Kasson-Mantorville Class 3A State 2nd Place

The Kasson-Mantorville KoMets concluded their season Saturday with a 3-0 loss to the Marshall Tigers in the Class 3A title game.  Scores were 27-25, 25-22, 25-16.

The final Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Poll at the end of the regular season had the Tigers ranked #1 and KoMets #2.  They were also seeded that way in the state tournament.

K-M All-State, All-Tournament Class 3A Team selection, setter, senior 5'9 Maddie Converse finished the match with 19 set assists, 11 digs.  All-State, All-Tournament libero senior 5'6 Caitlyn Wanous had 4 set assists and 12 digs.

Junior 5'7 Whitney Deno hit .057 with 7 kills, 15 digs, 31 serve receptions. All-Tournament selection Senior 5'7 Annika Larson amassed 9 kills, sophomore Ellie Ask 8 kills for Kasson-Mantorville. She was also an All-Tournament team selection.  They finished a tremendous season.  Hiawatha Valley League Co-Champions with Stewartville.  Swept the Stewartville Tigers in the Section Final but couldn't get by the Marshall cats.

Marshall finished the season 33-2.  It's their first title since 2013.  The match took 81 minutes.  K-M had one lead the entire match.  There were six ties in the contest.

Marshall achieved 40 kills while hitting .195. KoMets had 27 kills and hit .053.  The Tigers collected 7 blocks to the KoMets 4.  Marshall finished with 71 digs, K-M 59 digs.

Marshall had 4 players with double digit digs, so did K-M.  Errors were nearly even with 39 for the Tigers, 38 for the KoMets.

The official statistics do not list infractions like in the net, double hits or too many hits, etc.

Kasson-Mantorville did notch 9 ace serves while Marshall had 5.  KoMets junior 5'6 Aryss Adams racked up 7 ace serves to go with 10 digs.

Other Class 3A All-State selections included junior middle hitter Gabrielle Gartner of Byron.  Her teammate libero freshman Clara Hoegh.  From Stewartville libero senior Kylie Smidt, outside hitter senior Allison Elliot.  Senior outside hitter  Grace Banse of Mankato West.

Gordy's Class 3A Top ten

1. Marshall Tigers
2. Kasson-Mantorville KoMets
3. New Prague Trojans
4. Grand Rapids Thunderhawks
5. Monticello Magic
6. Chisago Lakes Wildcats
7. St. Paul Highland Park Scots
8. Sauk Rapids-Rice Storm
9. Stewartville Tigers
10. Byron Bears

The first ever Class 4A State Champions are Wayzata.  The Trojans were undefeated this year winning the title match over the East Ridge Raptors winning the first two sets  25-22, 25-17 before falling 25-23 then winning 25-19.

The Trojans finished the night with 65 kills while hitting .280, 77 digs, 11 blocks.

The Raptors had 47 kills, hitting .169, 68 digs, 3 blocks.

Wayzata libero Ella Voegele led everyone on the court with 22 digs.  East Ridge of Woodbury libero Ellenor Crimmins collected 19 digs.

Eden Prairie edged Rogers 3-0 in the third place match.  Lakeville North won the Consolation Championship over Bloomington Jefferson 3-1.

The All-Tournament team included senior 5'10 outside hitter Kaitlyn Peterson of Lakeville North.

All-State selections included Northfield juniors Sydney Jaynes and Teagan Timperly along with Rochester Century junior Paige Decker.

Rochester Mayo won the Big Nine Conference this season.  No Spartans were named All-State.

Gordy's Top Ten Class 4A

1. Wayzata Trojans
2. East Ridge Raptors
3. Eden Prairie Eagles
4. Rogers Royals
5. Lakeville North Panthers
6. Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars
7. Forest Lake Rangers
8. Roseville Area Raiders
9. Eagan Wildcats
10. Chaska Hawks

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