Local Sports

Knights celebrate, on to state

St. Mary’s plays spoiler, advances to its 1st state volleyball tournament

ST. PETER -- It was a big moment for No. 3-seeded Sleepy Eye St. Mary's when Taylor Mathiowetz's ace gave the Knights a 25-23 win over No. 1-seeded Cleveland in the first set of the Section 2A Volleyball Championship match on Thursday. The Knights had faced Cleveland twice before this season, once in the regular season, and once in the Tomahawk-Valley Conference Championship. The Clippers swept St. Mary's in both matches, so taking one in the section title game represented a big step up for the Knights.

But few could have predicted that not only would the Knights improve from its previous two matches, but reverse the outcome entirely.

Few, of course, other than the members of the St. Mary's volleyball team itself.

"I believed that we could," Taylor Mathiowetz said. "We knew it was going to be a hard team, so it was amazing that we got the next two."

St. Mary's went on to sweep the Clippers 25-23, 25-23, 26-24 to advance to the Class A State Volleyball Tournament.

"It means so much," Taylor Mathiowetz said. "Losing those five seniors last year, people underestimate us, and I think we proved everyone wrong. It's just a great feeling to go to state."

It was especially significant to first-year St. Mary's head coach Crissi Mangen, who played for the Knights in high school.

"I never went to state as a player, but going as a coach is honestly even better," Mangen said. "I tell these players, 'I feel like I get more nervous than you guys do on the floor sometimes.' It's been an amazing first year and it will be super hard to beat it."

In fact, it will be the first-ever state volleyball tournament by a St. Mary's team as the Knights make history.

"It means so much," St. Mary's senior setter Brynne Ibberson said. "We've all worked so hard this season, and we really just have the grit and the stamina to finish the job. We're all so competitive, and when we're down, we don't get down, and we just use that competitiveness to reach back up. It means so much to us because It's never been done before."

Morgan Mathiowetz had a dominant performance in the match, recording 20 kills, 12 digs and three blocks in just three sets.

"We were really set on making history tonight," Morgan Mathiowetz said. "Knowing that whatever was going to happen, we were very proud of how our season went and how we all performed this year. Just knowing that we had to give it are all tonight and not take anything for granted. There's a lot of teams that wish they were in our position, and it's not always guaranteed. Just continuing to be proud of it and staying together."

Audra Hoffmann had a strong match as well, tallying 16 kills, nine digs and three blocks.

"All of our hard work has paid off and our commitment to this team," Hoffmann said.

Also for the Knights, Ibberson had 38 set assists and eight digs, while Nell Weiss had six kills. Olivia Schieffert had three kills, three aces and 15 digs, and Taylor Mathiowetz had 12 digs.

Cleveland was the second-ranked team by QRF in Class A coming into the match, and after sweeping St. Mary's twice before, the Knights had their work cut out for them. But St. Mary's was more than ready for the challenge, this time with the season on the line.

"Obviously we lost to them twice, and it took a lot for us to beat them," Ibberson said. "I don't think they expected it. We're all so competitive, and that's really what mattered ... I think we just kept swinging on their big blocks. They had three blocks up on certain people, and I think we did really well out of that. We adjusted the sets and where they're going to go, and our defense as well. That helped a lot this game."

Not only did St. Mary's defeat the Clippers, but they also handed them their only sweep of the season, with their only other two losses coming against Mayer Lutheran 3-2 and Kenyon-Wanamingo 2-1 in a tournament.

"It took a lot of our confidence," Hoffmann said. "In the previous games that we played them, we were so down. We knew that we could win, but we were afraid or something. But this really proved that we are strong and confident in all the work that we have done."

"I give a lot of credit to them," Morgan Mathiowetz said. "They're an amazing team with amazing players. We knew they were going to be a challenge tonight, so we needed to come prepared. Stick to our game plan and just stay calm and composed throughout the game, and we really did that. We came back when we were down, we didn't show our emotions and we just stuck to it the entire game and had to do what had to be done."

In all three sets, St. Mary's found itself down late. But in each instance, the Knights found a way to take the lead and secure the victory.

"We all know the ability that we have," Ibberson said. "We all have our strengths, and I think we just use our strengths to benefit us. That really helped a lot, cheering each other on. And our student section, coaches, they all had faith in us, same as our parents and everyone else. That just brought it all together."

The third set looked particularly difficult for the Knights as Cleveland secured a 12-4 lead, but just like it had when Martin County West went up 22-13 in the semifinals round of the tournament, St. Mary's battled back to take the set.

"They have something special," Mangen said. "They never give up. I think that's been the story of the last four games that we've played. We've had to come back from big deficits, deficits that I don't think most teams would be able to come back from. But they never give up. They have that competitive edge, that tenacity that is what it takes to win game."

St. Mary's will begin state tournament play next Thursday at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.

"Cleveland is one of the best teams in the state, and we had to go through them to get there," Morgan Mathiowetz said. "We've seen great competition and I think that we know what it takes to compete with the best. Just sticking to what we do best and just continue to be our best and giving it our all."

Cleveland held a 7-3 advantage early in Set 1 as well, but A block, a kill and two aces by Morgan Mathiowetz got the Knights back on track as they tied the match at 8. The teams went back and forth, with two kills by Nell Weiss making it a 13-13 game, but Cleveland went on a 7-3 run to go up 22-18. St. Mary's rallied, storming through two Cleveland timeouts as Taylor Mathiowetz ended the set with her ace.

"Just work as a team," Taylor Mathiowetz said. "Morgan and Brynne are great captains, the pick the team up when we're down. Tonight I shanked some passes, but they're the first people to tell me I got the next one. I think that helps the team."

The Knights kept that momentum early in Set 2, going up 6-3 with Hoffmann, Taylor Mathiowetz, Nell Weiss and Morgan Mathiowetz all earning kills. Cleveland rallied and took a 15-11 lead as St. Mary's called a timeout, but the Knights responded, and a pair of aces by Schieffert tie the game at 19. Cleveland continued to push, holding a 23-20 advantage as St. Mary's called another timeout, but the Knights came back again, scoring the final four points of the match unanswered as Morgan Mathiowetz had three kills and Weiss had two aces, including the set-ender.

"Just knowing that we really had nothing to lose," Morgan Mathiowetz said. "Whether we were going to drop a set or win the set, we had more games to play. They weren't going to give up -- they're scrappy and they're a really good team and they were going to keep going at it. Just knowing that we were going to stick to the course and stick together and continue to be ourselves."

Cleveland took its 12-4 lead to kick off Set 3, but St. Mary's slowly chipped away at the lead, going through two Cleveland timeouts, as a kill by Morgan Mathiowetz cut the lead all the way down to 17-16. St. Mary's tied the game at 18 on a Cleveland error, and the teams traded points until another error gave St. Mary's a 21-20 advantage.

"You have to shake off your mistakes," Hoffmann said. "You can't let one mistake bring you down and the whole team down, because when one person is down, then the whole team is down. You have to be the person to have the energy to bring the team up and keep them together."

The teams battled back and forth, with Hoffmann, Weiss and Morgan Mathiowetz all earning kills, but the set stayed tied at 24. Finally, St. Mary's got the final two points on Cleveland errors to complete the sweep.

"It's hard to beat a team three times," Mangen said. "I feel like we showed that tonight. They showed up, and they play the best when their backs are to the wall. We knew it was going to be a tough match, and it went back and forth. I feel like in those final couple of points, they just have what it takes to get it done and play without fear."