State volleyball: East Ridge cruises into Class 4A semis
Nov 06, 2024
CLASS 4A
East Ridge 3, Minnetonka 0: Paige Belfield, Adaora Zebulun and Brynlee Opland each tallied 10 kills while Alexis Opland had 34 assists as the third-seeded Raptors handled business with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-13 quarterfinal victory at Xcel Energy Center.
East Ridge (25-6) did not trail at any point in the match. It will face second-seeded Champlin Park at 11 a.m. in Thursday’s semifinals after the Rebels downed Anoka in straight sets.
The Raptors hit a jarring .347 for the match. East Ridge has now recorded sweeps in 10 of its past 12 matches. Five different Raptors recorded aces in the win.
CLASS 3A
Alexandria 3, Mahtomedi 0: Alexandria was convincing in its upset of fourth-seeded Mahtomedi, winning 25-22, 25-16, 25-20.
Kaili Malvey and Silvia Graetzer each had 10 kills for the Zephyrs (25-5).
Fifth-seeded Alexandria will face top-seeded Delano in the state semifinals at 9 a.m. Friday. The Zephyrs — who are making their third straight state tournament trip — will face Hermantown in the consolation quarterfinals in the same time slot.
Stewartville 3, Cretin-Derham Hall 1:The sixth-seeded Raiders put a legitimate scare into third-seeded Stewartville, winning the first set before Stewartville ultimately prevailed 23-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-8.
Sydney Elliott led the Raiders (19-13) with 11 kills, while Megan Buri had 31 assists. This is Cretin-Derham Hall’s first state tournament appearance since 2011.
Ella Theobald had 13 kills to pace the Tigers, who will meet second-seeded Marshall in Friday’s semifinals at 11 a.m., the same time Cretin-Derham Hall will meet Monticello in the consolation semifinals.