ST. PAUL — About 15 minutes before warmups started for the Class AAA quarterfinal Wednesday, Hermantown captains Gabi Arntson, Hope Kohanski and Claire Kaups took a moment to soak in the atmosphere at the Xcel Energy Center.
It had been eight years since the Hawks appeared at the state tournament, so even standing in the tunnel and seeing fans file into the arena was a special moment.
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“It was so surreal,” Kohanski said. “We’ve dreamed of being here our whole lives. The past few years, obviously, that hasn’t happened, but that happening this year is just amazing. Stepping out there and seeing all the fans and how big the atmosphere is was just mindblowing.”
Arntson was lucky enough to have been in attendance in 2016 as a fourth-grader when Hermantown last won Section 7AAA, but even standing in the tunnel seemed more like a dream than reality.
“I kept reminding myself it’s not different than any other game we’ve played,” she said. “We’ve talked about it since my sophomore year, the main goal was state and it was just hard to take in. It didn’t even feel real until we got on the court and started to warm up.”
The Hawks did their best, but top-seeded — and undefeated — Delano would not be denied in a 25-15, 25-20, 25-10 sweep.
The Hawks were able to play with Delano for stretches, but in the end it was the Tigers' play at the net — particularly their block — that was the difference. Delano blocked eight balls for points and made it hard on Hermantown throughout the match.
“They’re the No. 1 seed for a reason, right,” Hawks coach Jess Williams said. “They had a solid two block every single time. Even though we work hard and practice that, sometimes they’re a better team and they had a very strong block. We struggled a little getting around it, but then we started hitting high and eventually we figured it out.”
Delano coach Rebecca Rue said “communication” was the key to the block and junior Cassie Wegman concurred. Watching film of Hermantown, the Tigers noticed the Hawks play with a “slower tempo,” according to Wegman.
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“With that slower tempo, we were just working on our timing,” she said. “That definitely helped and then it comes down to talking. We were talking like ‘ready, up’ in the middle and we just knew we could get there and get up. It doesn’t come down to just who had the block, but also who set the block.”
Wegman led all players with 12 kills for the Tigers, while Kohanski finished with nine kills for Hermantown. Arntson had six kills and Kaups finished with 17 digs.
Despite the loss, the Hawks didn’t get the win they were looking for in the state tournament, but they “battled a tough team” and they left everything out on the court.
“We went out there knowing we were tough too and we could put up a fight,” Arntson said. “We worked so hard to get here, and now that we’re here — there’s nothing to lose. This is the best ending we could have had, so we just wanted to take it in and enjoy it all.”
Delano (31-0) moves on to face Alexandria in the Class AA semifinals at 9 a.m. Thursday at Xcel.
Hermantown (24-6) will face Mahtomedi in the consolation bracket at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
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