The Minnesota state volleyball tournament begins today at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

In Class A, two teams out of the Gopher Conference could face each other in the finals.

The defending state champion Faribault Bethlehem Academy Cardinals have been ranked No. 1 all year and enter the tournament with a 23-7 record.

As always, the number of losses is misleading because the Cardinals have a schedule that's loaded with tough teams to get them ready for the postseason.

If Bethlehem Academy repeats then they would be state champions in Class A in four of the past five years. They are hoping to capture the eighth state title in school history.

It has been an amazing run with 12 appearances in the past 14 years, and when the Cardinals have been to the tournament they never finished lower than second.

Only one time have they been able to collect back-to-back crowns. That was in 2011 and 2012.

Bethlehem Academy's first appearance at the state tournament came in 2002 when they finished runner-up to Fosston. Then they went on the odd-year run where they collected state titles in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 before capturing their first back-to-back and first even-year title in 2012.

This is the eighth year of seeding for the tournament. Coaches of the qualified teams seeded all the other teams and then opponents were randomly selected for the top three seeds. The Cardinals were seeded No. 1.

Junior Payton Nutter leads the team in kills with 367 and has a season kill percentage of .396. Sophomore Mary Campbell has 226 kills and a season kill percentage of .396. Senior Madi Strodtman has collected 186 kills and has a season kill percentage of .348.

Faribault Bethlehem Academy's opponent is unbeaten and out for some respect. The Cook County Vikings were not ranked in the final coaches poll with a 25-0 record.

Their statistics show they are a balanced team. Sophomore Meredith Sutton leads the team from Grand Marais in kills with 248 and has a kill percentage of .428. Senior Linden Sutton's kill percentage is .402 and senior Lily Gruber-Schulz has a kill percentage of .609.

The Vikings are also averaging 10 ace serves per match.

Fellow Gopher Conference member Waterville-Elysian-Morristown was seeded third after finishing fifth in the final Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

The Buccaneers have just three losses all year. Their first loss came to Bethlehem Academy in Faribault on September 22 and since then the team has hoped they could play the Cardinals again, knowing it would have to be in the state tournament.

They avenged one of their losses in the Section final when they swept Mayer Lutheran on Saturday in Mankato in impressive fashion.

Their other loss was against No. 2-rated and No. 2-seeded in this tournament, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.

If W-E-M wins or loses their first match they could see the Panthers again.

This is the Buccaneers' first trip to state and you never know how teams will react to the double court in the massive arena.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown faces an Ada-Borup team that was consolation champion during last year's tournament.

The Cougars are making their ninth appearance at state and their third consecutive, so they know all about the atmosphere.

Ada-Borup is 25-6 and was not ranked in the top 10 in the final coaches' poll.

The key to the Buccaneer success has been great balance on offense and a tenacious defense. Senior Kamryn Kendall has more than 1,000 kills in her career and more than 1,000 digs.

Junior Kate Masberg actually leads this year's team in kills with 353 and Kendall has 301.  Senior RaeAhna Harmon has 254 kills. Two other seniors, Erika Olson and Haley Domonoske, have combined for 254 more kills.

Masberg also leads the team with 84 ace serves. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown has been very aggressive serving throughout the playoffs and has 267 aces on the season. That's an average of just over eight ace serves a match.

The Cardinals are scheduled to play their quarterfinal round match against Cook County on Court One at the Xcel Energy Center at 1PM. If everything is on time (there are two matches before theirs), our coverage on KDHL 920 AM will begin about 12:50PM.

The Cardinal match will be followed by the Buccaneers on the same court with a scheduled first serve of 3PM.

If everything is on time, we will begin coverage about 2:50PM on KDHL 920 AM.

Remember you can also listen online at www.kdhlradio.com and just click where it says Listen Live, or download the free RadioPup app on your favorite mobile device.

Bethlehem Academy Volleyball at Van Orsow Auditorium Faribault
Bethlehem Academy Volleyball at Van Orsow Auditorium Faribault
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