The Worthington Trojans will attempt to climb quite a tall mountain on Thursday.
Then again, so will everybody else in the Section 3AA high school volleyball field.
In a 7 p.m. first-round game, the Trojans will take the floor with Marshall, in Marshall, in a match that pits the eighth seed in the southern half of the section against the top seed.
Marshall isn’t just any ol’ No. 1 seed. The Tigers have already been to 28 Minnesota state volleyball tournaments, including in 2018 when they placed second in the AA field (they were beaten in the semifinals in 2017). Led by veteran coach Dan Westby, MHS captured its sixth consecutive Big South Conference title earlier this year (the conference has been in existence for exactly six years).
Other matches Thursday have Luverne (seeded fifth) at Pipestone Area (4), St. James Area (7) at Jackson County Central (2), and New Ulm (6) at Windom Area (3).
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Everybody knows who the South Section 3AA favorite is. The Tigers are ranked second in Class AA statewide. The top seed in the north, New London-Spicer, is ranked eighth in the state.
But the 2019 section field has good depth. Area teams Jackson County Central and Windom Area are seeded two and three, respectively, and are enjoying excellent seasons. Windom Area, which made the move from Class A to AA this season, actually defeated JCC 3-0 in a Sept. 17 match. Jackson County Central is an experienced unit led by Alaina Wolff, who earned honorable mention All-State last year as a junior.
South Section 3AA semifinals are set for Tuesday at the high seeds, with the championship Oct. 31 at a site to be determined. North and south meet Nov. 2 at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall for this year’s state berth.
