Article Photos

Advertisement

MARSHALL - It was a rivalry like no other this season in the Camden Conference and Thursday it carried over into the Section 3A Tournament.

The No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams in the state hit the court for one last time to determine who would represent the North in the Section 3A championship, and once again the Minneota Vikings will be the team.

"I'm so excited," said Minneota junior Taya Kockelman. "We've worked so hard for this. This is what we've been waiting for."

The No. 2-ranked Vikings took down the top-seeded Lancers 26-24, 25-19, 25-21 Thursday in the Section 3A-North Sub-Section championship at the R/A Facility in Marshall and will meet up with Windom Area for the third straight year with a trip to the Class A State Tournament at stake.

"I thought we made a couple of adjustments on defense that really worked to our advantage," said Minneota head coach Steph Hennen. "We held our lines, we got touches on balls, we served really tough and our passing, I thought, was really good."

The Vikings entered Thursday night's match with the No. 3-ranked Lancers with something to prove after Canby bested Minneota in the only meeting between the two teams during the regular season. And with their tournament-lives on the line, the Vikings delivered.

"We have a lot of things to be proud of," said Canby head coach Amy Wagner. "We had a good season. ... I think they're disappointed that maybe they didn't have enough fire-power but Minneota is a good team and you can't let down."

Canby ended their season 30-2, while Minneota improves to 25-5 on the year.

"They're a good team," said Minneota middle hitter Sam Hennen. "We had to work hard."

The work began in the first set as the Vikings had to overcome an early five-point deficit but a 5-0 run capped off by a Sam Hennen block knotted the score at 13-all and quickly shifted the momentum in the Vikings' favor.

"We just said we can't dwell on those lost points, it's not going to do any good," Sam Hennen said. "We just have to get the next five (points) to tie and then take the lead."

The game plan couldn't have been scripted much better for the Vikings as they did just that.

They rallied to tie the game at 13-all and eventually went on to take a 15-14 lead with the help of Kockleman ace.

"We knew that we had to come out and work," Kockelman said. "They weren't just going to give it to us."

Kockelman finished the night 17-for-21 with a team-high two aces.

Neither team was able to gain more than a one-point edge until the Vikings rattled off three straight points in the end to win 26-24.

"The first game means everything," Sam Hennen said. "You win the first game you have so much more momentum going into the second game."

The Vikings used that momentum to take the second set and gain a huge 2-0 lead in the match, despite having to overcome another deficit.

"We talked about it all week that we knew we had to have Game 1," Steph Hennen said. "It's such an emotional thing and if you can get Game 1, you have a better chance of things going your way."

Canby took an early 13-10 lead with the help of an Ashley Johnson kill, one of 10 she had on the night, but Minneota strung together a 6-1 rally to retake the lead 16-14.

From there, the Vikings never relinquished the lead as they went on to take the second set and put the Lancers up against the ropes.

"It didn't end up the way we wanted it to, but that's what happens in section play," Wagner said.

Minneota was the team that came out strong in the third set, taking an 8-4 lead but Canby bounced back to take a 12-10 lead off of a Riley Nordgaard tip.

Minneota battled back to knot the score at 17-all and an Ashlynn Muhl kill and block gave the Vikings a two-point spread and eventually the match. Muhl finished with a match-high eight blocks on the night.

Nordgaard led the Lancers with 11 kills and 21 digs, while Baer finished with 25 set assists.

"We didn't make the big runs when we needed to," said Wagner. "But they never gave up, so I'm proud of them for that."

Leah Fadness led the Viking offense with 16 kills and Kockelman spread the ball around with 35 set assists.

"I thought we had two great days of practice this week," said Steph Hennen. "I was really proud of my girls with how they responded."

The Vikings will put everything on the line Saturday at the R/A Facility when they take to the court with Windom Area at 7 p.m.

Minneota26 25 25

Canby24 19 21

Serving: M-Kelsey Hennen 12-12-0, Taya Kockelman 17-21-2, Leah Fadness 12-13-1, Sam Hennen 15-15-1, Jenna Hennen 11-12-1, Kaitlin Bottelberghe 6-7-0; C-Riley Nordgaard 11-11-1, Kate Oellien 9-11-0, Casie Baer 9-12-0, Ashley Johnson 12-12-0, Brittany Kockelman 10-10-0, Elise Citrowske 7-8-0.

Kills: M-Fadness 16, Ashlynn Muhl 12, Sam Hennen 7, Jenna Hennen 5; C-Nordgaard 11, Johnson 10, Baer 5, Citrowske 4.

Digs: M-Kelsey Hennen 27, Kockelman 18, Fadness 11, Jenna Hennen 11; C-Nordgaard 21, Johnson 15, Oellien 14, Baer 13, Kockelman 11, Hanna Jessen 10.

Set Assists: M-Kockelman 38; C-Baer 25.

Blocks: M-Muhl 8, Sam Hennen 6, Kockelman 2, Jenna Hennen 1; C-Oellien 2, Johnson 2, Blackwelder 1.