Photos by Samantha Davis: Minneota junior setter Libby Sussner puts up a set in the second set Friday night against Yellow Medicine East in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals. The Vikings swept the Sting, and advance to the subsection semifinals. Below: The Minneota student section cheers on junior Libby Sussner after reaching her 1,000th career set assist. Below: Yellow Medicine East senior Alana Almich goes up for a hit in the first set Friday night against Minneota.

MINNEOTA — Junior Libby Sussner reached her 1,000th career set assist in the top-seeded Minneota volleyball team’s postseason-opening win over No. 8 Yellow Medicine East 3-0 Friday night in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals. Friday also marked the Vikings’ final home game of the year, as the tournament moves forward to Southwest Minnesota State University.

“It does mean something to me, but right now, we are focusing on the postseason,” Sussner said of the accomplishment, who finished with a team-high 19 set assists. “We need to continue to focus on it, but I wouldn’t have gotten it without my hitters … I really have to thank them.”

Minneota overall controlled most of the night and won in sets of 25-15, 25-14 and 25-12. YME was able to fluster the Vikings and take a lead in the third set, yet Minneota was quick to find an answer and finish the set with a lead.

Leah Coequyt led Minneota with nine kills, while Eden Meagher and Jaylyn Coequyt followed with eight and Sarah Gruenes finished with six kills. Abby Rolbiecki had a team-high six digs and Autum Anderson had four.

YME took on No. 9 Lac qui Parle Valley in the section play-in round on Monday, winning in three sets to advance and face Minneota.

“We didn’t give up, that was the biggest thing,” YME head coach Arei Stokes said. “Minneota is good, and there’s no other way to say it. They’re [ranked] two in the state for a reason, and one in our section for a reason. I told my girls that crazy things can happen in volleyball, and let’s make them earn every single point.”

Minneota was strong from the service line in the opening set with Meagher, Gruenes, Madison Minnehan and Sussner all serving aces.

The Vikings jumped to an early lead, 8-2, after Minnehan’s ace, which extended to 15-7 following Gruenes’ and Sussner’s aces.

“That’s one of the focuses we always focus on, is serving, because that’s one thing we can all control. Like, get back there, put a good ball in play and that helps everyone on our team,” Sussner said. “We focus a lot on that in practice, we make sure to serve everyday. So really, we have coaches to thank for that.”

A Leah Coequyt kill put Minneota up 10-points, 18-8, when a block from YME’s Bayli Sneller and two-straight hitting errors stopped the Vikings’ run.

The Sting got some momentum going with a kill from Alana Almich and ace from Sneller to cut into a 19-13 deficit, but back-to-back kills from Gruenes started Minneota back on a run, who finished the set off with one more kill from Gruenes and two from Meagher.

Minneota bolstered a 7-1 lead to open the second to force an early YME timeout, to which the Sting responded out of with a 7-1 run and eventually tied the score up 8-8 with the help of a Vikings’ net violation and aces from Abby Bones and Sneller.

Much time didn’t pass before Minneota found its footing back, sparked by a Jaylyn Coequyt kill, Anderson ace and assisted block by Gruenes and Sophie Gillund.

A kill each from Jaylyn and Leah Coequyt finished off the set, as the Minneota student section held up “1,000” signs to honor Sussner, who greeted her family in the stands.

“That’s a huge accomplishment for her [Sussner], especially in her junior year to reach that, which speaks volumes about what she did last year and what she’s done so far this year. Also, credit to all of our all of our hitters that we have out there and that she’s able to get the ball in their hands, and they’re able to help get that ball away and help lead to success for us as a team,” Minneota head coach Kaley Buysse. “She’s a true leader and she’s a gem. We look to her to lead when she’s out on the court.”

Although being down two sets, the YME bench shared smiles and laughs with one another to maintain the uplifting energy.

“They’re great friends, and they’re great humans,” Stokes said of the moment. “I’m just glad that they can understand that when you smile and you laugh and you have fun, you play volleyball better … They just know how to be a family.”

The Sting took a 7-6 lead in the third set after a point-for-point start, but Minneota again took off on a large run behind its blocking effort and combined kills from Meagher, Gruenes, Jaylyn and Leah Coequyt, along with a few YME errors.

Leah Coequyt led with four blocks, while Gruenes followed with three. Gillund and Meagher both had two.

“Coming into the third set, being down 2-0, it’s always a tough position to be in. But, you don’t lay down. Don’t just give it to them,” Stokes said. “I said, ‘Let’s battle, let’s see if we can get a W out of this.’ My girls didn’t quit, and that was the best part of the whole match.”

With a few points to match trailing 22-10, Stokes made sure her group of seniors were all on the floor as the Vikings secured their win after a pair of Jaylyn Coequyt kills and a Sting serving error.

“YME is a good team, they’re really scrappy … They keep a lot of balls alive, and sometimes we can get complacent and think that we’re going to put the first ball away,” Sussner said. “I feel like tonight, we didn’t do that. We continued to play, even if they dug a really good ball.”

YME finishes its season 6-19 overall, an improvement from last year’s 4-14 record. The Sting graduates seniors Ella Cherveny, Sneller, Lexi Stangel and Almich.

“There is so much to say about them, they are going to be tough to replace. You’ve got a setter, an outside and opposite, and a libero. You have every single part of the court that you got to replace,” Stokes said. “I am so proud of them … I’m really proud of the way they settled in the last two years. They’re going to be tough [to lose]. I’m going to miss them, that’s for sure.”

Minneota improves to 25-6, and will next have a rematch with No. 4 Canby in the subsection semifinals on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at SMSU. The winner from there will advance to the North division’s championship, one win away from the section title match.

“I feel like when we work as a team, we can play a lot better than if we don’t. I feel like we focused on trying to do that consistently, when we’ve had the past two weeks. Hopefully we can continue to do that,” Sussner said. “We’re a good group of girls. We all like each other and we’re pretty good friends, so we want to continue together.”

The Vikings and Lancers have seen each other twice this season, each winning a match. Minneota defeated Canby at a weekend tournament 2-0 on Sept 20., while Canby got its revenge win in five sets after a competitive back-and-forth battle on Oct. 2.

Canby (20-10) swept No. 5 Wabasso Friday night in sets of 25-12, 25-21 and 25-22.

“We’ll be ready. We’ll go back in, we’re going to dive in and make sure we execute on all the little areas that we need to and make sure we are making smart choices. I think it’s going to be really important [remembering] that it’s easy to maybe worry about what they’re going to do, but making sure that we’re going and playing our game first,” Buysse said of the matchup. “It’ll be a dog fight, no matter what, and we know that. So, [it’s about] bringing the energy, the excitement, the right attitude and mindset for one point at a time.”

Minneota is looking to repeat as section champions and earn a state tournament bid for the 17th time in program history, and fourth time in the last five years. Continuing to be a strong force in the talent-heavy 3A Section, the Lancers are fighting to break through for their first state appearance.

Following Tuesday, the subsection championship is slated for next Thursday with the section title match to take place on Saturday at SMSU.