Photos by Samantha Davis. Minneota's Sarah Gruenes (right), Natalie Ratajczak (9) and Abby Rolbiecki (in white) cheer on Jaylyn Coequyt (1) after making a kill in the first set against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Tuesday night at home. The Vikings swept the Fighting Saints.  Below: Minneota senior libero Abby Rolbiecki retrieves the ball on defense in the second set against KMS Tuesday night. Below: (Left to right on bench) Minneota's Leah Coequyt, Autum Anderson, Madison Minnehan and Sophie Gillund cheer on the team after getting a point in the second set against KMS Tuesday.

MINNEOTA — The top-ranked Minneota volleyball team picked up its fourth-straight win and seventh sweep of the season Tuesday night over Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg behind Eden Meagher, Jaylyn Coequyt and Sarah Gruenes’ 35-combined kills. The Vikings took down the Fighting Saints in Camden Conference play by sets of 25-11, 25-20 and 25-12.

“I think it’s been a really successful start so far, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season leads us to,” senior libero Abby Rolbiecki said. “Hopefully we keep getting better, and we will keep working in practice.”

Meagher led the team with 13 kills, while Jaylyn Coequyt and Gruenes followed with 12 and 10, respectively. Leah Coequyt and Natalie Ratajczak each had four.

The Vikings’ all-around team effort was apparent from the jump, starting off on a 7-0 run to begin the opening set of the night.

Meagher, a sophomore outside hitter, got the offense started with a kill off the left side on the first play of the night, while KMS struggled with a string of errors.

A series of kills from Jaylyn Coequyt, Gruenes, Meagher and Ratajczak gave Minneota 9 of its first 15 points to build a 15-1 lead. Gruenes had three of the kills, while each of the other three added another pair.

The Fighting Saints called their second timeout of the set facing a 20-5 deficit, but Minneota quickly wrapped the first game behind three consecutive kills from Jaylyn Coequyt.

Coequyt and Meagher led Minneota with six kills each in the first set.

“I think they both did a really good job. We can count on them to put the ball away and score,” Minneota head coach Buysse said. “They’re smart about mixing it up and throwing in a roll shot, or the deep, or the kill. I think we just need to keep cleaning it up, too, like making some smart choices.”

Libby Sussner also paced the offense through the night with 26 set assists, and Sophie Gillund had another 17.

Minneota faced some adversity in the second set with KMS continuing to hold on, but was able to find the answers in the end for the win.

The Vikings fell into a 6-3 deficit, but immediately tied the score up with 3 unanswered points behind two kills from Meagher and a KMS error.

“We just made a lot of errors, and a lot of their points were out of our errors,” Rolbiecki said. “Just cleaning that [errors] up a little bit, and we talked about that. We were running some different routes, so cleaning that up and working on that really helped us.”

Kills from Leah and Jaylyn Coequyt and Meagher, along with strong blocking, helped the Vikings build back up a 16-12 edge, forcing the Fighting Saints to call a timeout.

“I got a lot of help back there,” Rolbiecki said about managing the team’s defense. “Those younger girls, they keep me in line too … That’s a lot of fun, playing with them.”

Meagher had a team-high 12 digs on the night, and Rolbiecki finished with seven.

KMS came back with three straight points to trail 19-17, two from a pair of Vikings’ hitting errors, as Buysse called a timeout to regroup.

Following the reset, Minneota was able to come within match point, and put the set away with a Gruenes kill.

“We definitely started out strong in that first set, for sure, which was good. Then that second set, I think we kind of settled in a little too much, or got a little comfortable and just made some of those unforced errors,” Buysse said. “Just little things that we got to clean up. Communication errors, hitting errors, keeping that ball in play. But, they pushed through, which was good. Then the third set, we came out a lot stronger.

Much like the first, the Vikings came out red-hot in the final set with an opening 6-0 run and never allowed the Fighting Saints to take the lead again.

A service ace from Madison Minnehan put Minneota up 14-6 when KMS called a timeout, and the Vikings continued to chip away. The final three points to secure the sweep came from a Jaylyn Coequyt kill, Meagher ace serve and an assisted block between Jaylyn and Leah Coequyt.

Autumn Anderson had a trio of aces, while Gruenes and Meagher each had two.

Continuing to be the prime standard of Class A, the Vikings have been ranked No. 1 each week in the coaches polls since the preseason.

Coming off a 2024 state tournament runner-up finish, where Minneota ultimately fell to No. 2 Mayer Lutheran, Minneota hasn’t lost a beat to begin the season as it looks to make its 16th program appearance at state, and fourth in the last five years.

The Vikings are operating under a first-year head coach in Buysse, who has had stints with the team as an assistant coach. She took over for Hayley Fruin, a two-time Class A Coach of the Year with a trio of state titles in her nine years leading the helm. Fruin announced her resignation in May to dedicate more time to focusing on her family and work.

“I think it’s going well. It’s [the program] got some good ground that it’s been built on for the last many years. So that’s definitely helpful,” Buysse said. “The girls have made it easy to come in and just roll with it … We have a lot of experience coming back and a lot of returners. It’s been good. I feel like we’ve found our flow, and we’ve found what works for us. It feels good, and I feel like we’re really working together.”

“I think she’s done a really good job. It’s obviously a hard position to come into, so I give her a lot of props for that,” Rolbiecki added. “She’s worked really hard with communication with each and every one of us, and I think that’s really beneficial.”

Minneota set the tone once again early this season with four straight wins, and its only pair of losses so far came by the hands of Class 3A No. 2 Delano, and Class A third-ranked Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.

Although graduating key contributors in setter Nevaeh Hennen and outside hitter Elivia Faris from a year prior, the team has returned most of its core group with talented assets across the court, led by its two seniors in Gruenes and Rolbecki.

Minneota (9-2) will next hit the road to Lac qui Parle Valley on Thursday with a 7 p.m. first serve.

“It’s been a pretty good start … This weekend, we go to the Class A showcase, so I’m sure we’ll see some good competition this weekend as well, which will be good,” Buysse said. “I think it’s just not overlooking anybody is kind of the big thing. One game at a time, and just not getting ahead of ourselves either. Just really focusing on one team, and one one goal.”