Photo by Samantha Davis. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton defensive specialist Makenna Hesse goes in for a dig in the Class A state quarterfinals Thursday night at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.

ST. PAUL — The second-seeded Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team picked up a 3-0 win over No. 7 Nevis in the Class A state quarterfinals Thursday night to advance to the semifinals, where the Knights will next take on No. 6 Ada-Borup-West, one win away from reaching the state championship.

In Thursday’s quarterfinal win, RTR overcame deficits in both the first and second set, before controlling the third to secure the sweep. Paisley and Sara Thooft combined for 26 kills, while Laken Baartman picked up 21 digs. Ava Karbo continued to make her presence known at the front of the net with five blocks on the night.

On the other end of the arena, ABW (24-8) started its state tournament run with a quarterfinal upset over No. 3 Fillmore Central 3-1, who was also ranked No. 4 in the state in the final regular season Class A coaches poll rankings.

The Knights (29-5), who were most recently tabbed No. 3 in the state’s Class A rankings prior to the postseason, will look to find an answer to slow down ABW’s Malayna Syverson and Morgan Engel, who finished the night with 25 and 19 kills, respectively.

The Knights are looking to defend their 2023 state championship, while the Cougars are on a hunt to continue its first state tournament appearance since 2018, and 11th in program history.

This will be RTR and ABW’s second time meeting this year, who previously played one another on Sept. 20 at the Class A Showcase weekend tournament in Burnsville. The Knights came away with a two-set win in the match, in scores of 25-17 and 25-15.

ABW started its season out on a six-game win streak, with all but three of its losses coming by the hands of state-ranked teams.

The Cougars have caught fire entering the state tournament, who are currently riding a seven-match win streak, five of which have been sweeps.

RTR will look to continue using all assets of its well-rounded talented roster with recent state experience, with the hitting of Paisley Thooft, Sara Thooft, Dru Ellefson and Brynn Borresen, Karbo’s blocking power at the front of the net, Baartman and Makenna Hesse protecting the back row along with setters Brezlyn Buchert and and Ellefson pacing the offense.

Today’s semifinal match will serve at 3 p.m. from Court 2 at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. The winner will advance to Saturday’s championship at 2:30 p.m., while the losing team will compete for third place at 12:30 p.m.

Those attending the state tournament can purchase tickets on the MSHSL website. Adult tickets are priced at $17, and student tickets at $11. MSHSL will also broadcast live stats online of all matches, and a live stream of the games can be found on NSPN.TV.