Photo by Jake McNeill: The Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team stands with their silver medals and runner-up trophy after the Class A volleyball championship match against Mayer Lutheran on Saturday at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. The Knights fell in three sets to finish the tournament as state runners-up.

ST. PAUL — Taking on top-seeded Mayer Lutheran in a rematch of the 2023 state championship, the No. 2 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights were swept in Saturday’s Class A title match to finish their season as state runners-up. The Knights made a valiant effort to force a fourth set late, but ultimately fell 25-17, 25-15, 25-23.

Paisley and Sara Thooft led the Knights’ attack with nine and seven kills, respectively, and were each named to the All-Tournament team after the match.

Mayer Lutheran commanded five of the 10 All-Tournament spots, with Izabelle and Clara Keaveny, Ada Hahn, Courtney Tuttle and Hallie Hunter each earning a selection.

The Knights got off to their strongest start in the third set, when a pair of kills from Sara Thooft and another from Ava Karbo and Dru Elleson sparked the Knights to a 4-2 lead. The Knights and Crusaders went point-for-point from there, neither team leading by more than a point until back-to-back kills from Hahn and Hunter gave Mayer Lutheran a 13-11 lead.

“This was my last game, [so I just wanted to] put it all out there not being able to do this again,” RTR senior setter Brezlyn Buchert said. “Just having that mindset helped me to keep pushing.”

Mayer Lutheran expanded its lead up to 23-18 when the Knights made one final push to extend their season. Coming out of a timeout, a Sara Thooft kill and a pair of Mayer Lutheran attacking errors put the set within reach. Buchert served an ace after a Mayer Lutheran timeout to bring the Knights within a point.

With their backs against the wall, the Knights felt like they could come together and make up some lost points to force a fourth set, Paisley Thooft said, adding that this being their last time playing together as a group gave them extra motivation to push through.

“We have nothing to lose, we’re going to go to five,” RTR junior hitter Brynn Borresen said of the team’s mentality in the last set. “We just have to push through this set and we have nothing else after this.”

An RTR attacking error brought up match point, but Sara Thooft again came up with a kill to give the Knights a glimpse of hope. Yet, Tuttle followed up with a kill on the next point to crown the Crusaders as state champions.

Mayer Lutheran had a notable height advantage in the match. Hunter and Tuttle are both over 6-foot, Hahn stands at 5-foot-11 and seven other Crusaders are listed at 5-foot-10. For the Knights, meanwhile, Karbo, Borresen and Kaysie Serreyn were the only players to enter the match who are at least 5-foot-10.

Pounding swings through the block was a challenge with Mayer Lutheran’s combination of height and skill, Paisley Thooft said, adding that finding holes on the court was something the Knights were aiming to

The Crusaders capitalized, out-blocking RTR 9-3 and holding RTR to a .035 hitting percentage while hitting .176 themselves. The third set was the only one in which RTR had a hitting percentage above .100, hitting .108, and Mayer Lutheran held the Knights to -.091 hitting in the first set.

Brynn Borresen was a part of all three of RTR’s blocks in the match, coming up with one ace block and combining with Paisley Thooft and Buchert for the other two. In the back row, Laken Baartman led the Knights’ defense with 19 kills, followed by 14 from Borresen and 13 from Makenna Hesse.

Paisley Thooft accounted for five of RTR’s nine second-set kills, but the Knights were unable to generate any momentum. The Crusaders scored 3 of the first 4 points in the frame and quickly built their lead up to 12-4. Mayer Lutheran led by as many as 12 points, 20-8, and the Knights never recovered, falling 25-15.

Dru Ellefson finished the match with 13 set assists without an error, while Buchert logged 11 set assists.

Friday’s championship was the final match for RTR seniors Buchert and Karbo. The two finish their careers as part of both of RTR’s pair of section championships. Buchert joined Baartman as the only Knights to play each set of both of the Knights’ championship appearances, and Karbo also ended her career with some hardware after earning an All-State selection on Tuesday.

Walking out with heads held high

RTR finishes its season at 30-6 after putting together a 20-match win streak dating back to Sept. 19 heading into Friday’s championship match.

RTR has reached the state championship match in each of its two state tournament appearances. Many of the players were still able to appreciate the success of their season even in the face of Saturday’s loss, smiling as they received their runner-up medals and applauded the Crusaders when they received their state championship trophy.

“Honestly, we just stay proud of each other,” Buchert said. “We worked hard to get here, and it’s a great accomplishment to get here. I feel like that’s what our mindset was to keep our heads high.”

“We haven’t made it to the state tournament very many times, so when we get the opportunity to, it’s definitely an accomplishment for our school, whether you’re the state champ like we were two years ago or a state runner-up,” Paisley Thooft added. “It couldn’t have happened without this team. Obviously, Mayer Lutheran is a great, well-coached team and they definitely came out knowing they wanted it all. I feel like we left a few spots that we probably could have been a little bit better, but I think we should be proud of how we did.”

Leaving a legacy

Buchert and Karbo were the lone seniors on this year’s RTR team. The two go out as a part of RTR’s only two section titles, helping the Knights to a pair of state championship appearances with the program’s only state title.

“I feel very grateful to be back here and I’m very proud of our team for making it this far,” Buchert said. “Even though we didn’t come out with a win, I’m still very proud of how we played. I don’t know, it’s very wholesome and I’m just sad to let it go.”

Karbo provided a dominant hitting and blocking force up front, RTR head coach Daynica Brown said, and constantly injected energy onto the Knights’ side of the net over the course of the season, Brown said. Buchert, meanwhile, provided a calming presence that allowed the team to refocus in high-pressure moments.

“I kind of felt like these guys could always go to [Buchert] if they needed a hug or something, and then she just went after it defensively and in the setter role,” Brown said, adding that Buchert was willing to go all out for her team when they needed it and willing to sit to give her teammates experience when the situation warranted as well. “Both seniors did a fabulous job this year for our team and they’re going to be greatly missed. Definitely big shoes to fill.”

Rivalries run deep

In order to get to the state championship, the Knights had to go through a Section 3A tournament that has produced a state tournament finalist for each of the last eight seasons. Minneota was the finalist in six of those eight seasons. As such, taking down the Vikings was something that Buchert, Borresen and Paisley Thooft each cited as one of their favorite moments of the season.

The team’s 20-match win streak heading into the championship was also something that Thooft cited as a high point.

“After every game, I know for every single one of us that there was a big smile on our faces knowing that we were one step closer to the state tournament,” Thooft said. “I feel like we definitely showed it all the way until the last game we had.”

Brown added that this was a group that was full of players who stepped up their game when they needed to, but were also willing to sacrifice for the good of the team rather than just aiming for the 20-kill matches that they were capable of as individuals.

“Each one kind of split it up and they just really represented a team unit, from blocking to defense and our setters,” Brown said, adding that Borresen and Ellefson blended well together in the 6-2 rotation. “Each hitter was in double digits most games… and most of these girls were part of the 2023 team, so as a coach… it was fun to see that they wanted that mission and wanted to be on the court and take on that pressure. Because it is pressure up here at state to play all these great teams in that competition. And they did it. I mean, we had a 20-game win streak. This is not where we ultimately [wanted to finish], but we’re above 150-plus teams on that side of it.”