Knights take home bronze in Class A state volleyball tournament

Sam Peterson

Grant County Herald

The West Central Area volleyball team competed in their second straight Class A state volleyball tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, which were the only two times WCA has been in the state tournament. The Knights earned the four seed in the bracket and started Nov. 7 with a match against the fifth Seed Kittson County Central and won a competitive 3-1 match. WCA moved on to play the eventual state champions Mayer Lutheran in the semifinals Nov. 8 and lost in four, 3-1. They closed the tournament on a high note with a 3-0 sweep in the third place game Nov. 9 against Fillmore Central. 

WCA 3

KCC 1

The Knights started their state tournament with a matchup in the first round against champions of Section 8A, Kittson County Central. Coming into the match, KCC held a 27-5 record and were ranked as the 10th team in Class A. Not to be outdone, the Knights were 27-4 and were the eighth ranked team in Class A. 

Despite WCA having some past state tournament experience on the team, it was a bit of a nervy start for the Knights in the first set against KCC.The WCA offense could not get much going in the first set and fell behind with a 25-20 loss. 

WCA flipped the switch quickly and came out with much more energy in the second. It was a competitive set with the Knights holding a slight edge until a six-point service run from Wylie McNally gave WCA a 23-15 lead. The Knights were able to close out the set with a 25-19 win to tie the match at a set apiece.

The Knights took control of the match, but started slow in the third set, trailing 10-4 right off the bat. WCA battled all the way back and a six-point service run served by Mya Foslien gave the Knights a 20-18 advantage. The lead went back and forth over the final few points, but WCA made enough plays to take a 25-22 win to take a commanding 2-1 lead.

The Knights kept the momentum going in the fourth set. After a serving run from Madi Fagre, WCA held a 15-7 advantage. In the fourth, Sophie Sanstead also recorded her 1,000th career dig, helping the Knights to a 25-14 win to ice the match at 3-1.

“Our mission was to win the first game and finish higher than last year and we did it,” head coach Melissa Foslien said.

On offense, Mya Foslien led the team with 21 kills, but three other Knights also finished with at least seven. Izzy Puchalski hit 11 kills, Fagre had 10 and Jaclynn Nelson finished with seven. Macy Grosz distributed the majority of the assists, finishing with a team-high 42.

At the service line, WCA had eight aces. McNally and Mya Foslien led the team with three aces and Puchalski and Fagre each had one. 

On defense, WCA had six players with double-digit digs. Puchalski led the team with 34 digs, Mya Foslien dug out 30, McNally had 21, Grosz and Fagre each added 19 and Sansted chipped in with 18. At the net, Nelson led the Knights with five blocks and Mya Foslien, Puchalski and McNally each had one block.

Mayer Lutheran 3

WCA 1

In the semifinals, the Knights ran into the top team in the class and perennial state-tournament team, Mayer Lutheran. WCA gave the Crusaders a competitive match, but fell 3-1 to Mayer Lutheran in the semifinals.

The Knights were ready to play in the first set of action against the Crusaders, but the top team in the bracket did not back down. The entire set went back and forth between the two teams, but the Crusaders made just enough plays to come out with a narrow 25-23 win over the Knights. 

WCA was able to respond in the second set of action. Much like the first set, it was another nail-biting battle in the second. Thanks to a four-point service run by Sanstead gave the Knights an 18-15 lead. WCA was able to ride that advantage to a 25-23 win to tie the match at a set apiece.

WCA may have used all their juice in the second set and the team ran out of gas in the third and fourth set. Mayer Lutheran’s offense kept the pressure on and created problems for the WCA offense with blocking on the outsides. The Crusaders blew out WCA 25-16 in the third and followed that up with a 25-14 win in the fourth to seal the win.

Mya Foslien was the main offensive option for the Knights and was the only WCA player to finish with double-digit kills, leading the team with 21. Puchalski chipped in with six kills and Fagre had five. Grosz finished with a team high 27 set assists. 

The Knights finished with six serving aces as a team. Santead led the team with three aces and Grosz, Puchalski and Mya Foslien each added one.

On the defensive side of the net, Puchalski led the team with 23 digs. Fagre finished with 19 digs, Grosz and McNally each dug out 18, Sanstead had 16 and Mya Foslien added 15. At the net, Fagre led the squad with five blocks and Mya Foslien, Grosz, McNally and Nelson each had one block.

WCA 3

Fillmore Central 0

WCA was able to be one of just three teams in Class A to finish their 2024 season with a victory when they took down Fillmore in the Class A third place match. The Knights finished the tournament in style with a 3-0 sweep over the Falcons to hoist the third place trophy.

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