The high school sports week began Monday night with the defending Class AAAA champion Wayzata Trojans facing their Lake Conference rival, the host Minnetonka Skippers. The Trojans held off a ferocious Skipper offense in the second set to sweep Minnetonka three sets to none.
Both teams would trade leads in the first set before the Trojans went up 5-3. But the Skippers would battle back to eventually tie the set at ten. Wayzata would get a couple of service aces from Bianca Nistor and played strong defense with three players on the right side of the net to take the first set 25-16.
In the second set, the Trojans would jump out to an early lead as a result of Skipper attackers putting too much spin on the ball. Minnetonka head coach Karl Katzenberger called time out and they would bounce back to take a 12-11 lead. Defense would keep the Skippers in the set on Keely Campuzano's right side block. The lead would go back and forth like a pendulum on a grandfather clock. Whenever both teams had a set point, the score would be tied. It would continue in that manner until Olivia Swenson's kill spart Wayzata to a 29-27 victory.
Fatigue from a grueling second set would begin to plague Minnetonka in the third set as Wayzata jumped out to a 5-0 lead and they would never look back as defense once again factored into the equation thanks to a block from Stella Swenson and Reilly Kurth that helped the Trojans wrap up the match 25-16.
Wayzata improved their record to 22-3 and will host the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars on Thursday, October 13 at 7 PM. Minnetonka fell to 15-11 and will also be in action on the 13th, wrapping up the regular season hosting the Buffalo Bison at 7 PM.
Prior to the start of the match, HSGN caught up with former Hopkins head coach Vicki Swenson, who was interviewed in a previous story for the late examiner.com. Her twin daughters, juniors Olivia and Stella committed to the University of Minnesota.
Swenson described the Gopher coaching staff, led by Hugh McCutcheon as such a great coaching staff. "The best in the country."
Swenson, who retired from coaching in 2020 coached against Wayzata head coach Scott Jackson numerous times. "i have a great deal of respect for him," Swenson said. She also commented on the Trojans 65 match winning streak that was ended by the Northfield Raiders, "Let's be honest, there's a lot of pressure and I don't know if it will be matched for a long, long time.
She also gave an update on her oldest daughter Samantha, who was a four year setter with Minnesota. Samantha played professionally for two years in France and is now married to an Italian professional volleyball player. she's also the mother of six month old Luca.
Wrapping up the interview, Swenson mentioned that the state of high school volleyball in Minnesota has a lot of parity and the level of play has increased.
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