Mayer Lutheran reaches Class 1A volleyball final, will take on Russell-Tyler-Ruthton

This is where Mayer Lutheran belongs.

Mayer Lutheran defeated Mabel-Canton 25-14, 19-25, 25-14, 25-12 in the volleyball state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center to advance to the Class 1A championship game for the third consecutive year.

The Crusaders, winners in 1982, 2016, 2017 and 2021 and runners-up in 2022, made things difficult for Mabel-Canton with their size and ability to finish at the net.

Danica Martin had 20 kills, Marley Martin 13 and Mari Buhr 12 for Mayer Lutheran, which had an impressive .285 kill percentage for the match.

Mayer Lutheran (28-6) solved the riddle Mabel-Canton posed when the two teams met at the Class 1A Showcase tournament in September, a match won by Mabel-Canton in two sets.

The reason?

"We banged the ball," coach Joelle Grimsley said. "That was our goal: Just stay aggressive. That's who we are."

Mabel-Canton, playing well within its system, tied things up in the second set, but the Cougars couldn't maintain the momentum. Mayer Lutheran's height up front became too large an obstacle.

"We talked about being aggressive, not just our hitters," Grimsley said. "That means your passers, your servers, blocking, everything."

Mabel-Canton coach Lonnie Morken admitted the Crusaders' push was too much for the Cougars (36-2).

"When your front row is as big as Mayer Lutheran's is, all the tips and all the rolls have to be a little bit taller to go over the top and it's just not as effective," he said.

It's about time.

The Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball team has spent a good chunk of the past decade in the shadow of nearby Minneota. The Knights finally got past No. 1-ranked Minneota in an intense Class 1A, Section 3 final and have spent the first two days of their inaugural state tournament appearance finally showing their stuff to the entire state.

"We all grew up watching our sisters, and Minneota players, so it's only human nature to want to do that but better," senior outside hitter Abby Carr said.

It keeps getting better. The No. 1-seeded Knights defeated New Life Academy 25-22, 25-15, 25-27, 25-17 in the semifinals Friday at Xcel Energy Center. They will play for the championship Saturday.

New Life (20-12) showed plenty of initial spark in the match, getting out to sizeable leads in each of the first two sets, but RTR (29-6) rallied back in each to take a two-set lead.

New Life bounced back to take the third set and seemed to get a toehold in the match, but RTR slammed the door in the fourth, buzzing to a 12-3 lead and holding off a New Life charge, advancing to the championship match for the first time in team history.

"We've been saying, 'Refuse to lose,' " said Carr, who led the Knights with 16 kills. "So I think by losing that third set, we were like, 'No, we're not doing that again.' "