Big Lake received the #8 seed and played #1 seed Marshall last Wednesday.  Scores were 25-13, 25-12 and 25-12.

Taylor Kipka had seven kills and two digs while Madison Reed had seven kills, one block and six digs.Mira Nestande had four kills and Aiyana Baker had three kills and one block. Ashley Fitzgibbons garnered 20 assists and seven digs while Brooke Moshier had eight digs, Iva Sanchez seven digs and Kam Tschritter four digs.

“We are very familiar with Marshall and the program they run,” said Head Coach Alisha Brust. “We see them every summer at team camp. They have a bunch of talented athletes and play sound volleyball. 

Marshall went on to beat Cretin-Durham Hall, who was the #5 seed with very similar game scores, and won the state title in four sets. 

Big Lake vs. 

#4 Sauk Rapids-Rice

Friday, Big Lake took on SRR and lost in three sets, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-17.

Madison Reed had 12 kills, one ace serve and eight digs. Taylor Kipka had six kills, one block and one dig while Aiyana Baker had five kills. Iva Sanchez had three kills and one ace serve while Adelle Nomeland had one kill and one block. Ashley Fitzgibbons had one kill, 24 assists and nine digs. Aubrey Trulock had six digs, Brooke Moshier ahd four digs and Kam Tschritter had two digs.

“The team was much more comfortable in this match,” said Brust. “They settled in early and stuck with Sauk Rapids right to the end of each set. It was competitive but Sauk Rapids hit at a better percentage and had a much stronger blocking presence. It was a lot of fun to play good volleyball against a strong team to cap off the season.”

The Hornets have three seniors who have been instrumental in the program and will leave the team with the memory of being the first squad to make it to state in volleyball. Brust says the rest of the group returning have set high goals to start out next fall strong so they can make another playoff run and get a second opportunity to play in the state tournament again next year.

“It was a unique experience for us being the first ones to go there in our schools volleyball history, it felt surreal,” said Ashley Fitzgibbons, junior setter. “It was just fun to be a part of this team, win or lose, we all just wanted to do it together. During our time being there our goal was to compete and I think we did that even without a win in the end we were happy to have extra time to play together that a lot of teams didn’t have.”

“No words could possibly describe the feeling of winning the championship game to go to state,” said  Taylor Kipka, junior right side hitter. “The only way for me to describe it is how electric it felt to be standing across the net from your opponent after winning. The moment after getting our blue medals and then the plaque, we were in disbelief.”

“A special thanks to the volleyball families, school, and community for their support to make this a special experience for this group,” said Brust.