Near, far, wherever you are. There’s no drive too long to make it to the volleyball state tournament at Xcel Energy Center.
Sixth seed St. Croix Lutheran is a 10-minute drive away, if that. Hawley is nearly four hours away, near Fargo. But as the two schools battled back and forth in a five-set Class 2A quarterfinal thriller that No. 3 Hawley eventually took 19-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-17, 15-13 Thursday, two well-filled student sections traded jests.
“It’s a big deal around here,” said St. Croix Lutheran senior setter Sophia Rubio. “We all get excited because it’s so close to here … and our fan base was amazing.”
Plenty of St. Croix Lutheran players had been to the tournament before to watch friends or family compete. So had Albany players, driving down from past St. Cloud to sit in the stands. Even Hawley players, waiting for their chance after the Nuggets made their first trip to state in 2021.
“I remember watching the older girls play, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is so cool,’ ” said Hawley senior setter Ingrid Rustad, who was a freshman reserve on that team. “After that experience, I just strived to get there each year.”
The journey for Hawley (27-5) passes next through No. 2 Chatfield on Friday after Chatfield beat No. 7 Rush City in four sets (25-20, 24-26, 25-12, 25-16). Senior outside hitter Jaelyn LaPlante led the match with 26 kills for Chatfield (29-4), making its first appearance at state.
Albany, back at state after a 19-year state tournament drought and bearing the No. 1 seed, beat No. 8 New London-Spicer 3-1 (25-12, 24-26, 29-27, 26-24) in the 2A quarterfinals. The Wildcats had little answer for Albany 6-1 senior outside hitter Hannah Klein, a South Dakota State commit who had 33 kills on 40% hitting.
“I’m always ready to step up, I want to step up,” Klein said. “I think it’s a mentality a lot of players on our team have, especially with a lot of seniors.”
