Sports
Visitation Volleyball Sweeps Back to State
Blazers sweep St. Croix Lutheran in straight sets to return to the Class AA state girls volleyball tournament.
is headed back to the Class AA girls state volleyball tournament, and this time around, coaches and players said, they’re in it to win it.
Few of the Blazers players or fans would disagree after Thursday's straight-set triumph over St. Croix Lutheran.
The top-seeded Blazers advanced with a 25-23, 25-15, 25-19 win over the Crusaders in the Section 4AA volleyball final at Bloomington Kennedy Thursday.
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Visitation (24-6) will play in the state Class AA girls volleyball tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul with the first game Nov. 10, against an opponent and at a time to be determined.
“Last year we made it, that was it,” said Visitation senior libero Katie Supplee. “This year we’re hoping to win it. We’ve played a lot of the teams that are going to be there and we stuck right with them so it’s going to be hard week of practice and we want to go in and keep up with them.”
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Visitation played in the state tournament last season and has qualified three times in the past five years.
Defense keyed the Blazers’ win over the Crusaders.
Not a big team—the Visitation starters average just 5-foot-7—the Blazers used defense, passing and the ability to keep the ball in play to their advantage.
"That's what we've done all year," said Visitation coach Joseph Zimmermann. "They didn't give up many easy points."
“I thought we just stuck with it, we never let up,” added Supplee. “Even when we got down by a few points or when we were up by a few points, we just kept fighting the entire time.”
The first game was the toughest while both teams worked through their nervousness.
“I think we had really good ball control, and that’s really what got us through,” said junior hitter Anne Debertin. “That’s what we’ve been working on all year.”
“We had a lot of really excited girls, so it was a little rough at first,” said Debertin. “But I think we played really well.”
The second-seeded Crusaders (24-6-1) saw their season come to an end.
Visitation had beaten St. Croix Lutheran in three games during the regular season, winning 29-27, 25-19 and 25-19.