Photo by Samantha Davis: Minneota setter Sophie Gillund (2) puts up a set for Sarah Gruenes during a Camden Conference match against MACCRAY on Sept. 23 in Minneota. The Vikings were awarded the top seed in the Section 3A North bracket on Wednesday.

The Minneota and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball teams were named the top seeds in their respective sides of the Section 3A tournament bracket when it was announced on Wednesday. The Vikings and Knights were the last two teams to advance out of the section to the state tournament, with RTR winning the 2023 Class A tournament and Minneota finishing as the 2024 runner-up.

Minneota is ranked No. 2 in Class A as it enters the 3A tournament as the top seed in the North bracket after going 22-6, while RTR is ranked No. 3 as it enters as the South’s top seed at 24-5. The Vikings received three first-place votes in the latest Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association poll and RTR received two. The two trail only No. 1 Mayer Lutheran’s 10 first-place votes, with the Knights finishing the regular season at 18-6.

The top two seeds on each side of the bracket play the winners of the play-in games. Westbrook-Walnut Grove also earned a No. 2 seed on the South side of the bracket and enters the tournament at 19-9.

Minneota plays two more matches before the section tournament, hosting Yellow Medicine East on Thursday before taking on second-seeded Central Minnesota Christian (21-6) in the Camden Conference championship on Monday at 7 p.m. in Prinsburg.

In its first section tournament match, Minneota will take on the winner of No. 8 YME (5-17) and No. 9 Lac qui Parle Valley (7-18) on Friday at 7 p.m. in Minneota. YME and LQPV will play their play-in match on Monday at 7 p.m. in Granite Falls.

On the South side of the bracket, RTR will also open on Friday in Tyler against the winner of No. 8 Southwest Minnesota Christian (5-17) and No. 9 Red Rock Central (4-15). RRC will head to Edgerton for its play-in game on Monday at 7 p.m.

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton was given the No. 7 seed in the South bracket after going 9-19 in the regular season and hosts No. 10 Edgerton (5-18) on Monday for the right to head to Westbrook to take on WWG on Friday at 7 p.m.

In the other North play-in game, Lakeview (13-12) hosts 10th-seeded Dawson-Boyd (1-20) at 7 p.m. on Monday. The winner heads to Prinsburg to face off against Central Minnesota Christian on Friday.

Despite heading into the tournament ranked No. 5 in Class A at 19-9, Canby was seeded fourth in the North bracket after losing to CMC and third-seeded MACCRAY in the regular season. Canby will host fifth-seeded Wabasso (17-11) on Friday at 7 p.m., with the winner taking on the winner of Minneota’s matchup in the subsection semifinals at Southwest Minnesota State University on Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m. Wabasso received votes in the latest Class A coaches poll but missed out on the top 10.

Murray County Central won three of its last four regular-season games to head into the section tournament as the No. 5 seed at 12-9. The Rebels travel to Okabena for their subsection quarterfinal matchup against Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda (13-14) on Friday at 7 p.m. The winner will play the winner of RTR’s matchup for the subsection semifinals in Worthington on Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m.

No. 3 Adrian/Ellsworth will also host No. 6 Hills-Beaver Creek in the South bracket while No. 3 MACCRAY will host Renville County West in Clara City in the North bracket.

The subsection and section championship matches are both still slated to be played at SMSU at the time of print, though the R/A Facility remains under construction after sustaining water damage. The North and South subsection championships are scheduled to be played on Oct. 30 at 5:30 and 7 p.m., respectively, while the 3A championship match is slated for Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m.