Class 2A state volleyball: Concordia Academy rallies its way into state semis

Concordia Academy was blitzed 25-15 in the first set of its Class 2A quarterfinal at Xcel Energy Center, and then again 25-10 in the third.

The fifth-seeded Beacons trailed fourth-seeded Belle Plaine 10-5 in the decisive fifth set, and again 12-9.

Concordia Academy appeared to be dead and buried so many times Thursday afternoon, and yet it survived and will advance.

The Beacons rallied on several occasions to top Belle Plaine 15-25, 25-14, 10-25, 25-23, 15-13 in a thriller and will meet top-seeded Pequot Lakes in Friday’s semifinals at 5 p.m. in St. Paul.

“We are very resilient,” Beacons coach Kim Duis said.

That dates back to the start of the season, when Concordia Academy started 4-4.

“We kind of took our bumps and bruises and just kind of kept working throughout the whole year,” she said.

Always with the same philosophy in mind: Next point, next play.

“We really try to have the mindset to take it one play at a time and not focus on the score,” Concordia Academy outside hitter Ava McTeague said. “So we try to push past and not think any doubtful thoughts.”

Not even in the dire moments, of which there were many Thursday. The Beacons — whose players were all making their state tournament debuts — were shaky in warmups, which translated to a rough first set.

Duis asked her players if they were nervous. They insisted they were not … until the game was over.

“There were definitely nerves,” said McTeague, who, along with her sister, Kyla, led the team with 13 kills. “But after the first set, we knew that wasn’t how we played, and coaches were like, ‘We’re going to play Concordia volleyball now.’ ”

The Beacons took the second set before dropping the third, which pushed them to the brink.

“Game 1, that wasn’t who we were, and Game 2 was who we were,” Duis said. “I couldn’t tell you who showed up in Game 3.”

The Beacons trailed the fourth set 20-19 before responding by winning six of the final nine points to push the match to its full extent.

In the final set, it was all Belle Plaine (25-7) through the first 15 points before the Beacons found their footing. Concordia Academy (22-10) won seven of the final eight points to claim the come-from-behind victory.

“I’ve been doing this for 27-plus years, and there’s teams that you just know, ‘Hey, we can do this, no matter the score,’ ” Duis said. “Down five, down three, now if we’re down 15, that’s a little different doubt. But when I know we’re within striking distance, and striking is within five, there’s no doubt. It’s just a matter of them persevering and doing what they do.”

The Beacons have logged back-to-back impressive five-set wins, including in the Section 4 final, when they knocked off top-ranked and previously unbeaten Nova Classical Academy.

Still, Duis noted Concordia Academy is a decided underdog against Pequot Lakes.

“I’m OK with that. It gives the girls the confidence of just playing loose, playing their game and we have nothing to lose to a point,” Duis said. “We’re just here to play the game that we love and work hard at it.”

And, given what they’ve achieved of late, and the manner in which they’ve achieved it, the Beacons don’t intend to doubt themselves now.

“I definitely think that gives our team a little bit of a confidence boost as well, just knowing that our tactic of taking things one point at a time is working,” McTeague said, “and helping our team to keep moving on and keep peaking throughout the tournament.”

MINNEOTA TOPS NEW LIFE

New Life Academy took the second set from top-seeded Minneota, but that was all the Eagles would get in a four-set defeat in the Class A quarterfinals.

Annika Forbes tallied 20 kills for the Eagles, who’ve now appeared in three of the last five state tournaments. Rylee DaCosta added 39 receptions and 26 digs.

The Vikings had five players tally six-plus kills, led by 15 from Emma Bottelberghe. Minneota will face fifth-seeded Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in Friday’s semifinals.