Photos by Samantha Davis. The Minneota volleyball players and coaches huddle together after being named the 2024 state Class A runners-up Saturday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Vikings fell to Mayer Lutheran, and finishes its season 26-11 overall. Below: The Minneota volleyball team groups together after receiving their second place medals and plaque.

ST. PAUL — The applauding energy was contagious as the No. 2 Minneota volleyball team took the court alongside top-seeded Mayer Lutheran in the Class A state championship match at the Xcel Energy Center Saturday afternoon. Although cleaning up early errors and fighting back in deficits, the Vikings were named the 2024 state runners-up after falling to the Crusaders in three sets of 14-25, 25-27 and 17-25.

“It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but I’m just really proud that we are here,” senior Nevaeh Hennen said. “It’s such a big accomplishment to even make it to state, so I’m really proud of us.”

Minneota and Mayer Lutheran have a long, competitive history of meeting in the state title. Saturday’s match marked the 10th time the two have faced off in the championship.

“There have been moments through the season, especially in September, [people would say] we’re going to be a five-seed and we were going to lose immediately in the first round of the playoffs,” Minneota head coach Hayley Fruin said. “This group just did not give up, which is just so cool, because this was our end goal — to be here.”

The two teams had similar runs in the tournament to get to this point, both sweeping its opponents in the quarterfinals followed by a 3-1 semifinal win. They were also both undefeated this season in their respective conferences.

Mayer Lutheran’s offense challenged the Vikings throughout the match, who finished with a .246 hitting percentage, 39 assists and four aces, to Minneota’s .092 mark, 28 assists and no aces. The Crusader’s also held a lot of height, which posed another threat.

Minneota fought through some early struggles, as the Crusaders jumped to a 5-0 start in the first set, three of which came from Vikings errors.

Jaylyn Coequyt brought some spark to cut the 9-5 deficit with a pair of kills and a block, along with a Sarah Gruenes kill. However, the Crusaders carried on with a 7-2 run to keep its lead when Fruin called a second timeout.

Coequyt had five kills alone in the first set with one error, and finished with a game-high 16.

Throughout the tournament, the Vikings have shown its resiliency when trailing by going on runs of its own. It overcame 7-point deficits on two separate occasions in the semifinals over Fillmore on Friday.

That’s exactly what Minneota began to do, with three consecutive kills by Coequyt, Eden Meagher and Elivia Faris to cut Mayer Lutheran’s advantage to 17-11.

Meagher had 10 kills and eight digs, and Faris tallied five kills and five digs.

But, the Crusaders finished the set off by bringing in six more points from kills.

The Vikings had nine errors between attacking and serving in the set, to Mayer Lutheran’s two.

Minneota ended with a total 29 errors in attacks, serves and receives compared to the Crusaders’ 21.

Mayer Lutheran holds height, which played a factor into their effectiveness particularly when it came to the front of the net with hitting kills and also logging 14 blocks.

The Crusaders’ Marley Martin stands at 6-foot-1, followed by Hallie Hunter and Braylin Stahlke each at 6-foot, and six other players at either 5-foot-11 or an inch under. Minneota’s average height is around 5-foot-8, with the tallest being Jaylyn at 5-foot-10.

“They have size. They always do,” Fruin said. “What I was happy to see is we still took really hard swings up there. When we were in system, we were scoring. But, it came down to passing today, and unfortunately, we just were out of system too often.”

Hennen also said that she navigates height as a setter by keeping an eye on where the tallest girls are standing, and tries to set her teammates up for smart shots.

Looking more settled and communicative, Minneota did not let a large deficit take place again to begin the second set.

The Vikings went on a 5-1 run with a Faris kill and five Mayer Lutheran errors to tie it up 10-10.

Coequyt continued to be efficient at the net, and hit another two kills along with one from Hennen to stay within four points midway through the set. But, Mayer Lutheran again continued to spike the ball down after solid defensive recovery to climb back 23-15.

Hennen had 13 set assists and 10 digs in the match, along with Libby Sussner’s 13 assists and seven digs.

Abigail Rolbiecki had a team-high 13 digs, followed by Autum Anderson with another 11.

In nail biting fashion, Minneota responded on an 8-1 run to tie it all up at 23 with combined kills from Faris, Leah Coequyt, Jaylyn and Meagher as the Vikings fan’s cheers filled the arena.

The end of the set went point-for-point, until Mayer Lutheran was able to hit two successful kills to take the extended 27-25 set.

“It’s all about momentum, that is the game of volleyball,” Fruin said. “We had our chances. It’s hard when you lose those, but you’re hopeful that you’ve gained some momentum for set three. But, them winning that one at the end there, I think the momentum stayed on their side.”

Minneota kept a 1 or 2-point edge through the start of the third set, and Jaylyn had three kills in the Vikings’ first eight points.

Although, a string of kills and blocks built up a Crusaders 20-15 lead, who had four blocks alone in the third set which put pressure on the Vikings. Mayer Lutheran finished the set on a 5-2 run to finish the afternoon off.

Jaylyn, Faris and Rolbiecki were all named to the State All-Tournament team.

Jaylyn finished the tournament with 32 kills, Faris logged 30 and Rolbiecki had 49 digs through the three games.

After receiving their plaque and medals, Fruin hugged each of her players, filled with emotion, individually down a line before bringing them all in for a huddle.

“We could easily not be sitting in these chairs [at the state tournament],” Fruin said. “They have so much to be proud of.”

Minneota will graduate its two seniors in Hennen and Faris, who were on the 2022 state champion team. The duo leaves the program feeling prideful in leading the Vikings’ young roster.

“I’m just very grateful to be a part of this team and Minneota volleyball,” Hennen said.

Gruenes added that Hennen and Faris had a huge impact on the team, and that next year’s roster will miss them. Fruin also acknowledged the two in leading the team and helping to bring them back to state, after losing eight seniors last year.

“I’m happy that we’re here, and that I was able to play volleyball with all of these girls,” Faris said.

The Vikings finish its 2024 campaign 26-11 overall, and will bring in a large group of returners next year. In total, Minneota has now been to the state championship match 16 times since 2001, including four titles and 12 second-place honors.

“As much as it hurts right now, and as much as I think the girls are really sad, I want them to understand how proud this whole community is of them,” Fruin said with emotion. “I just hope they know how proud everybody is of them, especially myself. It’s been a fun year.”