Minnewaska Area vs. Sauk Centre for a state berth

At St. Cloud State University at Halenbeck Hall, bordering rivals Minnewaska Area and Sauk Centre out of the West Central Conference are battling for a Class 2A state tournament berth. The Lakers, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, are the top seed and have lost just one match all year long./

In the first set, Minnewaska Area hit into the net, making it 25-24 Lakers, but Minnewaska Area then served long! 25-25 tie. Later, in extra points, Nora Thieschafer's fifth kill of the night handed Sauk Centre a 28-26 win.

And in the second set at SCSU:
In game two, Sauk Centre has an early 2-0 lead. An ace serve by Kenna Crider made that a 3-0 lead. Thieschafer's 6th kill of the night made it 4-0 Sauk Centre. Minnewaska Area's hitting error made it 5-0. Lewison's kill brought a badly-needed side out for a 5-1 score, and then the Lakers got an ace serve for a 5-2 score. Minnewaska's net violation made it 6-2. Thieschafer, a 5'6" junior, rocketed off a kill for a 7-2 Mainstreeters lead. Lucia Rieland's kill made it 8-2, and Minnewaska Area called a timeout. The Lakers got a kill by Berlynn Green for a side out, and a Sauk Centre hitting error made it 8-4. Thieschafer's kill made it 9-4. She is also a junior, and she went to the service line and fired off an ace for a 10-4 lead. She then served long for a side out and a 10-5 score.

Mya VanLuik's kill made it 10-6, and Green hit a kill, and Sauk Centre had a hitting error for a 10-8 score. Green's kill closed it to 10-9. The Mainstreeters blocked Green for a side out and an 11-9 score. VanLuik then hit long for a 12-9 score, but Green pounded down a kill for a side out and then dropped back to serve with a 12-10 score. VanLuik's kill cut it to 12-11. Sauk Centre's hitting error tied it 12-12. Kaiya Nelson's soft touch kill broke the tie for a 13-12 Sauk Centre lead. A Minnewaska Area kill tied it at 13-13.

Sauk Centre's hitting error gave Minnewaska Area their first lead in game two at 14-13. Kuhlmann's kill tied it at 14-14, and she then served up an ace serve for a 15-14 Sauk Centre lead. Avery Lewison's kill tied it at 15-15. Lewison hit long for a 16-15 Sauk Centre lead. Rieland's out of bounds hit tied it at 16-16. The Lakers then hit long for a 17-16 Sauk Centre lead, and Peyton Borgmann's ace serve made it 18-16. The Lakers got a kill for an 18-17 score. Borgmann, a 5'4" setter, had an ace attack for a 19-17 lead. Thieschafer's ace serve made it 20-17 Sauk Centre. Haillie Schulz, Minnewaska's setter, had an ace attack for a side out and a 20-18 score. The Lakers had a hitting error for a 21-18 score, and the Lakers called their final timeout.

VanLuik's kill brought a side out and a 21-19 score. Michaela Johnson's kill made it 21-20, and Sauk Centre head coach Jim Klaphake called a timeout. Johnson hit another kill out of the timeout, and the Lakers forged a 21-21 tie. Green's ace serve made it 22-21 Minnewaska Area. VanLuik hit long for a 22-22 tie.

Each team scored for a 23-23 tie. The Lakers got a kill for a 24-23 lead. Thieschafer's kill tied it at 24-24 to force extra points for the second straight set. The Lakers got a point on a Sauk Centre net violation and a 25-24 lead. A Lakers hitting error tied it at 25-25. Borgmann served, and the Lakers hit long on a right side hit by Lewison. This gave Sauk Centre a set point serve and a 26-25 lead. The Lakers got a kill by Schulz for a 26-26 tie. Green hit a tip attack, and Lucia Rieland tipped the ball to the floor for a kill and a 27-26 Sauk Centre lead. Rieland then hit long for a 27-27 tie.

Minnewaska Area's ace serve made it 28-27. VanLuik was then stuffed by Rieland for a 28-28 tie. Nelson blocked VanLuik for a 29-28 Sauk Centre lead. Green hit long, and Sauk Centre won 30-28 for a 2-0 set lead! Holy crap.

Later in the third set...
Sauk Centre trailed 17-12 but stormed back to gain a 21-20 lead. The Lakers went for a timeout. The Lakers then tied it at 21-21 with a kill. Green hit a kill for a 22-21 Minnewaska Area lead, and Coach Klaphake called for a timeout.

