Rush City made their way to the Xcel Energy Center Thursday afternoon for the 1st round of the class AA state tournament.
The Tigers faced off against the Cardinals off Annandale. The Tigers struggled to get on track in the first set falling 25-14. Things seem to come together more in the 2nd set, the nerves certainly were out of their system. The Tigers kept the set close, but late the Cardinals began to pull away and grabbed the victory 25-16.
The third set is really when Rush City started to play their brand of volleyball. They were able to block more kill attempts than the first two sets combined, as well as go on the attack. Veronica Hemming stepped up in a big way as she was able to grab some kills of her own to help her team stay on track. The set rolled back and forth, when one team scored a point or took a lead, the other team came back and scored to tie or take a lead themselves. Mikayla Ertz was also a big factor as she lead the team in blocks with 3. As the set moved along it felt like the momentum had fully shifted to the Tigers side, it looked as if the match was headed toward a 4th set.
But Annandale was able to rip it away and score consecutive points to grab the set win 25-22 and win the match 3-0.
Although Rush City fell in the first round their time at state is not over. They will play in the consolation round tonight at the Xcel Energy Center against Pipestone at 7PM.
If they win they'll be back on Saturday to play for the consolation championship.
