EDINA 3, ARMSTRONG 2
(16-25, 25-14, 25-23, 21-25, 15-6)
There is a sign in the Edina gym that celebrates 175 state titles. But for 44 years there was an empty spot in the trophy showcase with no volleyball section title. That changed on Saturday afternoon at Edina in the 6AAA final (the only section that hosts their championship) as the Hornets outlasted pesky #6 seed Armstrong (part of state volleyball royalty with 15 appearances and 7 titles) in a five setter. The #1 seed Hornets survived an error plagued first set and a nail biter in the third to get their first section title.
In set one the Falcons made good use of 13 Edina errors in a 25-16 win. The first run of the game came on four straight Edina hitting errors which put Armstrong up 11-7. The next Armstrong run of five came via four Edina errors, started with a missed serve (17-11). By then Edina had burned both of their time outs.
Edina roared out of the gate in the second set with the first seven points. Staying more aggressive on the serve must have been the theme in the between set discussion on the Edina bench. Ella Haugen threaded the needle down the left Armstrong sideline for an ace to get the ball rolling. Haugen delivered two more aces before an overpass hitting error gave Armstrong a crack at the service line. On the next Hornet service, Edina added four more points for a 12-2 advantage. Edina notched six aces in this set alone and kept Armstrong scrambling and keeping them off balance.
There were three lead changes in the third set with Armstrong cutting their own throat with three missed serves in a row giving Edina a 15-11 lead. Edina returned the favor with a missed serve opening the door for Armstrong’s only run of the set (20-19) and forcing a time out. First swing kills by Armstrong’s Sofie Vogel tied the game at 22, while a tip on the first ball by the Falcons’ Rachael Ukestad tied it at 23. The most reliable first swing kill for Edina, Kat Warpinski (a game leading six first swing kills), got the critical first swing side out kill, and then going back to serve had Alaina Bohrer finish off the set with a kill off the block, one of her game leading 17 kills.
There were eight lead changes in the back and forth fourth set. Edina enjoyed the biggest lead at 15-12, which forced a Falcon time out. That turned the tide and Armstrong came up with four straight points with a pair of aces by Vogel (16-15 Armstrong). Edina used their last time out trailing 19-17. Armstrong would add one more point before an Edina resurgence with four straight points, again leading to a time out by Armstrong (21-20 Edina). This time the run was five after the break capped by a block by sophomores Kiya Durant and Ryley Frye.
Two straight times early in the fifth set Armstrong sided out for Edina with missed serves (5-3). With Grace Hamerski at the service line the Hornets proceeded to rip off seven straight points for the longest run of the day (12-3). Bohrer had three kills in that sequence with Hamerski exploiting the Armstrong serve receive with two aces. The next six points were traded between the two teams in side out fashion. Bohrer boomed home the final point on a first swing. The Hornets had broken through to state for the first time.
EDINA
| SRV | # | Name | Pos | Year | A | B | K | Points |
| 1 | 2 | Ella Haugen | S | 2019 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 2 | 9 | Christine Graf | OH | 2019 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 17 |
| 3 | 4 | Kat Warpinski | RH | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| 4 | 6 | Grace Hamerski | DS | 2020 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 12 | Emma Lafrenz | MH | 2019 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 5 | 7 | Alaina Bohrer | OH | 2019 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 23 |
| 6 | 1 | Taelyr Czech | L | 2019 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Macy Nilsen | RH | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| totals | 14 | 3 | 50 | 67 |
ARMSTRONG
| SRV | # | Name | Pos | Year | A | B | K | Points |
| 1 | 5 | Audrey Schumacher | L | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Kiya Durant | MH | 2021 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | |
| 2 | 14 | Ryley Frye | S | 2021 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 17 | Sofie Vogel | OH | 2020 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 13 |
| 12 | Sophia Deshler | DS | 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 8 | Rachael Ukestad | MH | 2020 | 0 | 1.5 | 4 | 5.5 |
| 5 | 10 | Libby Mattila | OH | 2021 | 1 | 0.5 | 7 | 8.5 |
| 6 | 11 | Brynna Mayer | OH | 2019 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 19 |
| totals | 9 | 6 | 43 | 58 |
TRENCH PLAYER
Alaina Bohrer
| EARNED | |||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Edina | 8 | 18 | 17 | 13 | 11 |
| Armstrong | 12 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 5 |
| ALLOWED | |||||
| Edina | 13 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 1 |
| Armstrong | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
BY THE NUMBERS
| Item | Edina | Armstrong |
| First Swing SO | 17 | 19 |
| Runs 3+ | 10 | 9 |
| Longest String | 8 | 5 |
| Missed Serves | 10 | 14 |
| Time outs | 3/6-.500 | 3/8-.375 |
| Set points | 3/6-.500 | 2/2-1.000 |
RACE TO …
| Set | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| 1 | E | A | A | A | A |
| 2 | E | E | E | E | E |
| 3 | A | E | E | E | E |
| 4 | A | A | E | A | A |
| 5 | E | E | E |
BIGGEST LEAD
| Set | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Edina | 1 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Armstrong | 9 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
RECEIVE TO KILL
EDINA
| Player | Receives | Wins | R2W | Kills | R2K |
| Christine Graf | 5 | 3 | .600 | 1 | .200 |
| Kat Warpinski | 13 | 7 | .538 | 2 | .154 |
| Grace Hamerski | 15 | 7 | .467 | 3 | .200 |
| Alaina Bohrer | 14 | 6 | .429 | 3 | .214 |
| Taelyr Czech | 33 | 13 | .394 | 9 | .273 |
| Totals | 80 | 36 | .450 | 18 | .225 |
ARMSTRONG
| Player | Receives | Wins | R2W | Kills | R2K |
| Libby Mattila | 4 | 3 | .750 | 0 | .000 |
| Sofie Vogel | 48 | 21 | .438 | 10 | .208 |
| Audrey Schumacher | 21 | 9 | .429 | 6 | .286 |
| Brynna Mayer | 15 | 6 | .400 | 3 | .200 |
| Rachael Ukestad | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Kiya Durant | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 90 | 39 | .433 | 19 | .211 |