Anoka's Kelci Green jumped toward the net to play a ball with the season on the line and saw something unexpected.
"I didn't see a block," Green said, "so I swung away,"
Her kill clinched the Class 3A, Section 7 championship against St. Francis 24-26, 25-9, 23-25, 25-18, 15-10, sending the Tornadoes to state for the first time since 2003.
The Saints beat Anoka 3-2 on Aug. 28.
Nerves and big-game inexperience led to sloppy moments for both teams throughout Saturday's match at Andover High School.
St. Francis won Game 1 on Maggie Ewen's touch kill at the net. The Tornadoes roared back to run away with Game 2 25-9. Two late Ewen kills helped clinch Game 3 25-23 and put St. Francis ahead 2-1.
Anoka (23-7) jumped out to an 18-8 lead in the fourth set, relying on Kelci and twin sister Kassi's strong play in the middle. But St. Francis (21-9) battled back with an 8-0 surge that forced the Tornadoes into gut-check mode.
"We told ourselves to regroup and calm down because we were still up by a lot," junior Megan Lindenfelser said. Anoka closed out the game on a 7-2 run.
