No. 2-ranked Fillmore Central to meet No. 4 Kenyon-Wanamingo in section final

Nov. 6—ROCHESTER — Fillmore Central coach Travis Malley said as many as four teams could have come away with the Section 1, Class 1A volleyball championship."Our section is so tough," Malley said.Now it's down to two, and they happen to be the two highest-seeded teams who are also ranked in the state.That is No. 1 seed and No. 2-ranked Fillmore Central and No. 2 seed and No. 4-ranked Kenyon-Wanamingo.Those two will fight for a berth in the state tournament at noon Saturday at Mayo Civic Center. Fillmore Central is the section's two-time defending champion."If we can take care of our side offensively, I think we can control the game," Malley said. "Our defense is always good. But we are going to have to serve better and hit for a better percentage."Malley's comments came after his Falcons disposed of No. 4 seed Mabel-Canton in four sets Thursday at Mayo Civic Center in the section semifinals, winning 25-21, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19.Malley wasn't thrilled with his team's play but was still wearing a large smile, always delighted to reach the section final. It's the fourth straight year the Falcons have reached the championship match, winning the last two and losing to Mabel-Canton in the final three years ago.Fillmore Central will play a Kenyon-Wanamingo team that beat No. 3 seed Spring Grove 25-14, 25-19, 25-18 in the other section semifinal Thursday.It's the third time this season that the Falcons and Knights will meet. Fillmore Central opened the season with a 3-0 win over Kenyon-Wanamingo, then K-W got even on Sept. 26, winning 2-1.It's about as high-powered a section final as is imaginable, both sides with state tournament championship aspirations."I don't think we've peaked yet," said Kenyon-Wanamingo coach Siri DeFrang, whose team lost to Fillmore Central in last year's section final. "It's always hard to start a season against the team that you lost to in the section final the year before. But I think we have grown as a team. We're on right now, and we're still on that upward rise. The biggest thing to beating them will be block touches and defense. But Fillmore Central does defense very well, too. They have a big block and that allows them to set up their defense. We just have to be ready for that."Malley agrees. This matchup is going to come down to defense."I think if we can control our side defensively, we can control the game," Malley said. "But our defense is always good."The Falcons and Cougars have become plenty familiar over the years, both representing some of the best volleyball played in southeastern Minnesota.It was Fillmore Central's overall experience and height that allowed it to prevail. While the Falcons have a veteran lineup, led by 6-foot-1 star junior Madilyn Zwart, the Cougars are both young and vertically challenged.M-C has just one senior and one junior on its team, and nobody close to 6 feet tall."I've never had this young of a team," said longtime Cougars coach Lonnie Morken. "But I am proud of our girls. We led for a while in each set we lost, and we trailed for a bit in the set we won. We had eighth graders and ninth graders everywhere out there. But there is not a lot of quit in them."It was Zwart, an imposing and agile middle hitter, who led the Falcons. The University of Minnesota Duluth commit finished with 21 kills and 5.5 blocks.Hannah Vaalemoen added 25 assists, 9 kills and 2 blocks. Lauen Dahly had 11 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks and an ace serve; and Norah Nagel 11 kills and six digs.No doubt, Zwart and the rest of the Falcons can't wait for what's in front of them Saturday. They know they'll have their hands full with 23-5 Kenyon-Wanamingo. Fillmore Central comes into the section final 24-6."Kenyon-Wanamingo has some really good outside hitters," Zwart said. "They are a hard team to play. But we'll be ready for them."Fillmore Central 3, Mabel-Canton 1Mabel-Canton#21#17#25#19Fillmore Central#25#25#22#25Mabel-Canton: Braylee Storts 16 kills; Ella Halverson 14 kills; Maya Tweten 6 kills; Gwenyth Rein 33 assists.Fillmore Central: Hannah Vaalemoen 9 kills, 25 assists, 2 blocks; Ava Larson 2 assists, 9 digs, 2 blocks, 4 aces; Lauren Dahly 11 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace; Norah Nagel 11 kills, 6 digs, .5 block; Braelynn Dierkes 1 kill, 17 assists, 5 digs, 1 ace; Josie Corson 4 assists, 33 digs, 2 aces; Arianna Rindels 1 block; Cameron Wingert 1 block; Maddie Zwart 21 kills, 5.5 blocks.Spring Grove is still looking to get over that hump. The Lions have yet to make it to a state volleyball tournament.Kenyon-Wanamingo kept the Lions waiting as it dominated the semifinal match, winning 25-14, 25-19, 25-18.The Knights got big production from a variety of players. Mali Quam had 11 kills, 15 digs and 2 blocks; Claire Olson had 29 digs, 2 assists and 2 service aces; Ruby Sjoblom had 4 kills, 9 digs, 4 blocks and 2 service aces; and Kendal Johnson had 17 assists, 7 digs and 4 service aces.K-W coach DeFrang loves her team's defense."We are scrappy and disciplined, and we're able to pick up the balls that we have to get to," DeFrang said. "I think the second time we played Fillmore Central, we were more court-aware of where the ball was going. We were able to anticipate balls a little bit better than we did the first (match)."Kenyon-Wanamingo 3, Spring Grove 0Spring Grove#14#19#18Kenyon-Wanamingo#25#25#25Spring Grove: Brinley Middendorf 7 kills, 1 ace; Addison Rask 1 ace; Claire Sherburne 20 assists, 22 digs; Kallyn Morken 11 kills, 11 digs; Izabel Kaufmann 22 digs; Jada Strinmoen 1 ace.Kenyon-Wanamingo: Mali Quam 11 kills, 1 assist, 15 digs, 2 blocks; Kendal Johnson 17 assists, 7 digs, 4 aces; Ruby Sjoblom 4 kills, 9 digs, 4 blocks, 2 aces; Maddyn Alexander 3 kills, 8 assists, 6 digs, 2 blocks; Claire Olson 2 assists, 19 digs, 2 aces; Eva Jacobson 11 digs; Quinnly Hanson 5 kills, 4 blocks, 1 ace; Hannah Kruger 4 kills, 2 digs, 3 blocks; Anna Ostertag 5 kills, 3 digs, 3 blocks, 1 ace.