Lakeville Volleyball Teams Have Big Playoff Wins Friday

Both and advanced to the Section 3AAA volleyball semifinals with home victories Friday night.

North, the defending Class AAA champions,  defeated Apple Valley 25-18, 25-19 and 25-15 in the section quarterfinals.

South, which is ranked No. 1 in Class AAA this year, defeated Burnsville 25-20, 25-16 and 25-21. The Cougars trailed 17-11 in the first set, but scored 14 of the final 17 points.

North won the first set after being tied 9-9 on a kill from senior tri-captain Nicole Latzig. Apple Valley tied North at 13-13 in the second half, but the Panthers pulled away and won the set on a kill from sophomore Alyssa Goehner, who has committed to Marquette. Kelly Nizzari, another senior captain, had seven kills in the second set.

Goehner had ten kills in the final set as the Panthers cruised to the three-set victory. She had a match-high 20 kills. Senior setter Jessica Wolff had 33 assists. Sophomore Abby Monson had 12 digs and junior Laura Larson added eleven. Senior Bri Hagen had three service aces.

It was the final home game for seniors Nizzari, Hagen, Latig and Wolff.

Head coach Steve Willingham felt that it was nice for the seniors to go out with a big playoff win in their final match on their home court.

“I am sad for us,” said Willingham. “Our last home match. I told the girls that the seniors are done playing here, but we’re not done practicing here. We got a lot of work that we can do next week.”

Willingham admits that the competition in Section 3 is a grind.

“The team that is right behind us in this section, (No. 4 seed) Jefferson, Apple Valley beat them like a week and a half ago,” said Willingham. “This team (Apple Valley) was a great team, too. We were lucky that we just kept them on their heels with our serving and they just never got anything going, especially in game three.”

Lakeville North plays Eagan Wednesday, a team that they are very familiar with.

“We played them before,” said Willingham. “That helped us, but it helps them, too. They know a lot about us. The way volleyball is these days, these kids all know each other. They play each other year-round. The thing about both of those teams (Lakeville South and Eagan), they are great teams. We are separated from them by two points in each match. One of them we won by two points (over Lakeville South) and one we lost by two points (to Eagan). It is just hard to tell who is on top. I hope that it can be us. Our record doesn’t show it, but we certainly feel like we are a team who can win the section and represent us at state.”

North will face No. 2 seed Eagan, which beat the Panthers 3-2 (25-19, 19-25, 24-26, 25-22, 15-13) at home last month, at 5:45 Wednesday at Lakeville South. Eagan defeated Bloomington Kennedy 3-0 to advance to the semifinals. Eagan is led by former Lakeville North standout Taylr McNeil, who was an All-Metro selection last year as the Panthers won their first ever state title.

South meets No. 4 seed Bloomington Jefferson in the nightcap. The Cougars defeated the Jaguars 3-1 on the road earlier this month. Jefferson defeated Eastview 3-0 to move onto the semis.

Jassmyn Tinglehoff had 34 assists in the win over Burnsville. Kaitlin Van Winkle had seven blocks and seniors Monica Turner and McKell Anderson had nine kills each. Elle Roesner added seven kills and Jade Tinglehoff had six. Anderson chipped in with 13 digs and Allie Moser, Anderson and Jade Tinglehoff all had a service ace in the win.

Lakeville South head coach Jennifer Nelson said that the Cougars had several keys in a match that saw them shake off a slow start in a three-set win over Burnsville.

“I think keeping our heads, especially in game one,” said Nelson. “We found ourselves down 17-11. Being able to shake off mistakes and focus on what we do well and apply those things continuously. Once we got into our groove, we just kept going.”

Nelson said that there were plenty of individual standouts for the Cougars. 

“Kaitlin Van Winkle had a phenomenal night blocking,” said Nelson. “He really put some ball down. The play of Allie Moser in the back row. Her passing was really steady tonight, pulling balls up that you didn’t think were coming up. I thought that Jassmyn Tinglehoff did a really great job of spreading the offense and it was nice to see Jade Tinglehoff have as many kills as she did tonight. She was really successful, especially when Monica (Turner) was in the front row. Mon was pulling blocks left and right and Jade was getting to go up with one blocker or no blockers and she just took care of the ball.”

Nelson thinks that the Cougars match up well against their next opponents.

“Jefferson is a really good team,” said Nelson. “They played a lot of the year without one of their big guns and that is Haley Bodway, but she is cleared to play and she is going to be back. When we played them last time, she just played back row. It is going, I think, a really good game. Having the advantage of playing at home, is definitely nice going into the match, but we are going to have to play solid volleyball in order to win.”

The four teams remaining in Section 3AAA are teams from the South Suburban Conference that know each other very well, according to Nelson.

“I think the unfortunate part of our section is, of the four teams that are remaining, we’ve got first in the state, second in the state, fifth in the state and seventh in the state,” said Nelson. “It is unfortunate that all of us are in the same section; that only one of us is going to go to state. These next matches are going to be just incredible. We all know each other pretty well and on any given night, anybody can beat anybody. Whoever plays the best and works the hardest and keeps their cool, that is who is going to emerge victorious.”

The Cougars have won 16 straight matches since losing a five set thriller to Lakeville North 22-25, 25-20, 17-25, 26-24 and 15-13. Nelson is pleased with how the team is playing. 

“We are having a great year,” said Nelson. “It is so much fun. The girls are awesome. I’ve got a great group of seniors leading us the entire way. It has just been one of those years where it is broken records and we have accomplished so many things that we have never done before that it has been such a highlight of a season. I think that for the girls, this is all they know now. It is going out winning matches, playing hard and having fun. It has just become, I wouldn’t want to say an expectation, but a mentality that this is how things are going to go for us all the time. It is a strength.”

The Cougars will play the second of the two semifinal games Wednesday at home and if they win, they will advance to the finals, held at Simley High School next Saturday. Nelson feels that the team is prepared to play wherever is necessary.

“It doesn’t really matter for us,” said Nelson. “We actually probably play better away anyways, so to have it at home is a great advantage for us. Nothing is more fun for us than going to a packed gym of someone else’s fans because it is just great to hear the noise. Our girls enjoy that, even if people are cheering against them. If we get to play at home, awesome. We love having homecourt advantage, but going to that neutral site, that will be wonderful as well.”

Lakeville fans think that it would be wonderful if one or both of the local schools can make it to section finals.