Vikings win elite tournament title

Defending state champion and top-ranked Minneota swept five matches, including an impressive 25-14, 25-18 win against No. 2-rated Mabel-Canton in the championship of the 16-team Class A Showcase this past weekend in Burnsville.
Lyzah Sussner, a senior libero, was named the tournament's most valuable player after her stellar defensive performance while notching 70 digs. Junior hitter Elivia Faris had a team-high 56 kills among her 133 attacks, to go along with four ace blocks, and was also named to the all-tournament team.
The Vikings defeated Ely and Spring Grove in pool play on Friday, then topped Kenyon-Wanamingo in pool play Saturday morning to advance to the Gold Division Final Four. The Vikings then beat Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, rated No. 4 in the state, to reach the finals against Mabel-Canton.
In the championship match, Faris led the team with 12 kills.
"We’ve moved (Faris) around a bit and put more on her, and she is swinging more in the middle this year than years past," said Fruin. "She is so quick and athletic. She sees the court so well and takes smart shots. She does not error often and that is because she has really improved her volleyball IQ and has a good vision of the court."
Kenadi Arndt had a team-high three ace blocks in the finals, while Sussner had 20 digs.
"We had a long chat this past week about the fact that we just weren’t playing anywhere near our potential," said Hayley Fruin. "It felt like we were playing as six individuals at times. I think the kids really responded well to that conversation and they played so together this weekend. We knew going into this tournament, it was going to be tough and we needed to be clicking from all areas of the game."
Ella Johnson had 25 kills in the tournament, while Arndt and Eden Meagher had 17 apiece, and Emma Bottelberghe finished with 13. Nevaeh Hennen amassed 82 assists and Faith Myhre had 38. Arndt also had five ace blocks. Dakoda Hennen paced the service attack with five aces.
Besides Sussner, Grace Hennen had 38 digs, Dakoda Hennen 31, Abby Rolbiecki 30 and Nevaeh Hennen 24.
Being defending state champions puts a target on the Vikings' back and opposing teams know they have to play well to get a shot at the target.
"We are playing much better than how we started the season," said Fruin. "The kids just need to know that we have to keep up this momentum and intensity. We have to continue to get better every day. We still have plenty that we can clean up and work on."
Tournament scores
(Pool Play)
Minneota def. Ely 25-16, 25-21
Minneota def. Spring Grove 25-21, 25-10
Minneota def. Kenyon-Wanamingo 25-17, 25-17
(Semifinals)
Minneota def. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 25-16, 25-17
(Championship)
Minneota def. Mabel-Canton 25-14, 25-18
Minneota Statistics
SERVING (good-attempts-aces): Grace Hennen 40-41-1, Lyzah Sussner 23-23-1, Nevaeh Hennen 47-52-3, Dakoda Hennen 46-49-5, Ella Johnson 43-45-4, Abby Rolbiecki 33-35-2
SETTING (assists): Nevaeh Hennen 82, Faith Myhre 38
ATTACKING (kills): Elivia Faris 56, Ella Johnson 25, Eden Meagher 17, Kendi Arndt 17, Emma Bottelberghe 13
BLOCKING (aces): Kenadi Arndt 6, Elivia Faris 4, Eden Meagher 4, Ella Johnson 4, Faith Myhre 2, Emma Bottelberghe 1, Nevaeh Hennen 1
DIGS: Lyzah Sussner 70, Grace Hennen 38, Dakoda Hennen 31, Abby Rolbiecki 30, Nevaeh Hennen 24, Ella Johnson 13, Emma Bottelberghe 6, Elivia Faris 4, Eden Meagher 3

(Result Thursday, Sept. 21)
Minneota 3, RCW 0
The Class A top-ranked Vikings improved to 4-0 in the Camden Conference and 9-2 overall with the 25-15, 25-21, 25-14 sweep over No. 10-ranked Renville County West.
Ella Johnson and Elivia Faris pounded down 11 kills apiece to spark the Vikings' attack. Faris and Emma Bottelberghe shared team-high honors with two ace blocks apiece.
Nevaeh Hennen chalked up 26 assists to go along with two aces.
Lyzah Sussner led the way with 13 digs, while Abby Rolbiecki had 12, Dakoda Hennen 10 and Grace Hennen nine.
MINNEOTA 3, RENVILLE COUNTY WEST 0
Minneota.......................................................25 25 25
Renville County West...................................15 21 14

Minneota Statistics
SERVING (good-attempts-aces): Abby Rolbiecki 16-16-0, Nevaeh Hennen 15-15-2, Ella Johnson 12-13-1, Grace Hennen 11-11-1, Lyzah Sussner 10-10-0, Dakoda Hennen 7-8-0
SETTING (assists): Nevaeh Hennen 26, Faith Myhre 9
ATTACKING (kills): Ella Johnson 11, Elivia Faris 11, Emma Bottelberghe 6, Kenadi Arndt 5, Eden Megher 3, Faith Myhre 1
BLOCKING (aces): Emma Bottelberghe 2, Elivia Faris 2, Ella Johnson 1, Kenadi Arndt 1
DIGS: Lyzah Sussner 13, Abby Rolbiecki 12, Dakoda Hennen 10, Grace Hennen 9, Ella Johnson 6, Faith Myhre 3, Nevaeh Hennen 3, Elivia Faris 2

(Result Tuesday, Sept. 19)
Minneota 3, MACCRAY 2
Lyzah Sussner, a senior libero, notched the 1,000th dig of her career as the Vikings held off upset-minded MACCRAY in a five-set marathon that saw one set go to 35 points.
The Vikings (8-2) took the first two hard-fought sets before the Wolverines took the next two sets, both extended beyond 25 points, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
Elivia Faris unleashed 25 kills and had two ace blocks to lead Minneota. Emma Bottelberghe had 11 kills, Ella Johnson and Kenadi Arndt had nine apiece, and Eden Meagher seven.
Both teams played excellent defensively, leading to lengthy rallies.
Sussner finished with 22 digs. Abby Rolbiecki was right behind with 21 digs, Nevaeh Hennen had 17, and Grace Hennen and Dakoda Hennen added 16 apiece.
Faith Myhre ended up with 30 assists and Nevaeh Hennen notched 25.
MINNEOTA 3, MACCRAY 2
MACCRAY........................................22 21 35 27 12
Minneota...........................................25 25 33 25 15

Minneota Statistics
SERVING (aces): Grace Hennen 2, Nevaeh Hennen 1, Ella Johnson 1
SETTING (assists): Faith Myhre 30, Nevaeh Hennen 25
ATTACKING (kills): Elivia Faris 25, Emma Bottelberghe 11, Ella Johnson 9, Kenadi Arndt 9, Eden Meagher 7
BLOCKING (aces): Elivia Faris 2, Kenadi Arndt 1, Nevaeh Hennen 1, Eden Meagher 1
DIGS: Lydia Sussner 22, Abby Rolbiecki 21, Nevaeh Hennen 17, Grace Hennen 16, Dakoda Hennen 16