Lakeville South, Champlin Park advance to Class 4A volleyball championship

It didn’t happen when they first thought it would, but at this point, it’s safe to say the Lakeville South girls volleyball team isn’t at all worried about timing.

The Cougars (31-2) advanced to Saturday’s Class 4A championship match ― the first state final appearance in program history — where they will face Champlin Park (30-3) after sweeping Roseville 25-17, 25-23, 25-11 in the semifinals Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

“We thought last year was going to be our year and we didn’t end up making it,” said junior outside hitter Romi Chlebecek, who led the team with 18 kills.

In fact, the Cougars started the season believing they were facing rough waters.

“We thought it was going to be a rough season because we lost so many seniors from last year,” sophomore setter Kaelyn Bjorklund said.

The season worked out much differently than expected. The Cougars won 12 of their first 14 matches, with the only two losses coming in tournament play against Champlin Park.

“We kind of proved ourselves wrong,” Bjorklund said.

Cougars coach Steve Willingham gave credit to the remaining seniors for the team’s ability to exceed expectations.

“We have four seniors and they’ve been amazing. They’re kind of the backbone of how we’ve played the first ball. And you know, that sets up everything else,” he said.

After closing out a first-set victory, Lakeville South took a commanding 14-4 lead in the second.

But Roseville refused to go away quietly. The Raiders (27-6), who hadn’t lost in more than a month before Thursday, put up a spirited rally. They cut the margin to a single point twice in the second set, but couldn’t close the deal.

Having expended an entire match’s worth of energy in its rally, Roseville couldn’t maintain pressure in the third set, allowing Lakeville South to pull away for the victory.

“I’m really proud of our resilience,” Roseville coach Greg Ueland said. “I love this whole team and I’m really proud of our fight.”

Willingham credited his team with playing its best volleyball when it’s needed most.

“We played some of our best volleyball of the season against a really, really good team,” he said. “I feel good about the head space that our team is in right now. We seem to be peaking and I’m super excited for us to be in this next match.”

The Champlin Park-East Ridge Class 4A semifinal was one of those state tournament matches that make the entire endeavor worthwhile, for hardcore fans, players, casual observers and everyone in between.

Champlin Park, back in the state tournament for the first time since winning the large-school championship in 2018, rallied from a 2-1 disadvantage and won the final two sets to defeat East Ridge 25-16, 20-25, 18-25, 25-23 and 15-12.

East Ridge (25-7), the No. 3 seed in the bracket and who lost decisively to Champlin Park in September, set aside a disappointing first set and played perhaps its best two sets of the season to take a 2-1 lead.

“We started putting good swings on the ball, getting better touches on the blocks,” said East Ridge coach Steve Anderson, dissecting reasons for the Raptors’ success. “We got a better feel for the court, what was open offensively and what they were trying to do offensively. I am so proud of what this team was able to do today.”

East Ridge took an early lead in the fourth set, temporarily quieting Champlin Park’s loud and typically vociferous student section, before the No. 2-seeded Rebels began to rally.

Their championship dreams in jeopardy, the Champlin Park players regrouped.

“We had to reset, refocus, bring the energy back up and make it positive again,” said Carly Gilk, the Rebels’ dominating outside hitter and the Star Tribune’s All-Minnesota Player of the Year. Gilk finished with 38 kills.

Gilk’s partner in her success, setter Reese Axness, said it’s belief in her teammates that fueled the Rebels’ match-winning response.

“It takes a lot of trust in your teammates and a lot of trust in yourself to stay confident and work through all the adversities,” she said.

Added Gilk: “And make smart decisions. It’s extremely important to make smart decisions.”

Champlin Park coach John Yunker said the Rebels’ successful response was rooted in the schedule they played during the season.

“We play in the three toughest tournaments you can play in the state,” Yunker said. “All the big teams are there and that’s what it’s for.”

Fans often wonder if Yunker gets nervous in tight situations. He admitted Thursday’s match caused a blip in his normal stoic demeanor.

“Anybody that knows me knows I’m not the most excitable guy,” Yunker said. “But I gave a nice fist pump today.”

Anya Schmidt was named 2024 Ms. Baden, the award given to Minnesota’s top senior player. The Rogers opposite hitter/setter was selected from a group of five finalists that included Gilk, Nova Classical outside hitter Ava Ball, Burnsville outside hitter Mesaiya Bettis and Rush City libero/outside hitter McKenna Garr. Read more here.