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By Jeremy Behnke

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM - Although the Nicollet Raiders volleyball team entered the Section 2A, South Subsection with a better record than Martin County West, the Mavericks were the higher seed and some would even say the favorites going into Thursday's contest.

The Raiders (27-3-1) ignored that and the fact that the Mavericks beat them earlier this season in five sets. Instead, they played well together as a team and defeated MCW 25-15, 22-25, 25-20, 25-21 to advance to the Section 2A title game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

The loss ends the Mavericks' season at 20-5.

After the match, the Raiders celebrated on the court, hugging friends and parents. The celebration summed up all of the emotion on the court.

"It feels amazing and we've wanted it for a long time," Nicollet junior Kasslin Swenson said. "We knew after the regular season that we'd have a good playoffs and I'm so proud of all the girls. It feels awesome."

The Raiders wanted to make a statement right away in the match, and they accomplished that with a big win in the first set.

The Mavericks scored the first two points in the set, but soon the Raiders were up 9-5 on Swenson's block. After stretching that lead to 11-5, the Mavericks fought back and trailed 14-13 before the Raiders again took over.

Jenna Mettler hammered consecutive kills at the end of the set as the Raiders won 25-15.

As for the strategy of the match, the Raiders kept it simple.

"Our strategy was to smile, have fun, relax and just play Raider ball," Swenson said. "One team, one dream was our quote this year, and we stuck to it the whole season, it didn't matter what the score was."

In the second set, the Mavericks evened things up, going up 23-18 on an ace serve by Mary Faber. The Mavericks were able to hang on to tie the match at one set each.

In the third set, the teams were close early on until the Raiders went ahead 12-7 on a couple of Maverick hitting errors. The Raiders didn't relinquish the lead after that and they hung on for the 25-20 win.

It looked like the Mavericks were going to send it to a fifth set, grabbing a 9-1 lead right away. But the Raiders weren't about to let it go another set.

A kill by Kayla Wenner cut the MCW lead to 10-5, and later the Raiders trailed 11-9 on a hitting error by the Mavericks.

Nicollet tied the set at 14-14 and the teams stayed close the rest of the way. The Mavericks did go ahead 21-18 on a service ace by Alyssa Taylor, but a tip by Swenson, a Wenner kill and an MCW hitting error gave the Raiders a 22-21 lead.

Later, Wenner had another kill and a tip to end the match. Nicollet plays Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Saturday and a trip to the state tournament is on the line.

Anna Skrien had 30 digs and two ace serves and Taylor Meuer had 46 set assists. Wenner had 17 kills and Mettler had 16 kills and 19 digs. Swenson had two blocks and an ace serve and Erin Radke had four blocks and one ace.