Photos by Samantha Davis. Minneota celebrates after getting a point in the third set against Westbrook-Walnut Grove Saturday evening at Southwest Minnesota State University. Below: The Minneota volleyball team stands with their Section 3A champions plaque after defeating WWG 3-1. The Vikings advance to play in state next week.

MARSHALL — Playing in the Section 3A championship match for the eighth consecutive season, the first-seeded Minneota Vikings volleyball team claimed the section title Saturday evening against an aggressive No. 2 Westbrook-Walnut Grove group in set scores of 25-12, 25-23, 25-16 and 25-23, dropping the second. The win punches a ticket to the state tournament for the Vikings.

“I’m pretty excited. We worked really hard for this,” Minneota defensive specialist Autum Anderson said. “We’re just overall so thrilled, and so happy we are getting this opportunity.”

WWG found itself in the title match for the first time in decades after eliminating the No. 1 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights 3-1 on Thursday to become the 3A South champions, while the Vikings defeated No. 2 Canby 3-1 in the North’s division.

“I’m so proud of my group. I mean, this is history for us,” WWG head coach Meghann Westover said. “I don’t know that anyone expected us to even get to this point, so it was [about] going out there, and leaving it all out on the floor.”

The energy inside the R/A Facility at Southwest Minnesota State University was loud and intense from the jump, half the bleachers filled with Chargers red and the opposite side filled with Minneota blue.

“They’ve [WWG] had a great year. We knew that they were going to serve tough. We knew they had two power houses on the outside, but their middles also put the ball away too,” Fruin said. “They made us battle tonight. Credit to them.”

The Vikings jumped to a 4-0 lead to start the match following a serving and receiving error on WWG’s end. That was until Natalie Wahl hit a kill and Minneota had a serving error to get a pair of points on the board for the Chargers.

Minneota responded with a run to extend its lead to 10-3 as Jaylyn Coequyt and Sarah Gruenes each hit a kill, before WWG called a timeout.

Westover could be heard telling her team, “Just play your game,” during the huddle to try to calm the early nerves.

Minneota held an 18-10 advantage after WWG returned the favor with a bit of momentum to cut its deficit. Wahl and Riley Parker grabbed kills, on top of a few Vikings attacking errors.

Parker finished with three services aces, and Wahl had 13 kills and 23 digs.

“I wish we wouldn’t have come out so nervous,” Westover said. “That’s the biggest thing.”

The Vikings were able to take set one with the final two points coming from a Nevaeh Hennen ace serve and another kill from Gruenes.

“We knew they [WWG] were a good team going into it,” Anderson said. “We just knew that we needed to keep the energy high, keep on going and do what we do best.”

Several Minneota players protected the back court. Abigail Rolbiecki finished with 27 digs, followed by Faris with 19, Anderson and Meagher each with 16, Sussner with 13 and another 10 from Hennen.

Olivia Locke had a team-high 25 digs for WWG, and Carlie Ross ended with another 14 more.

The Chargers came out looking for revenge in the second set and appeared more confident. Both teams went point-for-point until WWG took an 8-6 lead before Fruin called a timeout.

“We limited our errors [in the second set],” Westover said. “I feel like we didn’t force enough of their errors … But, in the second set, our energy level was up. They just played the way they always play.”

Minneota’s offense grew flustered after a few communication errors, but tried to fix its errors as the set went on to overcome a 7-point deficit.

Wahl grabbed two more kills and a 13-7 lead, forcing another Vikings timeout.

A kill from Parker and Ross continued to build a Chargers advantage to 16-9.

Ross had a team-high 14 kills for WWG along with 14 digs.

An assisted block by Coequyt and Gruenes helped to spark some Minneota momentum back again, followed by a WWG attacking error to cut the deficit to 20-15.

Gruenes and Coequyt led Minneota with four and three blocks respectively, and also had eight kills apiece.

Minneota continued to fight back with a string of unanswered points to trail by three at 23-20, with a kill from Elivia Faris, Eden Meagher and a receive error on the Chargers end.

Meagher and Faris shared a team-high 14 kills each.

Another Meagher kill and Vikings block tied it up at 23.

Faith Marsh and Ross each hit a kill for WWG to take the second set victory and tie the match 1-1.

“[There was] definitely a lack of energy. They got on top of us a little bit, they got the momentum going,” Fruin said. “We just made some silly errors at times, and I think we just felt pressure.”

The third set was back in the control of the Vikings, who put pressure on WWG’s defense by hitting kills into the back corners and empty pockets.

“We all talked in the huddle [after set two], and we were all talking about how we just have to let go of the nerves,” Faris said. “Just stay calm and collective, and go out in the third set and dominate.”

A few kills from Faris and Meagher, set by Libby Sussner, helped Minneota build a 16-8 advantage.

Sussner finished with a team-high 23 set assists for Minneota, followed by Hennen with 22.

Hadley Jenniges paced WWG’s offense with 36 assists.

When Minneota got to match point, the Chargers grabbed five points in a row to cut its deficit to 24-15. But, it wasn’t enough to fully recover as the Vikings secured the third set after a Hennen kill.

“Set three, I think we just served really well,” Fruin said. “We played loose and we played with confidence.”

With a trip to state on the line and Minneota trying to end the night in four sets and WWG asking for a fifth, set four was again point-for-point with neither team able to build more than a 2-point lead.

WWG first got a 15-13 advantage following Vikings errors.

Following a Minneota timeout, the set stayed in a tie and down to the wire, all the way to 21-21.

“Set four, you know what’s on the line for both teams and you could just feel it out there,” Fruin said. “Both sides were just trying to overdo things at times, that’s when the errors happened.”

Tension grew and the gym filled with cheers of support as the Vikings got to match point.

“Sometimes, I think we’re such a young team in that atmosphere,” Faris said. “All those young girls are not used to playing in that atmosphere, and I think they held themselves high and they did so good. I think we did amazing.”

WWG blocked a Faris serve, to hang on a bit longer and was down a point at 24-23.

The Minneota coaching staff immediately hugged one another as the girls ran together and fell to the floor after Sussner hit the game-winning kill and brought the Vikings a chance to continue playing volleyball in November.

“It definitely never gets old. Every year, it’s special. This group, they’re a young team and they’re inexperienced. Our veteran players did a really good job late in the season, especially this playoff run, of just keeping those younger kids cool, calm and collected,” Fruin, who only has two seniors in Hennen and Faris, said. “It feels great because you think about those moments in the offseason, and those early mornings that you come into practice and you’re tired, but you’re putting in that extra work and it’s paying off now.”

WWG ends its season 23-5 overall, and graduates five seniors in Parker, Locke, Marsh, Wahl and Anna Byers.

“Seniors are so key in regards to leading a team mentally as much as anything else,” Westover said. “This group of seniors, they had high hopes and dreams and they weren’t going to quit until they achieved them. They’re going to be surely missed, for the personality they bring to the team and that ‘no quit’ attitude.”

The last time Minneota, now 24-10, won the section was in 2022 after defeating RTR in five sets. The team went on to become state champions that same year.

“We just have to take it day by day, and keep playing the same way we’ve been playing these last three days,” Faris said.

The Class A state tournament quarterfinals will begin play on Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The 1 and 4 seeds will play at 5 p.m., with the 2 and 3 seeds at 7 p.m. Seeding is to be announced this weekend.

“We’ve got to rest and get healthy, that’s for sure,” Fruin said. “Come Thursday, we’re going to have to pull it all together.”