Lyzah Sussner dives to make a dig against MACCRAY in the Section 3A-North championship last Thursday in Marshall.

Vikings land at state again

Minneota open Thursday vs. New Life Academy

Despite the boisterous crowd inside RA Facility rocking the rafters, you could still hear Minneota senior Ireland Stassen's foot stomp and primal scream after a thunderous kill crashed to the floorboards in the decisive fifth set on Saturday.
After finding themselves down a set and trailing 14-4 in the second set, the Vikings staged a furious rally and outlasted Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 15-6 in the Section 3A championship Saturday at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
"I wanted this pretty bad," said Stassen, flashing a wide smile after the match. "I was a little nervous when we lost the first set and got behind in the second. I finally felt a little better when I was serving and we were only down four points in that second set. That's when I felt like we would be able to come back."
After the match, the two teams lined up for the awards ceremony. Several times Stassen put her hands to her head and looked skyward as if reflecting on how fortunate the team was to advance to the state tournament again.
"I'm just glad we won," she said. "This team never gives up no matter what."
There was little doubt that the setter/hitter willed her team to victory with her aggressive play. She finished the match with team-highs of 16 kills, six ace blocks and 41 assists, to go along with 31 digs and an ace serve.
Minneota (32-3), which finished as state runner-up a season ago, will open on Thursday, Nov. 10 against New Life Academy at Xcel Energy Center.
The Vikings looked out of story against RTR, a team they had split two earlier meetings with this season. The Knights jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, forcing Minneota coach Hayley Fruin to call a timeout. Still trailing 10-3, Fruin again called a timeout to settle her team down.
"I think nerves had a lot to do with it," Fruin said. "We're a young team and some of the girls were just trying to do too much. We weren't communicating well and our hitters weren't taking smart shots."
Still, the Vikings fought back in the opening set to close within 23-21 after a kill by Elivia Faris. The Knights closed out the set on a kill by Camry Swanson and an unforced error by Minneota.
The Vikings took a 3-0 lead in the second set with Lyzah Sussner serving an ace and RTR making two miscues. But the momentum quickly shifted back to RTR as they went on a 14-1 run to lead 14-4 and it looked like the Vikings' return to state was in jeopardy.
"We just needed to get back to playing our system," said Fruin. "Give RTR credit. They were playing well and finding areas we weren't covering. We switched up our defense and I told the girls we needed to go out playing aggressive."
The Vikings then whittled away at the deficit. Trailing 20-14, Minneota scored eight unanswered points to tie the set 20-20. Faris had two kills in that stretch, while Megan Krog and Emma Bottelberghe had one each. RTR also had two hitting errors. They went on to win the set and tie the match.
The teams then traded another set each, forcing a fifth set for the second straight time they have met. Minneota topped RTR in a five-set match on Oct. 11 in Tyler.
RTR scored the first point of the final set, but it was all Minneota after that. They scored the next four points and never looked back. Leading 8-5, the Vikings scored five straight points on two kills by Stassen, ace blocks by Stassen and Krog, and an RTR hitting error. The Vikings then closed out the match and the players mobbed one another on the court.
Ella Johnson finished with 14 kills and 11 digs for the Vikings. Faris had 13 kills, Krog nine, Bottelberghe eight and Kenadi Arndt four. Krog and Arndt had two ace blocks each, Abby Rolbiecki had two ace serves and 12 digs, Nevaeh Hennen added 14 assists and nine digs.
Sussner led a tenacious defense that led to the Vikings' comeback. The junior made 33 digs, aced two serves and had seven assists.
"I think we were all a little nervous early in the match. I know I was," Sussner admitted.
When asked when the nerves finally started to settle down, Sussner smiled before saying and said "I still am."

Minneota 3, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 2
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton................................................25 21 21 26 6
Minneota....................................................................21 25 25 24 15

MINNEOTA STATISTICS
Serving (aces): Lyzah Sussner 2, Abby Rolbiecki 2, Ireland Stassen 1, Emma Bottelberghe 1

Setting (assists): Ireland Stassen 41, Nevaeh Hennen 14, Lyzah Sussner 7

Kills: Ireland Stassen 16, Ella Johnson 14, Elivia Faris 13, Megan Krog 9, Emma Bottelberghe 8, Kenadi Arndt 4

Blocks (aces): Ireland Stassen 6, Megan Krog 2, Kenadi Arndt 2, Ella Johnson 1, Emma Bottelberghe 1, Elivia Faris 1

Digs: Lyzah Sussner 33, Ireland Stassen 31, Abby Rolbiecki 12, Ella Johnson 11, Grace Hennen 10, Nevaeh Hennen 9, Emma Bottelberghe 8

Minneota 3, MACCRAY 0
Sub-Section 3A-North final
(Result Thursday, Nov. 3)

When Minneota and MACCRAY faced off for Camden Conference championship on Oct. 17, the Wolverines extended the match to four sets before the Vikings prevailed.
This time, however, the Vikings dominated from start to finish, only trailing one time in the entire match at 3-2 in the third set.
The Wolverines had trouble penetrating the Vikings' defense, led by junior libero Lyzah Sussner, who made numerous outstanding diving saves and finished with a match-high 19 digs. Ireland Stassen, Abby Rolbiecki and Grace Hennen added nine digs apiece.
The Vikings made an early statement, bolting to leads of 4-0 and 9-1 in the opening set.
Stassen notched 11 kills, 23 assists, two ace serves and two ace blocks. Ella Johnson added nine kills and seven digs, Elivia Faris seven kills, Emma Bottelberghe six kills, and Megan Krog and Kenadi Arndt two kills each.
"We have such a balanced attack and that's the way it's been all year," said coach Hayley Fruin. "MACCRAY has a good team and we needed to play well against them. Our defense really stepped up."

Minneota 3, MACCRAY 0
MACCRAY......12 15 15
Minneota.........25 25 25

MINNEOTA STATISTICS
Serving (aces): Ireland Stassen 2, Abby Rolbiecki 1, Grace Hennen 1

Setting (assists): Ireland Stassen 23, Nevaeh Hennen 8

Kills: Ireland Stassen 11, Ella Johnson 9, Elivia Faris 7, Emma Bottelberghe 6, Megan Krog 2, Kenadi Arndt 2,

Blocks (aces): Kenadi Arndt 4, Ireland Stassen 2, Ella Johnson 1, Elivia Faris 1

Digs: Lyzah Sussner 19, Ireland Stassen 9, Abby Rolbiecki 9, Grace Hennen 9, Ella Johnson 7, Dakoda Hennen 3

Class A
at Xcel Energy Center
QUARTERFINALS NOV. 10
Minneota vs. New Life Academy, 5 p.m.
Badger-Greenbush-Middle River vs. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrose, 5 p.m.
Mayer Lutheran vs. Ely, 7 p.m.
Mabel-Canton vs. Pine River-Backus, 7 p.m.

SEMIFINALS NOV. 11

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