North St. Paul (22-1, 5-0) has torn through opponents this season, making it through 20 matches before suffering a loss. Now the Polars enter the regular-season homestretch with a tough section tournament around the corner, and a league match against a Simley (13-4, 4-2) squad seeking a shot at the Metro East Conference title in our Top Game of the Week.
The Polars, ranked No. 10 in the Class 3A state coaches' poll from Sept. 30, were unbeaten until a 2-0 loss to No. 5-2A Concordia Academy at the Blaine tournament on Sept. 29. They didn’t even drop a set until their 11th match of the fall, a 3-1 win over Hill-Murray on Sept. 20. Their impressive resume boasts wins over New Life Academy, Roseville, Alexandria and No. 5-3A Minnetonka — and they haven't lost a regular-season conference match since 2015.
Polars juniors Bria Sandifer, Lauren Stenman and senior Selena Rodriguez are building off all-Metro East seasons a year ago.
North St. Paul, however, can’t afford to overlook the Spartans and their trio of 2017 all-conference honorable mention players in Emma Heimerl — who had 15 kills in a 3-0 win over Hastings last Saturday — Adara Kellogg and Rachel Wagner.
Simley will look to gain traction on their league foes and a win could help put the Spartans in the conference title conversation.
Last year’s matchup resulted in a 3-1 North St. Paul win at Simley.