State volleyball: Lakeville South hitting its peak heading into Class 4A final

Lakeville South is a 30-plus win volleyball team this season. The Cougars entered the Class 4A high school state tournament this week as the No. 1 seed. They’ve been excellent all fall.

And only now does coach Stephen Willingham feel as though his team is truly performing to its maximum capabilities.

What a frightening thought for opponents.

But his theory was backed up with plenty of evidence in Thursday’s state tournament semifinal, won 25-17, 25-17, 25-11 by Lakeville South over fifth-seeded Roseville at Xcel Energy Center.

The Cougars will meet Champlin Park for the state title at 7 p.m. Saturday in downtown St. Paul in what will be the perennial power’s first championship match appearance.

“We played some of our best volleyball of the season against a really good team,” Willingham said, “so I feel good about the head space that our team is in right now. We seem to be peaking.”

That was particularly true in the third set, as the Cougars hit .415. Romi Chlebecek finished with 18 kills to pace Lakeville South (31-2), but it generally was a balanced performance for the Cougars.

That’s the magic of these Cougars, who are as deep of a team as you’ll find at the high school level. They can attack you from any area on the court and are seemingly constantly in system thanks to their first-touch excellence.

Lakeville South’s confidence has grown ever since it downed Champlin Park in mid-October. Everything has clicked from there. The Cougars are deep, skilled and close with one another.

And, defensively, they held Roseville to just .041 hitting, tallying 65 digs, four blocks and zero serve-receive errors. Josei Tingelhoff led the way with 21 serve receives and 20 digs. Roseville coach Greg Ueland noted there were a number of balls the Raiders struck that you’d expect to end in points that were inevitably dug up by the Cougars.

“A credit to Lakeville South. They are the No. 1 team for a reason,” Ueland said. “Incredible athletes. They showed up and played really well today.”

But Ueland noted he was proud of his team’s fight. Trailing 14-4 in the second set, Roseville climbed back and was within 24-23 before Lakeville South ultimately closed out the set.

“We fought back, and that was like our volleyball,” Roseville junior Leah Biyadglign said. “We showed ourselves and how we usually play. And so that was super fun. We were competing back and forth, and it was great volleyball. I just think like knowing we can compete with a team like that that’s really skilled, it’s like, ‘What ifs,’ but also we know we’re a good team.”

Roseville (27-6) will meet East Ridge in the third-place match Saturday. Even when the Raiders made their push, it didn’t surprise Willingham that his team answered back. He called the Cougars “well seasoned,” noting they had to win the fifth set of their section final match against rival Lakeville North 20-18.

“They have a good understanding of what it takes to play when everything is on the line like hitting a crescendo at the perfect time.

“I think right now would be our peak,” Lakeville South senior Aubrie Portinga said. “Everyone is healthy at the right time, we’re finally connecting at the right time and the team dynamic is just really good right now.”