Green fired an attack, but it went long for a tie game at 22-22 on the hitting error. She hit a kill for a 23-22 Minnewaska Area lead, but the Lakers had a service error for a 23-23 tie. Lucia Rieland went back to serve. Green hammered a hard shot for a kill, and the Lakers took a 24-23 lead, just one point from keeping their season alive.

Kuhlman's hitting error handed the Lakers a 25-23 win. The third set was completed at 8:37 p.m.

In game four...
Green's 16th kill of the night gave Minnewaska Area a 16-9 lead. The Lakers led 4-1 early before the Mainstreeters tied it at 4-4 and 5-5. The lead for the Lakers grew to 18-10, and Coach Klaphake called a timeout. After that, Gemma Kleinschmidt blocked Green for a badly-needed side out and an 18-11 score. A net violation by VanLuik made it 18-12. The Lakers stretched the lead to 20-12 on a Mainstreeters hitting error. The score moved to 21-12 on a Sauk Centre net violation. Nelson's ace block brought a side out and a 21-13 score. A Lakers kill made it 22-13. Nelson's kill brought a side out and a 22-14 score. Game four final score: Minnewaska Area 25, Sauk Centre 14. This is going to a fifth set.

In the fifth set:
Both teams had early kills for a 1-1 score. Nora Thieschafer's kill, her 11th of the night, put Sauk Centre ahead 2-1. A Sauk Centre hitting error tied it at 2-2. Brooklyn Noyes served long for a Minnewaska Area service error and a 3-2 Sauk Centre lead. Green's hammer shot, her 17th kill of the night, tied it at 3-3. Kuhlmann's kill made it 4-3 Sauk Centre. A Lakers hitting error made it 5-3. Green's kill in the middle brought it to 5-4, but she then rotated to the back row. Kuhlmann's kill, her 11th of the night, made it 6-4. Johnson's kill on a rally that lasted well over a minute brought Minnewaska Area to within one point trailing 6-5. Thieschafer's kill made it 7-5. Minnewaska Area then hit into the net for an 8-5 score. Minnewaska called for a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Michaela Johnson's kill brought a Lakers' side out and an 8-6 score. Lewison's kill brought Minnewaska to an 8-7 deficit. Taylor Schulz's ace serve tied the set at 8-8. Johnson's kill gave Minnewaska a 9-8 lead, which was their first lead of the set after they scored the very first point. Coach Klaphake called a timeout.

Rieland then hit a huge ace attack for her 9th kill of the night and a 9-9 tie score. Sauk Centre's hitting error gave the Lakers a 10-9 lead, and Green worked back to the front row. Lewison's kill gave the Lakers an 11-9 lead. Rieland's ace block made it 11-10, and Thieschafer went back to the service line. Rieland stuffed Green for an 11-11 tie, but a service error handed the Lakers a 12-11 lead. Green's kill, her 18th ace attack of the night, gave the Lakers a 13-11 lead, and Coach Klaphake called his final timeout. Rieland's kill, her 10th of the night, made it a 14-12 score. Green's 19th kill of the night finished off the match. Minnewaska Area punched their ticket to state for the first time in program history with a 15-12 game five win.

Sauk Centre was bidding for their 10th overall state tournament trip. They last went to state in 2021, when they won the Class 2A state championship. The careers of 8 Sauk Centre seniors comes to an end, including their setter, Peyton Borgmann. The final record for the Mainstreeters was 23-7.

Minnewaska Area advances to state with a 30-1 overall record. Their roster features 9 seniors, including Schulz (setter) and Lewison (middle hitter).

In Section 3A at Marshall...
Adrian/Ellsworth earned a 3-0 upset win against heavily favored and No. 3-ranked Russell-Tyler-Ruthton to win the Sub-Section 3A-South title. The R-T-R Knights were the defending section champion, and they took second at state last year. Earlier tonight, in the Sub-Section 3A-North championship match, top-seeded Minneota won 3-0 against Central Minnesota Christian of Prinsburg. The Vikings last went to state in 2024, when they placed second.

In Section 5AA at St. Michael-Albertville high school:
The clock struck midnight for the Maple Lake Irish, who lost 3-1 tonight to Blake in the Section 5AA semifinals. They finish a terrific season with an 18-12 overall record. They went 2-5 in the Central Minnesota Conference. Blake, the No. 2 seed, improves to 17-4 overall.

In Section 3AA at Marshall...
New London-Spicer won the Sub-Section 3AA-North title tonight with a 3-0 sweep over No. 7-seeded Montevideo.