Roseville advances to Class 4A volleyball semifinal clash with top seed Lakeville South; Champlin Park, East Ridge also win

The state tournament semifinals are set for the two largest classifications in Minnesota high school volleyball.

Here’s who got there, and how:

With 48 assists from All-State senior setter Kadence Davison, the No. 5 Raiders beat No. 4 St. Michael-Albertville 3-1 in the Class 4A quarterfinals on Wednesday (20-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-23).

In its ninth trip to state, Roseville (27-5) dropped the first set to the Knights. But Davison set up back-to-back kills for sophomore middle blocker Sophia Gholson-Johnson to take match point in the second set, 28-26.

“We have really good urgency,” said Davidson, who has 862 assists this season. “Compared to other teams, where they wait for other people to make mistakes, we just want to put it away.”

One of two Class 4A teams without a 6-foot player, a small Roseville team leaned on its excellence in passing and serving.

Meanwhile, Lakeville South swept No. 8 Apple Valley 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17). The Cougars (30-2) have a deep roster and varied attacking options, which helped South book its first trip to state since 2018.

“It’s really fun to be up there and be able to have so many really good players that can terminate a ball,” senior setter Olivia Wagner said. “I have players that I can really trust, and I think that’s really important that it doesn’t matter who I give the ball to, I know that they’ll finish it.”

East Ridge’s volleyball team faces a good problem. Too many liberos.

Junior Aliyah Kleven, freshman Brynlee Opland and freshman Charlotte Hommez all play the position for their clubs. But in East Ridge’s sweep of Minnetonka (25-20, 25-18, 25-13), Opland played as an outside hitter, and Hommez as a defensive specialist.

There’s an overabundance of quality defenders on the floor for the Raptors — “maybe a new three-libero offense that we just created,” head coach Steve Anderson said.

Kleven had a match-high 17 digs, followed by Opland’s 11.

The Raptors finished as state runner-up in 2021, the freshman year of senior setter Alexis Opland, who heads to Seton Hall with the Raptors’ career assist record (2,722).

No. 2 Champlin Park also swept its quarterfinal over No. 7 Anoka (25-19, 25-17, 25-23). In Champlin Park’s first tournament appearance since its 2018 title, senior opposite hitter Carly Gilk had a team-high 21 kills, and senior setter Reese Axness recorded 44 assists.

The Rebels (29-3) feature eight seniors who toughed out three years sharing a section with Wayzata, which won the past four Class 4A tournaments.

“[State] makes me reflect on my career as a whole and all that we’ve accomplished together,” senior middle/right-side hitter Kathryn Adler said. “It is just a really special way to end it with Champlin Park.”

It was less a race between opponents on opposite sides of the net and more between teams on different courts, seeing which would sweep faster. Delano got the edge, but just barely.

No. 1 Delano swept No. 8 Hermantown 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-10) shortly before, next door, the No. 5 Cardinals took care of No. 4 Mahtomedi in three sets (25-22, 25-16, 25-20).

The only undefeated team remaining in any classification, Delano (31-0) finished as state runner-up three times, including last year. A strong serve-receive and two-block got the Tigers one step closer to a first title.

“I remember last year just walking out and the lights were just blinding,” said senior Cassie Wegman, who had a team-best 12 kills against Hermantown. “This year … we can stay calm.”

At state for the first time since 2009, Alexandria (22-10) served with pace and forced Mahtomedi out of its system. Senior Hadley Thull had a match-high 15 kills for the Cardinals.

No. 2 Marshall’s path to what it hopes is a fourth consecutive state title began with a sweep of No. 7 Monticello (25-14, 25-16, 25-17). Junior outside hitter Reese Drake had 13 kills and 13 digs for the nine-time state champion Tigers (25-6).

Marshall started with a strong block and forced Monticello around it, limiting the Magic to .030 hitting.

No. 3 Stewartville — another state tournament frequent flyer, and another Tigers team — beat No. 6 Cretin-Derham Hall 3-1 (23-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-8).

“We start slow, and we know it,” said Stewartville head coach Sammy Pedersen. “I don’t think we panic in those situations, and we’re very comfortable and confident, which is kind of a weird place to be in.”

These Tigers (27-4) are in their 25th tournament appearance, though their first since 2019. Stewartville senior defensive specialist/libero Katherine Klavetter had 31 digs against the Raiders — the most of any player in the day’s eight matches.