Northfield has never been to state, and Benilde-St. Margaret’s finished runner-up in 2022 in its first state tournament appearance since 1983. They’ll each hope for a chance to knock off three-time reigning 3A champion Marshall at Xcel Energy Center in November.
Reigning champions Pequot Lakes (17-10) graduated nine seniors last year, including All-State honorees Ella Kratochvil and Grace Hoffard. They’re seeded fourth this year, behind Albany, Sauk Centre and Royalton.
Albany (26-3) is ranked No. 1 in 2A, led by senior outside hitter Hannah Klein’s 244 kills, 149 digs and 24 service aces. Albany already has head-to-head wins over Pequot Lakes and Sauk Centre (21-5, the sixth-ranked team in its class) and is looking for its first trip to state since 2003.
Three top-10 1A teams will try to pave their way to state through Section 3. Four-time champion and No. 3 Minneota is 19-10 but has challenged itself against top 4A teams during in-season invite tournaments. No. 4 Canby (22-6) has also punched above its size classification against 4A teams such as Wayzata and Chaska but lost 3-0 against Minneota this season.
No. 6 MACCRAY (22-7) has head-to-head 2-1 wins over both Minneota and Canby at the Midwest Volleyball Warehouse Showcase in September but lost 3-1 playing host to Minneota earlier in the season.
