Three Area Teams Still Alive in MSHSL Volleyball Postseason

(KNSI) – Albany, Annandale, and ROCORI High Schools all advance Tuesday night in section volleyball playoffs.

For two of those teams, we’ll know by Halloween night if area fans will be treated to a Minnesota State High School League state tournament appearance. Albany and ROCORI lost in their respective section championship matches a year ago and will look to learn from that experience.

Albany is 26-2 and neck and neck with St. Croix Lutheran for the state’s top-ranked Class AA school. They were perfect in conference play in the regular season, and that carried over to the playoffs. They knocked off Granite Ridge counterparts St. Cloud Cathedral and Milaca in straight sets to reach the Section 6AA final. They’ll have to beat top-10 Sauk Centre for a third time this year to reach the state quarterfinals.

ROCORI plays in Class AAA and returned four starters from a team that went 25-4 and was ranked top five in the state in 2023. The Spartans have never found that same consistency, but after a 17-12 regular season, they have breezed through the section tournament. They defeated Little Falls and St. Cloud Tech in straight sets to set up a showdown with conference rival Alexandria. The Cardinals beat the Spartans in five sets in both meetings this year.

Albany-Sauk Centre will air on KNSI from Sauk Rapids-Rice High School, with pregame starting at around 6:40 p.m. on Halloween night. Alexandria-ROCORI is also set for Thursday with a 7:00 first serve. They’ll play at a neutral site. The MSHSL has selected Sartell High School as the venue, which could work in ROCORI’s favor.

Annandale still needs to play a semifinal and final in Section 5AA and wouldn’t officially punch its state tournament ticket until Saturday.

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