High school volleyball’s past met its present when the victorious Tigers faced the Scots.

Highland Park was making its first state tournament appearance since winning the tournament in 1977, when it was a single-class affair. The Scots also finished as runners-up in 1975 and 1976.

Marshall, on the other hand, is the closest thing the tournament has to an annual participant, making its 30th appearance. The Tigers have won it all six times, most recently a Class 2A title in 2013.

Marshall showed a decided lack of respect for their predecessors, routing the Scots 25-14, 25-4, 25-10. Randi Wendorff had 11 kills and Tessa Gannott nine for top-seeded Marshall (31-2).

Kyomi Callahan led Highland Park (19-8) with six kills.

For a first-time state entrant, Monticello came out of the gate Wednesday in its Class 3A volleyball quarterfinal match against Grand Rapids like seasoned veterans. The Magic won the first set 25-23, and they looked on their way to a fruitful inauguration.

As the match went on, however, the enormity of the experience — playing in the brightly-lit, cavernous and loud Xcel Energy Center — hit home. Errors started to mount, servers missed their spots and serve receivers began to falter.

In the end, Monticello (22-9) could not recover, falling to Grand Rapids 23-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-16.

“It was things on our side of the net that we needed to clean up,” Magic coach Beth Modaff said. “Serving consistency, for sure. A few times, serve receive. Overall, our mental outlook on the game, which is something we’re usually really strong at.”

Modaff speculated that her team began to lack confidence as Grand Rapids (21-9) mounted a rally. “We had a little self-doubt,” she said. “We had to remind ourselves that we’re here for a reason.”

“We got a little squirrelly,” junior middle blocker Kaylee Stegora said. “Things kind of escalated into we didn’t want to lose, and that kind of overtook everything else in the game.”

Despite the loss, there was no moping. Just having the experience of playing in a state tournament was more than enough. This time.

“We were just grateful to be here,” Modaff said. “We’re going to learn from today.”

It didn’t take the No. 2-seeded KoMets long to acclimate themselves to the intimidating surroundings. Fast and savvy Kasson-Mantorville jumped out to a quick lead over Sauk Rapids-Rice, won the first two sets comfortably and rode that momentum to a 25-16, 25-11, 25-15 victory.

Annika Laron elevated over the blockers of Sauk Rapids-Rice (13-17) en route to 11 kills, Elle Ask chipped in with 10 and the KoMets held the Storm to a .011 hitting percentage.

“Just like every team in this tournament, it takes awhile to get into your normal style of play,” coach Adam VanOort said. “Once we got used to that space and depth perception, I was pretty happy.”

Kasson-Mantorville (29-3) served at a different level than Sauk Rapids-Rice, hitting their spots and racking up 11 service aces.

“Our serving was really big for us,” senior setter Maddie Converse said. “Obviously it’s a bigger space and sometimes we were bombing [the ball] out of bounds, but once we got used to it, we kept the pressure on.”

The Trojans are admitted slow starters. Or, better put, fast finishers.

New Prague (21-10) lost the first set in the Class 3A quarterfinals to the Wildcats (14-10). A lost set, sure, but after that, the motors were humming. They swept the next three and finished with the 20-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-11 victory to advance to Friday’s semifinal against Kasson-­Mantorville.

“I think the biggest strength of our team is to make adjustments,” New Prague coach Greg Sayuk said. “And as the match goes on, we have a tendency to get stronger and dial it in.”

After their slow start, the New Prague players were asked to rate their performance.

“I think the first set was probably a six or a seven,” senior outside hitter Anna Molstad said before a bewildered look from Sayuk stopped her mid-sentence and she corrected herself. “OK, maybe like a four or five. I know we were all a little bit disappointed with how we let that set go. But probably an eight or nine after how we turned it around.”

For Chisago Lakes, considering how their COVID-shortened 2020 went, simply playing in the state tournament was an unforgettable experience.

“Last year, we only got three games and them we were shut down,” senior middle hitter Ashley Peltier said. “That’s good enough.”