Apple Valley’s current volleyball players weren’t yet born the last time the storied program made it to a state tournament.
They hadn’t seen the Eagles program take one of its 13 trips to state, win titles in 1985 and 1992, then finish runner-up in 1997. Instead, they’d seen Apple Valley finish with zero wins in 2020, five in 2021 and four in 2022.
Over the years, they hosted the annual Eagle Invite that included top state-bound teams — and the Eagles.
But then, a rebuilding season turned into a state tournament run.
“We kept achieving some of these heights I didn’t think we’d get to for another season,” head coach Hannah Specktor said. This fall, the Eagles beat defending Class 4A state champ Wayzata in September, then knocked off top-10 Prior Lake in October.
“The team was really pushing hard to make this their opportunity in the section to advance,” Specktor said.
Apple Valley (14-14), the No. 4 seed in Section 6, booked its next trip to Class 4A state by upsetting the top two seeds in its section tournament last week — No. 1 Edina in the semifinals, then No. 2 Minneapolis Southwest in the championship this
In their first trip to Xcel Energy Center since 2001, the Eagles are the eighth seed in Class 4A, slated to face No. 1 Lakeville South (29-2) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
