SARTELL — Based on their two regular-season matchups, Thursday’s Section 8-3A championship between the No. 1 seed Alexandria Cardinals and the No. 2 seed ROCORI Spartans appeared to be close .

These two teams did not disappoint. After trading 25-16 wins in sets one and two, Alexandria and ROCORI were tied at 1-1 heading into the third set.

ROCORI led early in the third set, but Alexandria rallied to win the third set 25-18. The fourth set almost followed the same pattern, but instead of Alexandria pulling away from ROCORI, the fourth set saw ROCORI leading 24-23, just one point away from a winner-take-all fifth set.

But with a kill from Eva Eisel, a kill from Hadley Thul and an ace from Eisel, Alexandria won the fourth set 26-24 and Section 8-3A 2024 with a 3-1 victory against ROCORI on October 31, 2024. , in Sartell-St. Stéphane High School.

“It was crazy,” Eisel said of the final point of the match. “I was a little gassed, but it was a crazy experience.”

Sam Stuve/Alexandria Echo Press

Alexandria trailed by five or more points in the final two sets of the match.

ROCORI led 10-5 in the third set, but Alexandria went on a 6-0 lead to take the lead in that set and never relinquished it.

The Spartans led 9-4 in the fourth set, but the Cardinals came back to tie it and eventually led 20-17 in the fourth set.

“We were just too anxious,” Alexandria head coach Mary Byrne said. “We were trying to win it all in one fight. I just sat them down and wanted them to slow down, take one pass, one serve and one set at a time. And they settled in and were beasts of burden.

ROCORI fought back to tie the fourth set at 22, but big plays from the seniors led Alexandria to win the fourth set and seal the program’s first state tournament appearance since 2009.

“The seniors played amazing,” Byrne said. “They’ve been on a mission all season, and they didn’t stop there. I’m so proud of how hard the seniors and everyone worked.”

The Cardinals won the first set in solid fashion thanks to strong serving.

“I feel like we served the ball really well and didn’t miss a ton of serves,” Eisel said.

“Our serve was strong in the first set and we passed the ball well, so they were out of system,” Byrne said. “In the second set, we kind of pulled back and they passed well. And when they’re in the system, they’re hard to defend.”

Sam Stuve/Alexandria Echo Press

Senior Addie Rossum was one of Alexandria’s key contributors on Thursday. The stats are currently unofficial, but Rossum, a Wingate University commit, reportedly finished with a double-double, 18 kills and 21 assists.

Fellow senior Hadley Thul is listed as Alexandria’s kill leader with 18.

This sectional title win is sweeter for the Alexandria seniors as they nearly won the Section 8-5A title in 2022, but the Detroit Lakes erased a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and advance for the state tournament.

“It’s amazing,” Eisel said of what it feels like to qualify for the state tournament. “Two years ago, when I was a sophomore, we had the experience at Perham (against the Detroit Lakes). I feel like now we’ve kind of taken that back, and We went at it every play. And I think all of us worked really well as a team. We really came together, worked hard on every point and just took it one play at a time.

“It’s so exciting because we’ve been working for so long,” Rossum said. “We’ve been close the last few years, but now we get to go this year. It’s the best feeling.”

ROCORI finishes the 2024 season with an 18-13 record.

Thursday’s win was Alexandria’s third victory this season against ROCORI, having defeated ROCORI 3-2 in Cold Spring on September 3 and 3-2 in Alexandria on October 3.

“It’s an incredible thing to do, and it takes a lot of courage,” Byrne said.

Alexandria now enters the MSHSL Class 3A state tournament with a 21-10 record.

Sam Stuve/Alexandria Echo Press

Alexandria joins Marshall (26-6, Section 2-3A), Cretin-Derham Hall (20-12, Section 4-3A), Monticello (18-13, Section 5-3A), Delano (Section 6-3A) and Hermantown (25-5, Section 7-3A) as teams that clinched tickets to the MSHSL Class 3A state tournament.

The final sectional championship to be decided is Section 1-3A. Byron (24-7) will face Stewartville (25-4) in the Section 1-3A final on Saturday, November 2.

The MSHSL Class 3A state tournament bracket will be revealed on Sunday, November 3, 2024.

Alexandria will compete in the MSHSL Class 3A state tournament on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at 5 or 7 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.