Vikings smash their way to title!

"This team had a goal and they were determined to get it. They put their foot on the gas pedal, never let up and were never touched," said Mnneota Coach Hayley Fruin.

The Vikings won five straight matches, all in two sets, got revenge over an old foe and probably decided who will get the top rank up the upcoming Class A Rankings.

When they beat Mayer Lutheran 25-15 and 25-10 in the championship, the victory probably answered several questions.

"We lost to them in the state finals last year and we wanted to beat them," said setter Morgan Kockelman. "It was fun to beat them after last year," said Lizzy Gillingham.

"I don't think we've ever beaten them. We lost to them twice last year," said Coach Fruin.

Minneota came into the tournament ranked No. 2 and Mayer Lutheran No. 3. Top-ranked Waterville-Elysian-Morristown lost 2-0 to Mayer Lutheran in the semifinals.

So with all that, Minneota got it's revenge, and most likely a No. 1-ranking in the upcoming polls.

And, Lydia Sussner and Kockelman were named to the all-tournament team.

After openning with easy wins Saturday night, 25-7 and 25-15 over Stephen-Argyle an 25-7; 25-12 over Underwood, the Vikings came into Saturday ready to make their move.

They beat ranked Mabel-Canton 25-14 and 25-12 to leave pool play with a 3-0 record and head into the Tournament Bracket.

There they ran into Southwest Minnesota foe Wabasso and stopped the Rabbits for the second time this year 25-9 and 25-20 to enter the championship.

Once there, they didn't let Mayer Lutheran stand in their way one more time.

The win pushed the Vikings record to 17-1 on the year.

"We had the energy and really worked hard," said Senior Lizzy Gillingham, who at times was an unstoppable force on the court. Against Wabasso and Mayer Lutheran, she landed several blows to her opponents. "We worked hard and had fun doing it," she said.

For Gillingham it didn't come without a price. "I got hit in the face with the ball three times," Gillingham said. One hard blow came after teammage Abby Hennen had batted the ball at the net. It bounced off Gillingham's face, instead. "I was going to cry, but I didn't have time" she joked.

"Actually, I'd hit Abby in the ribs by accident and she said she was just paying me back."

"Lizzy had a great tournament. It was the best I've seen her play," said Coach Fruin.

"I think we made a statement and made a name for ourselves," smiled Coach Fruin. "People were watching us and it was a lot of fun," she added.

While the coach acknowledged the fact Minneota had Sussner and Kockelman on the all-tourney team, she said, "All six of them could have made it. "We don't have a weakness in our rotation," she said.

In nearly every game they played, Minneota came out firing strong and quickly, taking big leads.

They led Mable-Canton 21-8 early in the first game and 16-6 in the second game and Mable/Canton couldn't recover.

They took after Wabaso 9-0 behind nine straight serves by Abby Hennen and in the second game, were tested by Wabasso at 18-18 before pulling away for the win.

In the finals Minneota took 8-0 and 7-0 leads in the two games. "A lot of teams came out flat and we took advantage and came out swinging," said Coach Fruin.

A "spirited bench" also turned part cheerleader as they kept the team loose on the court. "Everyone got into it," said Fruin.

Sussner, Gillingham and Natalee Rolbiecki led the team in hitting at the net, Kockelman superbly distrubuted to her big guns and Abby Hennen and Morgan were all over the back court as well as the net. And when Abby Hennen was playing Libero, Ellie Pesch was, and she defended the back court well.

Server Abby Rost came in to serve well the entire tournament and senior middle hitter backup Sydney Larson was a stable force at the net and she landed several blocks that gave their opponents fits.

"We each had each other's back," Gillingham added.