Volleyball: Detroit Lakes wins state tourney quarterfinal over Grand Rapids in straight sets

The Lakers made it to state for the second straight year and used their previous experience to their advantage. Last year, the Lakers went 2-1 at state and won the consolation championship. Grand Rapids has made it to state six times in their program’s history and has represented Section 7 in the last two seasons. Grand Rapids finished in fourth place last year. The Thunderhawks graduated seven seniors from last year’s team; however, they brought back Braya LaPlant, the senior setter who was the focal point for the Thunderhawks. LaPlant finished the night with 24 assists.

The Lakers used strong play at the net with a great block from Logan Fredrickson, Addie Wills, and Ava Jones. The three combined for four blocks. The Lakers started strong by going up 3-0 in the first set. Grand Rapids came back after falling behind and tied the match at 3-3. However, the Lakers outscored the Thunderhawks 7-1 after that point, cruising to a 25-19 victory in the first set. The Lakers never trailed in the first set.

Ava Jones, named to the All-State team along with fellow senior captain Grace Gunderson, led the Lakers in assists with 30. In the second set, Gunderson and the Lakers found their game with offense from the outside. Gunderson finished the game with nine kills for Detroit Lakes. Rylee Johnson led the Lakers in kills with a team-high 10. Addie Wills finished with eight kills in the win.

The second set was closely fought, with the score being tied six times. Detroit Lakes managed to build a 4-point lead in the middle of the set, and the Lakers won the set 25-22, thanks to seven attack errors by the Thunderhawks.

The Thunderhawks showed life in the third set and took the lead 11-7. First-year head coach Rachel Solum called a timeout, and the Lakers bounced back, scoring the next 4 points to tie the score at 11-11. From that point, the Lakers outscored the Thunderhawks 14-8, ultimately winning the set with a score of 25-19.

After the game, Laker’s head coach, Rachel Solum, expressed how impressed she was with how her team started, “These girls are so confident right now. It’s really hard to defend against them when they come out swinging as hard as they did tonight.”

The win was the Lakers’ 26th of the season. The Lakers advance to the state semifinals and will play the number one-seeded Marshall Tigers on Friday at 9 a.m. Marshall beat DeLaSalle 3-0 in their quarterfinal game.

Pregame coverage of the state semifinals will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the match scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. You can listen to all the action on your radio home for the Lakers KDLM.