Roseville advances past quarterfinals for first time in two years

Back-to-back volleyball state tournament quarterfinals losses were too fresh. There was simply no way Roseville was going to let it happen again.

The Raiders, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, won the first two sets of their Class 3A quarterfinals match against Champlin Park. They lost the next two, then found their game in the nick of time to defeat the No. 5-seeded Rebels 26-24, 27-25, 22-25, 18-25, 15-13 on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

"We talked about not losing in the first round again," senior middle hitter Monica Burich said. "That was a big goal of ours."

With the two-set lead, the Raiders found themselves in deep trouble in sets three and four as Champlin Park, behind outside hitter/setter Sydney Hilley, put up a determined rally. The Rebels tied the match at two sets apiece and took momentum into the fifth and deciding set.

Fifth sets are nothing new to Roseville, which relied on its experience in game-deciding sets to pull out the victory.

"Losing another first-round match kind of crept into everyone's head, but we were able to crush the doubt," said senior outside hitter Nina Carmichael-Tanaka, who had 23 digs and six kills. "We've been there before."

Burich led the Raiders with 28 kills and junior middle hitter Sara Hain added 20. Setter Bre Malony had 61 assists.

Champlin Park, playing in its first state tournament since 2001, was led by Hilley, who had 32 kills and 20 assists, and 17 kills from middle hitter Janae Alderson.

Chaska 3, Bemidji 0: For Chaska senior Sarah Kelly, the highlight of the season is still knocking off Prior Lake in the Section 2 finals. But defeating Bemidji 25-10, 25-11, 25-19 felt pretty good, too.

The No. 1-seeded Hawks moved a step closer to their stated goal of winning their first state championship since 2006. And to living up to some pretty lofty expectations.

"Yeah, we have a big target on our back," Kelly said. "Everyone wants to beat us."

Outside hitter Erin Schindler had a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Kelly, a first-team All-Metro selection, had 15 kills, and Lauren Nordvold added 10.

"It's only been a recent trend for us to be here," said Becker after the Eagles defeated Rochester Mayo 25-12, 25-18, 22-25, 25-13. "We've been here four years in a row, but it's only been five total. We consider ourselves underdogs because we're not Marshall, Chaska, Eagan. We're just trying to become some of those programs.''

With plenty of state tournament experience to their credit, the Eagles certainly looked at ease on the Xcel Energy Center floor.

"We're comfortable," libero Lauren Mattison said. "We're used to the atmosphere and the huge space."

Senior outside hitter Abby Ihrke had 25 kills and setter Elmo Mohr had 41 set assists for the Eden Prairie. Rochester Mayo was led by Anna Winter's 16 kills.

Eagan, 3, Cambridge-Isanti 0: Kathy Gillen walked out of the Eagan locker room after her team's 25-12, 25-21, 25-22 victory over Cambridge-Isanti and quickly assessed her team's play.

The defending Class 3A champions may not have played as well as they are capable, but it was still good enough to defeat the first-timers from Cambridge-Isanti.

"I would give us about a C-plus," Gillen said. "We need to get better all the way around."

If that was the Wildcats at their most mediocre, the rest of the Class 3A field should be wary. With five players who registered between six and nine kills, Eagan's depth is its biggest weapon.

"It's all about everyone coming together," Gillen said. "The whole team is involved.