Is Nebraska the State of Volleyball?

 Since HSGN was launched in 2016, the blog has focused primarily on Minnesota sports.  But today, with the University of Minnesota volleyball team wrapping up a weekend series against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, it's intriguing to find out that volleyball is very popular in Nebraska.  

So here's why Nebraska can be known as The State of Volleyball.  

On the high school level, Minnesota has three classes and will expand to four in the next school year.  Nebraska has six classes, including a class that has the smallest enrollments, such as the Giltner Hornets, with an enrollment of 19.  Their state tournament is played in the capitol city of Lincoln, including the Pinnacle Bank Arena and the Devaney Sports Center.  Five Lincoln high schools also serve as sites in quarterfinal play.  They are Northeast, East, North Star, Southeast and Southeast.  Friday and Saturday have six matches, beginning at 9 AM.  

Unlike Minnesota, the Nebraska state tournament's six championship games are televised live on Nebraska Educational Television.  Fans from outside the Cornhusker State can watch the games on the network's website.  

As for the collegiate level, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers are extremely popular and successful.  Since 2001, all home matches at the Devaney Sports Center have been sold out.  But it doesn't mean fans who don't have a ticket aren't shut out.  Every Husker match is aired on a statewide radio network consisting of 29 affiliates.  The Big Ten Network and ESPN also carry their matches.  On the court, Nebraska has been a frequent visitor to the NCAA tournament, continuing a streak that has lasted since 1981.  

But wait, there's more.  Omaha will be the site of this season's NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament, which will be played April 13-24.  Due to COVID 19, the entire tournament will be played in Nebraska's largest city with possible other venues yet to be determined.  The primary site is the CHI Health Center Arena.  The tournament will also return to Omaha in 2022.  In 2015, 17,561 fans packed the downtown venue for the NCAA final between Nebraska and Texas.  

So there's HSGN's claim that Nebraska is the State of Volleyball.  It also shows in comparison to Minnesota and hockey.  There's plenty of action left to come in both states.  

Strong Third Period Key to BSM Red Knights Win Over SLP Orioles

 It was "The Battle of St. Louis Park" Saturday afternoon at The Rec Center as Adam Marshall scored two goals to lead the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights to a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Park Orioles.  

If you missed the early part of the game due to car trouble in this frigid weather, there was plenty of scoring in the first period.  The Orioles took the early lead :36 into the game when Drew Boyum rebounded Lucas Hand's shot.  The Red Knights, ranked second in Class AA according to Let's Play Hockey, would score three consecutive goals.  Marshall would score his first goal on the power play and he would pick up an assist on Ben Thompson's goal a minute later.  Drew Stewart would tally for BSM off a pass from Jonah Mortenson to put them ahead 3-1.  St. Louis Park would cut the lead to one on Jack Wandmacher's left slot goal and the Red Knights would wrap up the first period scoring on Stewart's second goal.  

The Orioles would score the lone second period goal.  McCabe Dvorak got a pass from Ben Olson and he fired it past the goal line to decrease the BSM margin to 4-3.  

Now to the third period.  Both teams skated four on four for :48 but the red digits on The Rec Center scoreboard did not budge.  They would tie the game while Brady Yakesh was serving a holding penalty.  Sam Berry passed to Hand in the left slot and he lined the puck into the net.  Could the Orioles pull off the upset?  The answer would be no when Jackson Bisson scored a power play with 6:25 left in regulation time.  St. Louis Park head coach Andy Sackirson pulled goalie Josh Middleto twice.  The first was with 1:32 left and the second with :44 to play.  But the second stint with a sixth attacker fell short on Marshall's shot that crossed both blue lines and landed in the net.  

BSM outshot St. Louis Park 25-16.  

The Red Knights remained unbeaten at 10-0 and return to action on Tuesday, February 16 against the Eden Prairie Eagles at 7 PM at the Eden Prairie Community Center.  The Orioles fell to 7-2-1, ending a four game winning streak and head up Highway 7 on Thursday, February 18 to face the Minnetonka Skippers at 7 PM at the Pagel Activity Center.  

Get Ready for Late March, Early April Madness

 Good news for athletes and fans.  There will be state tournaments for Minnesota high school sports to wrap up the winter season.  

