The Huskies head a field of eight teams that will vie Saturday and Sunday for the first state tournament championship in the brief history of boys' volleyball.

By Jim Paulsen

May 15, 2019 at 4:36AM

Osseo's Kirby Schmalz and Luke Nelson, right, defended an attack by Lakeville South's Calvin Hertel during a match last year. This year, Andover (7-0) earned the No. 1 seed for the inaugural boys’ volleyball state tournament, which will take place Saturday and Sunday at Shakopee High School. (Brian Wicker — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Andover (7-0) earned the No. 1 seed for the inaugural Boys' Volleyball State Tournament, to be held Saturday and Sunday at Shakopee High School.

St. Paul Harding (7-0) was seeded No. 2, Kasson-Mantorville (8-1) is No. 3, and Prior Lake (9-0) is No. 4.

The tournament bracket consists of the champions from each of eight conferences, six of which are comprised of teams in the metro. Two represent teams from the balance of Minnesota.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and consolation semifinals will be held Saturday. In the quarterfinals at 9 a.m., Andover will play Rogers (8-0) and Prior Lake will take on No. 5-seed Roseville (9-0). At 11 a.m. St. Paul Harding will meet Proctor/Hermantown Green (12-0) while Kasson-Mantorville plays Minneapolis Southwest (6-3).

Semifinals and consolation round matches are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

All finals will be held Sunday. The seventh place and consolation championships are at 9 a.m., third place is at 11 a.m. and the championship match at 1 p.m.

Tickets have a daily rate of $12 for adults, $8 for students.

Boys' volleyball made its debut in 2018 and has grown significantly in its two years of existence. This season, more than 50 schools fielded teams, both varsity and JV, representing more than 800 players.

With local Hall of Fame coach Walt Weaver and University of Minnesota volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon leading the way, boys' volleyball proponents have been pushing to have the sport sanctioned by the Minnesota State High School League. The Minnesota High School Boys Volleyball Coaches Association has made two presentations before the league, both of which have been turned down.

Girls' volleyball is the most popular high school sport for girls in Minnesota with more than 16,000 participants in 2015-16 (the most recent year for which the high school league has provided participation statistics). Against that backdrop and with the growing interest in the boys' game, it's believed that it's just a matter of time before boys' volleyball becomes an official high school league sport.

For more information, check out the Minnesota Boys' High School Volleyball website at www.mnboyshighschoolvolleyball.com.