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Class 4A championship: Wayzata finishes off undefeated season with win over East Ridge

By Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune, 11/13/21, 9:45PM CST

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Wayzata finished 34-0 for the season and has won 54 consecutive matches since 2019.


Wayzata's Emma Goerger (26) went up for a kill against East Ridge in the Class 4A Championship match. The Trojans defeated the Raptors in four sets Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center. [Photo by Jeff Lawler, SportsEngine]

Wayzata closed out a season that can only be called one of the best in state history with a four-set 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-19 victory over East Ridge on Saturday in the state volleyball tournament’s Class 4A championship match.

The Trojans finished 34-0 for the season and have won 54 consecutive matches since 2019, when they won their first large-school championship.

“And how about this one: 53 in a row best-of-five. We haven’t lost a five-set match since 2018,” said Wayzata coach Scott Jackson.

Avery Jesewitz led four Wayzata hitters in double figures in kills with 14. Stella Swenson had a whopping 55 set assists and libero Ella Voegele had 22 digs and 15 serve receives.

“Avery had her best match of the season for us,” Jackson said. “And Stella was the stud she always is.

Two sophomores making all kinds of plays. We’re excited about the future with those guys.”

East Ridge, making its first state tournament appearance since 2010, finished 23-10. Outside hitter Britt Carlson had 15 kills and Cam Greenwald added 10.

As it has all season, Wayzata had to withstand an early onslaught from its fired-up opponent.

East Ridge built a 6-1 lead in the first set with setter Macey Spolidoro setting four different players for early kills.

But Wayzata calmly worked its way back and earned a close 25-22 victory,

“I think it gave us a little motivation, honestly,” Carlson said. “We just weren’t able to pull through.
The Trojans then turned to the thing that makes them special: their wealth of talent.

Ella Voegele and Sophia Johnson dug and passed with precision and setter Stella Swenson deftly managed their exceptional collection of front-row hitters. The Trojans controlled the second set. They rarely let East Ridge have more than two points in a row and took a 2-0 lead with a 25-17 victory.

“We believe in each other,” Voegele said. “We know what each other can do. That’s why we’re so good. We earn things. We’re not handed things.

East Ridge came out in the third set with renewed purpose, winning 25-23. It was just the seventh set the Trojans lost all season.

East Ridge had lost to Wayzata in three sets early in the season.

“That was a completely different team, even from the semifinals that we watched,” Jackson said, all of his players nodding in agreement. “They really came at us from the outset. It’s more satisfying to win that kind of match.”

Wayzata rebounded in the fourth and final set, building a lead that ballooned to as many as eight before finishing off the match with a 25-19 victory.

“It feels so good,” senior Sierra Moore said. “Everyone wanted to be the team to take us out. We got to show that we are the team that deserves to have this.”

First report

Wayzata closed out a season that can only be called one of the best in state history with a four-set 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-19 victory over East Ridge in the State Volleyball Tournament’s Class 4A championship match.

Wayzata finished 34-0 for the season and has won 54 consecutive matches since 2019, when they won their first large-school championship.

Avery Jesewitz led four Wayzata hitters in double figures in kills with 14. Stella Swenson had a whopping 55 set assists and libero Ella Voegele had 22 digs and 15 serve receives.

East Ridge, making it’s first state tournament appearance since 2010, finished 23-10. Outside hitter Britt Carlson had 15 kills and Cam Greenwald added 10 for East Ridge.

As it has all season – for more than two seasons, actually – Wayzata withstood an early onslaught from the fired-up Raptors.

East Ridge built a quick 6-1 lead in the first set with setter Macey Spolidoro setting four different players for early kills.

But Wayzata calmly worked it’s way back and finished the set with a 25-22 victory, scored the final four points.

With first-set momentum determined, the Trojans leaned on the thing that makes them special: their wealth of talent.

Ella Voegele and Sophia Johnson digging and passing with precision and setter Stella Swenson deftly managing the attacks of their exceptional collection of front-row hitters, the Trojans controlled the second set from the outset. They rarely let East Ridge have more than two points in a row and took a 2-0 lead with a 25-17 victory.

East Ridge, its marvelous season teetering on the edge of a three-set loss – their first since losing to Wayzata in September – came out with renewed purpose, but by that time, the Trojans’ train was chugging along at full speed.

The Raptors played Wayzata nearly point-for-point, but what makes Wayzata so difficult to play is its unwavering consistency.

East Ridge attacks, Wayzata brings it back. And again. And again. Simply getting a point off the Trojans is difficult. Going on a game-turning run, the backbone of victory, is not only exhausting but almost unheard of.

So it’s validation to East Ridge’s step up into the elite class of high school volleyball that they were able take the third set from Wayzata, 25-23. It was just the seventh set the Trojans lost all season.

Wayzata rebounded in the fourth-and-final set, building a lead that ballooned to as many as eight before finishing off the match. East Ridge didn’t go down easily; the Raptors cut the margin to three before the Trojans closed it out with a 25-19 victory.

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