Step V: Jaguars knock of defending state champions! FINAL FOUR bound!

For the first time in school history, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team has bounced a defending state champion in the postseason. They did so tonight behind an incredible performance in the Class 1A state quarterfinals in St. Paul. Facing vaunted No. 6-ranked and No. 3-seeded Mayer Lutheran, who trounced Russel-Tyler-Ruthton in last year's state title match, the Jaguars were completely unfazed against the taller and more experienced Crusaders team. A 3-0 sweep was the result, and the Jaguars now head to the state semifinals!

Game scores: 25-19, 26-24, 25-23.

This win also marks the volleyball team's first back-to-back Final Four appearance at state.

NEXT: the Jaguars (21-8) face No. 2-seeded and No. 2-ranked Fillmore Central at 3 p.m. on Friday. The Falcons are 26-6 overall. They were the Three Rivers Conference champions and Section 1A champions in southeast Minnesota.

In game three, the Crusaders held an 18-11 lead before the Jaguars made the huge comeback. Later in the set, the Jaguars trailed 21-19. Mayer Lutheran's eighth grade setter, Ellie Shipler, served into the net for a giant side out that made it a one-point game. What followed that service error may have been the dagger: the Crusaders had back-to-back hitting errors. Teagan Dingmann and Laken Anderson joined for an assisted block, giving the Jaguars a 23-21 lead. The Crusaders had one more punch to give, and they got back-to-back kills for a tie game. Mya Worms rocketed down a kill, and Anderson polished off the win with an ace serve.

Here's video from the epic game 3 comeback:


Teagan Dingmann led the attack with 10 kills on monstrous 43 percent hitting. To put it bluntly, Dingmann's attack was wicked. The senior middle had 21 attacks with just one miss, and 10 attacks went down for kills. In addition to her offense, she earned two solo blocks and 4 digs. Jaylee Jensen, another middle hitter, had 8 kills plus 2 solo blocks.

A huge, HUGE key to this win was found at the service line. On 77 attempts, the Jaguars had just 3 missed serves. Mayer Lutheran had 67 serve attempts tonight, and eight were misses. That's a stark difference: 88 percent to 96 percent.

Mayer Lutheran (19-13) heads to the consolation semifinal, where they play Sleepy Eye St. Mary's at 3 p.m. on Friday. SESM, champions of Section 2A, lost 3-1 to Fillmore Central in the quarterfinals. Game scores were 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17.

Here's a video from the first set tonight:


The Jaguars got an early 12-6 lead, and after Mayer Lutheran cut that to 15-12 and 16-13, the Jaguars led 23-15 on Jaylee Jensen's kill.

Some of what I've dug up about Fillmore Central:
Two seasons ago, West Central Area faced Fillmore Central in the third-place match and earned 3-0 win while finishing 29-5 overall.


THANK YOU to Nancy Mathiason and the North American Insurance Agency of Belgrade and Willmar for sponsoring this state tournament blog post!