy rallies that Minneota won more often than not.
Minneota and TMB battled back and forth in the opening set.
The Vikings would build a four-point lead only to let the Panthers close the gap. Leading 16-14, the Vikings ran off four straight points on a Natalee Rolbieki kill, an ace serve by Tolk, and two TMB errors. Leading 24-18, Minneota closed out the set with Ireland Stassen serving the final point on a TMB hitting error.
"I think they were more aggressive than the first time we played them," said Minneota senior setter McKenna Yost. "They seemed pretty up for this match. I think our defense made the difference, though."
Abby Frie had a strong start to the second set with her fourth kill of the set giving Minneota a 10-8 lead it would not relinquish.
Rolbiecki then rattled off four kills, Stassen added a kill and Frie an ace block to put the Vikings up 16-9.
Leading the second set 23-14, the Vikings got kills from Rolbiecki and Stassen to finish it off.
TMB's Kiarra Danielson kept her team in the match with a team-high 14 kills, most of them coming on hard cross-court hits.
"TMB is a well-coached team and we knew it was going to be a tough match," said Fruin. "We had a little trouble stopping Danielson's hitting, but I thought our defense was solid most of the time. It just goes to show how important defense and serving is."
While TMB made six service errors, Minneota had only one.
Tolk made several outstanding defensive plays and chalked up a team-high 23 digs. Yost, who had 25 assists, was also solid in the back row with 16 digs.
The third went the Vikings' way until the trouble putting the 25th point on the scoreboard.
"I wasn't really nervous," said Ireland Stassen. "I knew Natalee would eventually put one down so I kept setting to her."
Rolbiecki hammered away and five straight swings were blocked or dug out by the Panthers.
"I kept saying to myself 'This time I'll get it'," laughed Rolbiecki. "I'm just glad I finally got it to go down."
Rolbiecki's final attack went deep to the back line and off the upraised hands of the TMB defender, falling harmlessly for the final point.
"I think we might have been a little nervous to start out the match," said Yost. "But then we got on a nice roll and played well after that."
Minneota 3, TMB 0
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton...............................................................18 14 21
Minneota....................................................................................25 25 25
Minneota Statistics
SERVING (good-att-aces): Natalee Rolbiecki 10-10-0, Lyzah Sussner 8-8-0, McKenzie Tolk 14-14-1, Ireland Stassen 12-12-0, McKenna Yost 18-18-0, Grace Hennen 3-4-0, Dakoda Hennen 5-5-0, Abby Rolbiecki 2-2-0
SETTING (assists): McKenna Yost 25, Stassen 18
HITTING (kills): Rolbiecki 18, Abby Frie 11, Stassen 8, Ella Johnson 6, Emma Bottelberghe 3, Elivia Faris 1
BLOCKS: Frie 1, Yost 1
DIGS: Tolk 23, Yost 16, N.Rolbiecki 13, Sussner 13, Stassen 10, Johnson 2