Photo by Jake McNeill: Canby outside hitter Haley Noyes (left) reacts after an Emily Nelson (center) kill during the No. 2 Lancers’ straight-sets win over No.3 MACCRAY in the 3A North semifinals at Southwest Minnesota State University on Tuesday night.

MARSHALL — A year after falling to MACCRAY in the Section 3A North semifinals, the No. 2 Canby volleyball team avenged itself with a straight-sets win over the No. 3 Wolverines on Tuesday night at Southwest Minnesota State University. The win sets up a subsection championship matchup against top-seeded Minneota.

“We’re just so happy. It ended for us with these guys last year, MACCRAY is a strong program, but I thought our girls really brought it tonight and I’m just pleased with our whole program,” Canby head coach Jenai Wright said. “It’s hard to win here at the RA [Southwest Minnesota State University Recreation/Athletic Facility]. With playoffs, with the nerves, I think they just did a nice job bringing it.”

Brynn Kockelman and Emily Nelson continued to find ways to set up their teammates and lead the Lancer offense. They finished with 23 and 24 set assists respectively. Nelson’s 10 digs and 10 kills were both good for second on the team while Kockelman’s nine in each category were both good for third on the team.

“I think our passes are really good. Helped us get a really good set and connect with our hitters. It was really helpful our defense was playing,” Kockelman said.

The Lancers came out strong in the first set, building an 11-4 lead before five unanswered MACCRAY points made it a 2-point match. Canby extended its lead up to 17-11 to prompt MACCRAY to call its first timeout.

The Wolverines cut the lead down to 19-17 but, after the Lancers scored another two unanswered points, MACCRAY called its final timeout of the set. This time, they came out strong. A pair of Canby hitting errors tied the set at 21-21 and a defensive miscommunication gave the Wolverines their first lead of the set.

Grace Hansen got a kill for the Lancers to knot the score back up but a MACCRAY kill and another lapse in which a ball fell to the floor unchallenged put the Wolverines within a point of taking the set at 24-22.

“It’s a different atmosphere here at the RA Facility. Having a win tonight is going to make us even better and ready for our next match,” Wright said. “No ball should hit the floor and I think the nerves came out, but now we’re just going to bring it and that’s the attitude we’re going to stress.”

Still, the Lancers locked in to close out the frame. Haley Noyes, Brooklyn Kindopp and Kockelman scored consecutive kills to put Canby back in the driver’s seat and, after the teams exchanged points, Karlie Wollum came up with a clutch block to seal a 27-25 win in the first game.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Canby outside hitter Karlie Wollum attempts a dig during the No. 2 Lancers’ 3-0 win in the 3A South semifinals at Southwest Minnesota State University on Tuesday night.

“We just basically said, ‘Hey, the nerves are there, we got the first set under our belt.’ It could’ve gone either way in the first set,” Wright said, noting the team’s unforced errors and hits out of bounds. “I’m happy we came out with the victory and then taking them in three, that was just a great game.”

Wollum had another big game offensively for the Lancers. She led the team with 14 kills and three total blocks. Brooklyn Kindopp also added another two blocks while Grace Hansen added another. Kindopp also chipped in eight kills.

Libero Aliyah Rangaard once again led the team’s defense with 22 digs on the night while receiving 31 serves.

The second set of the match was far less dramatic as the Lancers pulled away early and held on for a 25-18 win, capped off by a Kindopp spike.

In the final frame, Canby jumped out to an early lead and led by as many as 8 points before MACCRAY narrowed the gap late. With the Lancers on the cusp of victory, MACCRAY rallied to make it a 2-point game, 25-22. Still, the Lancers hung on to pull out a 25-22 win.

With the win, Canby advances to the 3A North finals against No. 1 Minneota on Thursday at SMSU at 5:30 p.m. The winner of the matchup will go on to play again on Saturday at 7:30 for a section title and state tournament berth.

The Vikings and Lancers met once before this year in Canby. After dropping the first set, the Vikings rallied to win three in a row to walk away with the win. Still, all that matters now is Thursday’s match.

“Every team we play, we want to go hard. It happens to be Minneota on Thursday night and it’s a big town rivalry,” Wright said. “I think there’s, what, 20 miles that separates us? It’s always a good rivalry. These kids play in club against or together in the offseason and it’s always going to be a fun game. We’re going to be ready on Thursday night.”