Stillwater coach Sara Baumgard and her volleyball players talked after they defeated Rogers in five sets in Wednesday's quarterfinals about their flair for big comebacks.
New Prague, the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A state tournament bracket and Stillwater's opponent in Thursday's semifinals, found an answer to Stillwater's knack: stay a step ahead.
The Trojans beat Stillwater 25-11, 25-17, 25-18 at Xcel Energy Center to advance to Saturday's championship match in their first season as a Class 4A program.
Baumgard shook her head while talking about how thoroughly New Prague (27-5) had beaten the Ponies (20-10).
"Hats off to New Prague," she said. "That was one of the best offenses we've faced. Their decision-making on kills was incredible. To play with that level of volleyball IQ…" Baumgard's voice trailed off in admiration.
It all begins in practice, New Prague coach Greg Sayuk said.
"We do a lot of competing in practice that requires them to process situations and see the game as it happens," he said. "As opposed to doing the same thing robotically and hoping good things happen.
"It makes it more fun to coach because you can put the responsibility on the players to make the right decisions."
The players gave a nod to Sayuk for helping them believe they could get this far.
"When we found out we were going to [Class] 4A this summer, all of us were kind of scared because we're the underdogs," junior outside hitter Emerson Dillon said. "A lot of people ask, 'Where's New Prague?'
"Us getting this far is a huge accomplishment. He'd say stuff like 'I'm looking forward to a state championship this year.' Coach has been telling us this is going to be our highlight of the year. I think we're ready for it."
