By Chris Parker & Danielle King
When the state championship lights start to shine, Winona volleyball has a long history of shining even brighter.
“They know when it is time to show up. They like the competition. They want a tough state championship. That is what they got today. We knew that Advance is a great team, and they were not going to give up,” Winona head coach Jordan Denning said. “I told them before that even if it is 24-12, Advance is going to keep fighting and they definitely did. My girls just showed how tough they are too.”
Winona swept Advance 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-16) to claim the program’s sixth state championship and first since 2014.
“Before the game I had a little speech prepared for our huddle,” Winona junior Lexi Lindsey said. “I said win or lose if you give it your all the whole time if we lose, we lose. You tried your best. I feel like that is what we did. We tried our best and that was enough this time.”
Winona’s best in the first set showed up quickly.
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Advance took a 1-0 lead off the top before the Wildcats answered with seven straight points to take a commanding 7-1 lead.
Advance pulled with in three at 16-13, but Winona closed the set out on a second 7-0 run to take it 25-15.
The second set saw similar domination early with Winona building a 17-10 lead. An Advance 7-3 run to cut the deficit to 20-17 forced a Winona timeout.
“(I told them) keep fighting,” Denning said. “Our moods were tanking a little bit because we were making some errors. I (said) girls, it is a state championship. Now is not the time for moods.”
Advance cut the Wildcat lead to two at 24-22, but Taylor Williams put the set away on the next rally with a kill to make it 2-0 Winona.
The third set was dominance from Winona.
The Wildcats built an early 7-2 lead and then extended it out to 17-8 before a Sadie Kile kill secured a 25-15 win and sparked a state championship celebration.
The celebration was made even more special with all the community support in the stands both from friends and family. Prior to the match, Winona’s 2004 state championship team was honored. That team featured the mothers of current players Saide and Sophie Kile and Bristol Lay.
“Winona has shown up all season. It has been a while since we’ve had a packed house just in a regular season game, and all season our fans and our pep club were there,” Denning said. “I think that has a lot to do with having big families. We are so thankful for our pep club. They show up everywhere we go. We always say it feels like we are home because we have so many supporters.”
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Williams led Winona with 17 kills. Sadie Kile was also in double digits for kills with 12. Lindsey had 21 digs to pace Winona in that category. Sophie Kile (16 digs), Sadie Kile (14 digs) and Bristol Lay (13 digs) all also were in double figures. Lindsey had 32 assists.
Winona finishes the season with a 34-3-2 record. The Wildcats are set to return their entire regular rotation next season.
