Volleyball wins the Lake, and prepares for state

The 23-3 Benilde-St. Margaret’s Red Knights took on the 23-7 Royals in a single elimination match at the Robbinsdale Cooper high school on Sat., November 4. The outcome of the match determined who got sent home, and who gets to go to the Xcel Energy Center for the state tournament.

“Our team has worked so hard these past couple weeks in practice to prepare for Saturday’s match. I knew we would come out and show up,” Anna Erickson, junior, said.

The Royals indeed fulfilled Erickson’s predictions. The team won the first set by a narrow 25-23. Playing such a strong team, the Royals had to come out stronger than they did last week against Edina. They started slow that game, but made sure to not let it happen again this game.

“We were all so excited to play, I knew we’d come out strong,” Erickson said.

The second set was no walk in the park for the Royals. The back and forth momentum throughout the whole set required extra points to be played. Lots was on steak in the final points, but the Royals persevered and made their set lead 2-0 by winning the set 26-24.

“We came out very strong at the beginning, but got comfortable towards the end,” Erickson said. “We got too comfortable after the 2-0 lead.”

The Red Knights turned on the jets and caused some trouble for the Royals in the second set. The offense was clicking, and the defense was locking down. The Red Knights ended up taking the set from the Royals 25-14.

The Royals hit the gas in the fourth set, and crossed the finish line with a score of 25-21 to defeat the Red Knights three sets to one set. The Royals have made it to state for the third year in a row, completing a 3-peat.

“We were so excited when we took the dub, all our hard work payed off,” Erickson said.

The Royals will be taking on the Prior Lake Lakers in the state quarterfinals at the Xcel Energy Center at 9am. The Lakers are 20-12 with a 6-5 conference record.