Caledonia volleyball falls in state title

No. 2 Mayer Lutheran pulls out close win vs. fifth-ranked Warriors

A Minnesota state championship looked to be within the grasp of Caledonia High School’s volleyball team.

The fifth-ranked Warriors had just taken down the No. 3-ranked team in Class A in five sets.

Saturday, they were up against No. 2 and got on top early with a 25-20 win in the first set.

That, however, was their only win. Despite the next two sets being tied very late, Mayer Lutheran came out on top 26-24, 25-23, and won the third 25-20 for the championship. 

 The Warriors (30-6) finish the state runners-up for the second time since 2012. In getting to the state championship, the Warriors had to beat eighth-ranked Mabel-Canton (32-5), No. 1-ranked Bethlehem Academy (21-8) in sections and No. 3 Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (30-8) in the state semifinals. 

The win for the Mayer Lutheran (29-6) may have been decided at the service line.  The Crusaders took advantage of both 13 aces and 13 Caledonia serve-receive errors.

Madison Heaney had 17 kills, 15 digs and four block assists, while Mariah Schroeder added 12 kills, 16 digs and four block assists for Caledonia.

Mayer Lutheran junior setter Madison Hucky had 24 assists, 15 kills and 14 digs.

The Warriors had 25 block assists and hit .199 as a team – Mayer Lutheran had 12 BAs and hit .144 – but 26 points on serves appeared to be the difference.

Setter Adrianna Reinhart had 48 assists for Caledonia, while Katie Tornstrom added 11 kills. Also getting double-digit digs for the Warriors were Isabel Allen, Sam Schroeder and Katelyn Stemper.

The Warriors’ Heaney, Reinhart  and Schroeder were all named to the Class A all-tournament team.