ST. PAUL, Minn (KWAD) – The Hawley Nuggets continued their dominant postseason run Friday evening, sweeping New Life Academy of Woodbury in straight sets (25-18, 25-15, 25-23) to advance to the Class AA State Volleyball Championship at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul for an opportunity to defend their State title from a year ago.
Hawley, now 30-2 on the season, showed once again why they entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed out of Section 8AA. The Nuggets hit an efficient .198 as a team, powered by strong net play from senior standouts Kendallynn Hill, Annaka Johnson, and Katie Vetter.
Hill led the charge with 10 kills on a .533 hitting percentage and added a solo block. Johnson matched her with 10 kills, chipping in five blocks and a match-high 16.5 points. Vetter added another 10 kills while hitting .346, continuing her reliable presence on the right side. Setter Sella Fleming dished out 31 assists while contributing four kills and three blocks. Defensively, libero Hannah Stots anchored the back row with 11 digs, while the team combined for 52 digs and six team blocks.
The Nuggets stayed together during a tense third set, falling behind 20-16 but rallied for the sweep.
Hawley advances to the Class AA State Championship on Saturday after sweeping both of their state tournament opponents—New London-Spicer (3-0) in the quarterfinals and New Life Academy (3-0) in the semifinals.
Hawley will face the three-seed Chatfield in Saturday’s championship match at 3:00 pm at Grand Casino Arena. Chatfield is 27-7 this season, and reached the championship after beating Esko 3-1 and Albany 3-0.
OTHER SATURDAY STATE VOLLEYBALL MATCHUPS:
Class A Championship – #1 Mayer Lutheran vs #2 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, 2:30 pm
Class A Third Place – #4 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa vs #6 Ada-Borup-West, 12:00 pm
Class A Consolation – #5 Cleveland vs #3 Fillmore County, 10:30 am
Class AA Championship – #1 Hawley vs #3 Chatfield – 3:00 pm
Class AA Third Place – #5 New Life Academy vs #2 Albany, 1:00 pm
Class AA Consolation – #4 Southwest Christian vs #7 Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead. 10:30 am
Class AAA Championship – #1 Marshall vs #2 Bemilde-St. Margaret’s, 6:30 pm
Class AAA Third Place – #5 Cretin-Durham Hall vs #3 Stewartville, 4:30 pm
Class AAA Consolation – #4 Sauk Rapids-Rice vs #6 Mahtomedi, 8:30 am
Class AAAA Championship – #1 Lakeville South vs #3 Prior Lake, 7:00 pm
Class AAAA Third Place – #4 Roseville vs #7 Apple Valley, 5:00 pm
Class AAAA Consolation – #5 Rogers vs #6 Centennial, 8:30 am