At Fergus Falls, the West Central Area Knights are ahead 2-0 in sets in the Section 6A championship against Underwood. The winner goes to state. WCA took game one by a 25-20 score, but they had to work from a deep deficit to win game two. Underwood took leads of 9-3 and 15-7 in game two before the Knights surged to claim a 26-24 win. Through the first two sets, WCA's Mya Foslien had an unofficial 12 kills.
In game three, Underwood held an early 4-0 lead before the Knights got a side out. You can listen to the match via 96.5 FM of Fergus Falls at https://player.listenlive.co/63991.
A kill from Foslien cut the deficit to 6-5 with Underwood still ahead in game three. Back-to-back points for the Rockets pushed them ahead 8-5. Foslien hit long to make it a 9-5 Underwood lead. At last check, Underwood had an 11-7 lead on an Ezra Baker kill.
An ace serve by Macy Grosz cut the deficit to 11-10. Baker's 13th kill put the Rockets ahead 12-10. Whitney Westrom's kill made it 12-11, but the Knights then served long to put Underwood ahead 13-11. An ace block by WCA cut it to 13-12. Foslien later earned her 16th kill to tie the third set at 14-14. A hitting error put Underwood in front 16-14, but Foslien had another kill to make it 16-15. The Knights later called for a timeout trailing 18-15. WCA scored two straight points to cut it to 18-17. Izzy Puchalski's kill tied it at 18-18, and the Knights then earned an ace serve to gain a 19-18 lead. WCA got a kill for a 20-18 lead, and Underwood called for a timeout with their backs firmly to the wall. Underwood got a kill for a badly-needed side out to bring them to a one-point deficit trailing 20-19. WCA got the next point, though, to go up 21-19.
WCA had a hitting error to make it WCA 21, Underwood 20. The Knights then hit long to tie it at 21-21.
UPDATE: I missed the final score, but Underwood won game three to push the match to a fourth set, which should get started at 8:20 p.m.
UPDATE: the Knights won the fourth set for a 3-1 final margin as they advance to the state volleyball tournament for the first time in school history. The Rockets, champions of the Little Eight Conference with a 10-1 record, finish the season 24-7 overall.
SUNDAY update...the WCA Knights earned the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4-seeded New Life Academy in the state quarterfinals on Thursday, November 9 in St. Paul with first serve at 5 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.
I'm heading back to other work, but a final outcome of this match will get updated later tonight.
*Here's a volleyball clip featuring the end of the second set, which was the only set that the Jaguars won against WCA on Thursday night in Fergus Falls:
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team looked very, very strong in that second set after an abysmal performance in game one. The difference was night and day. Unfortunately, the full comeback was not meant to be. It's painful to let that sink in!!!! Painful.
*Here's video from the second quarter at Fargo yesterday:
Owen Paulson's touchdown was followed by a two-point conversion carry by Harley Weber. I did not get great video of that as I was focusing on getting great pictures...which I did!! That scoring drive gave the Jaguars a 28-12 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
In other area volleyball action tonight...
In the Section 6AA finals, Pequot Lakes defeated Albany 3-1 to go to state.
In the Section 5A finals, Pine River-Backus earned a repeat trip to state with a 3-1 win over Nevis. The PR-B Tigers (22-9) were defeated twice this season by our Jaguars. The win over Nevis tonight avenges a 3-2 loss in the regular season finale. Nevis, 25-7 overall, was ranked No. 6 in the latest QRF rankings. PR-B sits at No. 24 in Class 1A, which shows that upsets can certainly take place in the playoffs!
In Section 3AA, Redwood Valley defeated Paynesville Area 3-1 to advance to state with a 30-2 record. The Bulldogs (20-6) finish their season as section runners-up for the third straight season.
Huge, HUGE news out of Section 3A...crazy! Crazy...No. 3-ranked Russel-Tyler-Ruthton dethroned No. 1-ranked Minneota in Section 3A tonight. The Knights edged the Vikings 17-15 in game five at SMSU-Marshall. Minneota won the first set, but R-T-R then took the next two sets before the Vikings evened it up with a fourth set win. R-T-R's win tonight avenges a 3-2 loss in the 2022 Section 3A finals at the hands of Minneota. Game five details...the Vikings jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game five, which is a giant lead at this stage of playoffs. They later held an 8-3 lead before the Knights pushed back to tie it at 10-10. Minneota went ahead 12-10 and 13-12, but the Knights tied it at 13-13. The lead changed hands before the Knights pulled out the state-qualifying win.
Minneota will graduate 8 seniors. They were state champions in 2018, 2019 and 2022. In both 2017 and 2021, they finished second behind Mayer Lutheran.
R-T-R enters the state tournament with a 27-6 overall record. Minneota finishes 30-4. It's likely that R-T-R will earn the No. 1 seed at state. This will be the first state tournament since 2016 that will not feature the Minneota Vikings. Going back to 2009, Minneota has played at the state tournament every year except 2014, 2015, 2016 and now 2023. They were state runners-up in 2009 behind Bethlethem Academy.
