West Central Area celebrates a Class 1A volleyball state tournament victory and a senior’s delayed milestone; Albany returns loudly in Class 2A

On Day 2 of the volleyball state tournament at Xcel Energy Center, Classes 1A and 2A duked it out for spots in Friday’s semifinals, producing an upset, a few wins for perennial heavy hitters and plenty of long drives.

In the final set of West Central Area’s quarterfinal win, a Knights point was punctuated not by clapping but by the fluttering of hundreds of pieces of paper being whipped out and waved in the air at Xcel Energy Center.

“1,000 digs” was printed on one side, and “Congrats, Sophie!” on the other. It was a career milestone delayed, but not denied, after senior libero Sophie Sanstead missed most of last season because of shoulder surgery.

The celebration wasn’t a total surprise for Sanstead — it’s hard to keep a secret across that many people — but that didn’t make it any less special to celebrate with the families and classmates that had made the three-hour trip down from Barrett for the Knights’ second time at state.

“It’s always been a big goal of mine. Being taken out last year, I really struggled with that,” Sanstead said. “Our fans are a big part of our program. Having them here to support us … we feed off their energy.”

A match-high 19 kills from senior outside hitter Mya Foslien helped No. 4 West Central Area (28-4) beat Kittson County Central 19-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-14. Kittson County Central led the tournament in distance traveled, with two buses worth of pep band members making the six-hour drive from the northwesternmost county in the state.

On Friday, West Central will face four-time state champ and top-ranked Mayer Lutheran (29-5), which swept its quarterfinal against No. 8 Sebeka 25-15, 25-16, 25-19. Junior setter Izzy Keaveny had a team-high 22 assists, and her sister, libero Clara, led the team in digs with 19.

On the other side of the bracket, five-time state champ Minneota, seeded second, swept No. 7 Ely 25-17, 25-20, 25-16, with a match-high 16 kills from senior right-side hitter Elivia Faris.

No. 6 seed Fillmore Central (18-15) continued its upset streak, beating No. 3 New Life Academy 25-20, 25-18, 27-29, 20-25, 15-7 after upsetting Mabel-Canton in the Class 1A Section 1 championship. Fillmore had 19 service aces in the match.

After losing six straight matches in September, the Falcons retooled their lineup to reach state for the first time since 2013 and make a semifinal date with Minneota.

Albany ended a 19-year state tournament drought by earning a No. 1 seed, and now the Huskies are on to the semifinals.

Albany beat No. 8 seed New London-Spicer in the Class 2A quarterfinals 25-12, 24-26, 29-27, 26-24. The Wildcats had little answer for Albany senior outside hitter Hannah Klein, 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.”

Senior setter Ellery Ehresmann finished with 63 assists for Albany (30-3).

The Huskies share Section 6 with two of the three most recent 2A champions, Pequot Lakes and Sauk Centre. So the nine seniors on the Huskies squad are familiar with tournament-level volleyball, even if they haven’t been to the big dance since 2005.

“I was expecting to be in the top three, so I didn’t know exactly where we’d land there, but reality was, we didn’t talk much about that,” Albany head coach Brian Hines said. “We know we’re super strong, from an offensive standpoint.”

Albany matches up with No. 4 Southwest Christian (20-12) in Friday’s semifinals. The Stars swept No. 5 Annandale 25-19, 25-20, 25-20.

No. 3 Hawley was another team that made a four-hour drive pay off, winning a five-set thriller against sixth seed St. Croix Lutheran 19-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-17, 15-13.

Hawley’s journey passes next through No. 2 Chatfield, which beat No. 7 Rush City 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.