Paige O’Connell had supreme confidence her teammates could get the job done without her. The Eden Prairie senior outside hitter and co-captain just couldn’t stomach the thought of not being on the court.

O’Connell sprained her ankle in practice Tuesday and was a match-time decision for No. 1 and host Eden Prairie against No. 2 Chaska in Thursday’s Class 4A, Section 2 final.

She gave it a go and added seven seven kills as part of the team-oriented mosaic Eden Prairie painted in a 3-0 sweep by set scores of 26-24, 25-19 and 25-23.

“We really have a fantastic group of kids. They just have so much trust and belief in themselves,” Eden Prairie coach Chad Becker said. “[O’Connell] sprained her ankle in practice on Tuesday. She just gutted it out tonight; a resilient performance. I think we all wanted to make sure we got to state for her.”

O'Connell fought to focus on the task at hand and not her injury.

"It was more mental," O'Connell said. "My teammates stepped up for me during the game, so that was a big help. Just all working together out on the court."

On the line for both squads was reaching the state tournament for the first time since 2014.

Each set was played on a razor’s edge. The first set featured eight ties and five lead changes and the second set had 11 and six, respectively.

Chaska jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the third before Eden Prairie slowly chipped away and took its first lead at 21-20. Eden Prairie senior middle blocker Kendall Minta capped the match with her 11th kill. The Bradley University commit co-led the team in kills with junior Lillian Ekness.

“Usually our section final isn’t at home, so it was fun to have all our friends and our school here to come out and support us,” the co-captain Minta said. “We love when they come out. Also, to have our last home game of our career end in a win is really exciting.”

It was Eden Prairie’s 13th straight home win dating back to 2020.

“I’m just super excited because this team is like a family,” senior co-captain Piper Lange said. “So the fact that we get a longer season is awesome.”

Becker credited Lange’s willingness to slide from her lifelong position at setter to right side hitter this season. Lange had six kills, many coming on the assist from junior setter and Illinois State commit, Cameron Berger.

“I just think everyone out on the court contributes for us,” Becker said. “Our setter, I believe, is the best in the state. I haven’t seen anyone better than her. She does a tremendous job of just balancing our offense and getting everyone involved.”

Chaska was the Metro West Conference champion and finished the season ranked No. 4 in the final Class 4A coaches’ poll, one notch below Eden Prairie.

“Our message is that we stuck together as a team,” Murphy said. “We played together all year as a team. We’re a very close-knit group and we battled back throughout the game. Unfortunately, the win didn’t come our way.”

Eden Prairie has advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 2014.

No. 1 seed Eden Prairie (19-6) beat No. 2 seed Chaska (22-8) 3-0 in the Class 4A, Section 2 championship in Eden Prairie.

There were eight ties and five lead changes in the first set won by Eden Prairie, 26-24.

There were 11 ties and six lead changes in the second set, but the host Eagles were able to pull away late for a 25-19 win.

The Hawks led for most of the third set until the Eagles surged in front for the first time in the set, 21-20. Chaska fought back for a 22-21 lead before Eden Prairie fought back for a 25-23 win capped by a Kendall Minta ace.

The senior Minta co-led Eden Prairie with 11 kills along with junior Lillian Ekness.

Mallory Heyer led Chaska with 12 kills.

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