North St. Paul opened last season with a loss to Rosemount. The Polars made sure another early season loss to the Irish wouldn't happen again.

On Tuesday, North St. Paul defeated Rosemount 24-26, 25-22, 25-14, 25-13 and improved to 2-0.

With the victory, the Polars take another step toward accomplishing their goal of reaching the state tournament. After reaching the section finals in each of the past two years, North St. Paul believes it has the talent, senior leadership and team chemistry to reach the state tournment, something the Polars have never been able to do.

“We’re right on that doorstep, these girls have been there the whole way,” coach Nick Anderson said. 

Every player from the upperclassmen to the underclassmen are contributing. That depth is a big reason North St. Paul believes it can end its season at the Xcel Energy Center, Anderson added.

"They just keep coming and haven’t let up," he said. "The focus has always been to get to the Xcel.” 

For this Polars' team to reach the state tournament, focus at practice will be key, Anderson said.

“It starts all in practice,” Anderson said. “It’s working hard and that’s one thing we’re focused on. We’ve been good the last couple years, but we have to do more. What we’ve done before hasn’t been enough to get where we want to get to.”  

Outside hitter Nevena Vukomanovich doesn’t doubt the Polars' ability to reach such lofty heights.

“This time I think that we can come together as a team and stay focused and not crash at the end," Vukomanovich said. "I think we can pull through all the way to the Xcel.” 

Clara Krenz, the Polars' senior libero, agrees with Vukomanovich. A member of North St. Paul's section finalist teams, Krenz feels the 2014 squad has better chemistry than prior years.

"We all just enjoy each other’s company and we all play well together and know each other on the court,” Krenz said. 

When asked if North will be playing at the Xcel Energy Center this postseason, Krenz showed no hesitation. 

“Yes, definitely,” she said. “All of us have the same goal and we’ve all agreed saying, 'We’re going to do it this year and we’re going to work hard to the end and do our best to get there.'”    

North St. Paul avenged last year's season-opening loss to Rosemount, battling through early adversity to beat the Irish 24-26, 25-22, 25-14, 25-13 on Tuesday night at North High School in St. Paul.  

Despite featuring four-year varsity starters in junior setter Erin Slinde and junior outside hitter Brittany McLean, Rosemount (0-1) was unable to build off its first-game victory. The most points the Irish scored consecutively in the last two games was two.

North (2-0) started three seniors, libero Clara Krenz, middle hitter Abby Rieser and outside hitter Nevena Vukomanovich, each of whom played a crucial role in the victory over the Irish. Krenz lead the Polars in digs,16, and service points, 13. Rieser lead the team in blocks, 3.5, while Vukomanovich was first in kills, 12. 

North scored scored the first seven points in the fourth game.