The Minnesota State High School League gave the green light to conduct state tournaments in winter sports at its February 4 Board of Directors meeting. 

Most of the tournaments will be in late March and early April due to the late start of the winter sports season.  

Alpine Skiing leads off the tournament season March 10 followed by Nordic Skiing on the 12th.  The site will be the same, Giants Ridge in Biwabik.  

March 12 and 13 will also be the dates for the State Dance Team Tournament.  The site will be different this year.  Instead of Target Center, the event will be held at Edina High School.  

Two other state tournaments will undergo site changes this season.  The girls gymnastics meet will be held at Champlin Park High School, March 26 & 27.    That same weekend, the state wrestling tournament will also take place.  Site TBD.  

As for the state hockey and basketball tournaments, they also have new dates as well as a format change.  

First up will be the state girls hockey quarterfinals March 26 & 27.  Then the state boys hockey quarterfinals March 30 & 31.  On April 1, it's girls semifinal play followed by the boys on April 2.  The tournament wraps up with Championship Saturday April 3 with one session of two girls finals followed by a boys championship session.  

All games will be played at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.  It will be a one and done format meaning that there will be no consolation or third place games.  Games will be televised on KSTC-TV.

The state tournament season wraps up in March and extends into April with the state girls and boys basketball tournaments.  Quarterfinal play will go back to the early days of the four class format since they will be played at various sites throughout Minnesota March 30 & 31.  No word yet on where the games will be played.  There will be plenty of basketball action at Target Center April 6-10 since those will be the dates for the girls and boys semifinals and championship games.  Semifinal games take place April 6-8 and two days of championship action April 9 & 10.  Those games will be televised on KSTC-TV.  

Will fans be allowed to attend the tournaments or what will the cap on attendance be due to the continuing COVID 19 pandemic.  Will HSGN cover any of the basketball or hockey tournament games?  In a previous post, HSGN mentioned that they won't be covering any regular season games due to restrictions except the games that the blogger is announcing.  

Further developments on the state high school tournaments will be coming up when they are available.  

A Monumental Comeback for SLP Orioles

 Just when you thought the St. Louis Park Orioles were about to get blown out, they would come back with five unanswered goals, including the game winner from Sam Berry with :21.5 left in overtime to beat the Chaska Hawks 6-5 Tuesday night at The Rec Center.  

It looked like the first period would be scoreless but the Hawks took the early lead on a line drive goal from Sully Scholle with :00.3 left in the period.  Early in the period, Chaska had a five on three advantage for :51 but the St. Louis Park penalty killing unit kept a purple, gold and white jersey from putting the puck into the net.  

Chaska would increase the margin to four in the second period with three consecutive goals.  Bennett Jax would jack one into the net, followed by Sam Rinzel's power play goal from the left slot.  The lead would increase to four on an unassisted goal by Jack Severson.  But there would no shutout for the Hawks when Lucas Hand made a nifty pass to Jack Wandmacher and he would go top shelf to enter the Oriole history books with his 100th career point.  Scholle would wrap the second half scoring with :49 left in the period while Rinzel was serving a holding penalty.  He drove down the ice like the team bus heading down Highway 100, stickhandled the puck through the center slot and put it past St. Louis Park goalie Josh Middleton to give Chaska a 5-1 lead.  

The best was yet to come for the small throng of Oriole fans in the third period when St. Louis Park would even the score with four goals.  First, McCabe Dvorak would score a rebound goal to cut the lead to three.  Then came Drew Boyum, who lined a shot from the left slot into the net.  Down 5-3, Oriole head coach Andy Sackrison pulled Middleton with 1:24 to go for a sixth attacker and it paid dividends for St. Louis Park.  Lucas hand scored on a rebound to cut the lead to one and Dvorak would tie the game with :31 remaining to send the game into overtime.  

Could the Orioles continue their goal run in overtime?  The answer would be yes as Berry rebounded Dvorak's shot and sent it across the goal line to complete an improbable comeback win.  

The Orioles out shot the Hawks 39-24.  

St. Louis Park improved their record to 5-1-1 and will head down Highway 5 to the Victoria Recreation Center to take on the Chanhassen Storm Saturday, February 6 at 3 PM.  Chaska fell to 4-3 and returns to The Rec Center on the 6th for a 2:30 game with the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights.