In every Class 3A, Section 4 tournament over the past three years, Stillwater has knocked out North St. Paul. The Ponies defeated the Polars in the semifinals in 2016, and in the past two seasons, Stillwater won in each championship.
History did not repeat itself on Thursday, as the Polars defeated the Ponies in three sets — 25-19, 25-15, 25-15 — to advance to the Class 3A state tournament for the first time.
“Beating Stillwater is a dream come true,” North St. Paul senior Bria Sandifer said. “It literally just feels so unreal, we’ve been working so hard and for the however many years we’ve been losing to Stillwater, so it just feels so good.”
The Polars (22-5) were in complete control throughout the match, with the exception of the beginning of the second set. The Ponies (16-13) got out to a 7-4 lead, and it looked like it was going to be a back-and-forth set.
“I think there was that one blip where they got ahead, it was a slight down moment,” North St. Paul coach Stephanie Blanda said.
North St. Paul is headed to the Class 3A state tournament for the first time after defeating Stillwater 25,-19, 25-15, 25-15 in the Class 3A, Section 4 championship Thursday in Roseville.
The first set was the most-contested, as the scoring was even throughout. The Polars (22-5) were able to pull away at the end of the set and win it 25-19. Lauren Stenman was on fire early with seven kills in the first set.
The Ponies (16-13) established an early 7-4 lead in the second set, and it looked like they were going to make the Polars struggle. But then the Polars went on a 9-0 scoring run, forcing the Ponies use two early timeouts. North St. Paul won the set 25-15.
The Polars established an early lead in the third set and never let go of it, winning 25-15.
Stenman finished with a match-high 14 kills. Many of those kills were assisted by Bria Sandifer, who had a match-high 32 assists.
The Ponies had a steady attack, as Maddie Whittington and Sydney Dejarnett both had a team-high six kills.
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