Hawley and Chatfield, separated by more than five hours and 350 miles on I-94, produced two Class 2A powers in girls volleyball that put their small Minnesota towns on the map in the sport.

That process continued Saturday, when Hawley, a first-time state title winner last year, became the first repeat Class 2A champion since Maple Lake in 2016 and 2017.

In a reverse sweep, the top-seeded Nuggets pulled off a 20-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-16, 15-8 comeback victory against the third-seeded Gophers at Grand Casino Arena.

“There is a spark, and they have lit it up,” Hawley coach Kathleen Rustad said. “There are young kids and when you look out in the stands, I swear the whole town of Hawley is down here. Young and old. Babies in strollers. Grandmas and grandpas. It’s pretty impressive.”

Even before the Nuggets (32-2) piled on each other in celebration after the final point in the fifth set, they cherished the experience of being role models to a younger generation hoping to follow in their footsteps.

“It comes back to us, too,” said junior Katie Vetter, who finished with 15 kills and 22 digs. “On the way down here, we got little notes from the younger girls. They were so cute. All the misspellings and everything. I still have it in the pocket of my warmup jacket.”

Senior Annaka Johnson, who joined Vetter and teammate Sella Fleming on the all-tournament team, kept those notes to provide inspiration.

“I know I read mine before every game,” said Johnson, who had 12 kills. “And it was like, you know what, we got this [state championship].”

That determination to win for the Nuggets faithful decked in sparkly gold showed when Hawley trailed by two sets.

Chatfield played confidently early and with revenge in mind after losing to Hawley in last year’s semifinals during its first state tournament appearance.

Michigan State commit Cora Bicknese finished with 15 kills and 26 digs Saturday for the Gophers (26-8). Senior Trindy Barkeim led the team with 17 kills, and classmate Amaya Harmening had 16.

After being the first opponent to win sets on the defending champion in St. Paul, the Gophers ran into issues with 21 attack errors combined in the third and fourth sets.

No matter the disappointing outcome, Chatfield coach Kristi Rendels echoed the sentiment of her counterpart about how her players changed the culture of the program.

“It’s going to make me get a little teary-eyed,” Rendels said. “This group of seniors is incredible. Yes, they have a lot of athletic talent. But they’re great human beings. The leadership they brought to this program, there are little girls that look up to them every single day.”

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1/9

Mayer Lutheran repeats as 1A champ

As the whistle blew Saturday afternoon with a mere two points separating first seed Mayer Lutheran and second seed Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, pairs of white kneepads hit the glossy red court at Grand Casino Arena. The Mayer Lutheran Crusaders had won back-to-back Class 1A state tournament titles with a 3-0 sweep.

Mayer Lutheran, which has finished first or second every year since 2021, won the first two sets 25-17 and 25-15.

The Knights swung back with force as the third set began. Each time the Crusaders’ Ada Hahn, Hallie Hunter or All-Minnesota setter Izzy Keaveny stretched the team’s lead, sisters Paisley and Sara Thooft were there to even it.

The Knights trailed by a point, 24-23, and had hopes of sending the game to a fourth set and maybe five when Mayer Lutheran star outside hitter Courtney Tuttle smacked the ball to the other side of the court. The scoreboard flickered to 25-23. Mayer Lutheran’s squad of 15 screamed and fell to the court in a puddle of red and white.

The Knights, champions in 2023, reached the final with a 20-match unbeaten run but couldn’t quite extend the match to push for 21.

“I think we just knew we had nothing to lose,” junior middle blocker Brynn Borresen said. “We were going to go to five. We thought, ‘We are going to go to five. We just have to push this set and then we have nothing to lose after this.’ ”

Mayer Lutheran coach Joelle Grimsley called it the team’s best performance yet.

“This match was by far our best match of the season. And what a time to peak. We’re done. They don’t have to come to the gym on Monday and practice,” she said. “Anybody that’s seen us all season will know that we peaked today, and that’s a coach’s dream.”

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