MN high school volleyball state tournament

Apple Valley’s current volleyball players weren’t yet born the last time the storied program made it to a state tournament.

They hadn’t seen the Eagles program take one of its 13 trips to state, win titles in 1985 and 1992, then finish runner-up in 1997. Instead, they’d seen Apple Valley finish with zero wins in 2020, five in 2021 and four in 2022.

Over the years, they hosted the annual Eagle Invite that included top state-bound teams — and the Eagles.

But then, a rebuilding season turned into a state tournament run.

“We kept achieving some of these heights I didn’t think we’d get to for another season,” head coach Hannah Specktor said. This fall, the Eagles beat defending Class 4A state champ Wayzata in September, then knocked off Prior Lake, another top-10 ranked opponent, in October.

Apple Valley (14-14), the No. 4 seed in Section 6, booked its next trip to Class 4A state by upsetting the top two seeds in its section tournament last week — No. 1 Edina in the semifinals on Oct. 26, then No. 2 Minneapolis Southwest in the championship four days later.

For more on the Eagles and their return to the volleyball state tournament, click here to read this story on startribune.com.