Nevis players celebrated after their comeback 3-2 win Friday against Minneota in the Class 1A semifinals at the Xcel Energy Center. Star Tribune photo by Kyndell Harkness.
Nevis' Megan Norby blocked the spike of Minneota's Katelyn Kack during the Class 1A semifinals Friday at Xcel Center. Star Tribune photo by Kyndell Harkness.
A day after knocking off second-seeded Mayer Lutheran in the quarterfinals, it looked as though Nevis’ run in the 2011 state tournament was over.
Looks can be deceiving. After losing the first two sets fairly decisively, Nevis rallied against Minneota Friday afternoon at Xcel Center.
“I told them, 'All we have to do is get the momentum,’” Nevis head coach Stephanie Hanson said. “I didn’t care what the score was, how we were playing, any of that. We just had to get the momentum back.”
The Tigers took control of the third set and eked out the fourth. When junior Riley Hanson blocked a Viking shot at the net for a 15-13 win in the fifth set, it completed a dramatic come-from-behind seminfinal victory.
Nevis (26-9) will play for the state title for the first time in school history.
“Either way it ended, I was happy that they at least showed who they are, what they could do,’’ Hanson said. “It was great.”
Junior Riley Hanson and sophomore Megan Norby led Nevis with 24 kills apiece. Freshman Taylor Reiss led the Minneota attack with 29 kills.
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