If the Edgerton volleyball team’s play on Monday evening is any indication of how the Flying Dutchmen will perform throughout the playoffs, the defending Class A state champion Windom Eagles might just have their hands full come Friday.
The Flying Dutchmen (14-11) excelled in every aspect of the game Monday evening in their Sub-Section 3A south opener to sweep past the visiting Adrian Dragons, 25-21, 25-21, 25-23, and earn a shot at the Eagles in the quarterfinals.
“We started off serve receiving really well; we had a few bumps during the match, but we never let them go on a six or seven-point run,” Edgerton head coach Randy Butson said following the tilt. “We had some unforced errors in the match, but we also had a lot of nice hits. They didn’t come from the same girls all the time, either. We had a very balanced attack, and I think that kept them (Adrian) on their heels.”
Not only did the Flying Dutchmen receive serve well, but they also served extremely well when they had the sideout. Edgerton junior Kayla VanGrootheest (seven digs) opened the match with two straight ace serves, and the hosts were rolling.
Adrian kept pace in the early stages of Game 1 with strong net play from Karlee Jackson, but the Edgerton defense let it be known that it was willing to sacrifice the body to keep each point alive.
“We really wanted to advance to the next round, so we really worked hard at trying to get to every ball,” VanGrootheest said. “We got our passes up to Macy (Butson) the best we could, and that helped us get into a good offensive rhythm. We hit the floor and just flew.”
With a formidable garrison fueling the attack, the Flying Dutchmen started inching away from the Dragons midway through Game 1. A well-placed tip and a kill down the line by Alyson Drooger (five kills, nine digs, two blocks) put Edgerton up by three points (16-13), and the Dragons never recovered. Ashley Bostic (four kills) made her presence know with a pair of timely tips, and Rachel Steffl (four kills) added some spark at the net to bring the score to 23-18 in favor of the Flying Dutchmen.
Adrian tried to rally back, earning two points on a pair of blasts from Sydne Springman. Unforced errors, however, put a damper on the visitor’s comeback efforts. Karli Meyer hit a serve into the net, and Springman was long with an attack, and the Flying Dutchmen had the opening game in the bag.
Edgerton started out like gangbusters in Game 2, but the Dragons surged ahead through strong net play from Courtney Vaske. An ace serve by Hilary Voss gave the Dragons a 7-4 advantage, but the Dragons struggled to maintain their advantage as the Flying Dutchmen again started to get into a good offensive rhythm.
A good serve from Bostic followed by a well-placed kill from Emily Sluis (seven kills) pulled Edgerton to within a point. Springman followed with a shot through Edgerton’s block, but that would be the last point the Dragons would earn for a while as the Flying Dutchmen ripped off an 8-0 run to grab a 15-10 lead.
“We had a lot of kills find the mark through placement tonight,” Coach Butson said. “Ashley and Emily, neither of which has had a lot of kills in matches, were really on tonight. None of their kills was a hard shot, but they were extremely effective in finding the holes in the Adrian defense.”
Despite gaining a few points through Edgerton errors or lucky tips, Adrian could never disrupt the Flying Dutchmen attack. VanGrootheest, Allie Brockhouse and Bostic were quick to make solid passes to Butson (21 set assists), who moved the ball from side to side in setting up Sluis, Drooger, Steffl and Kelsey Wolthuizen (four kills) at the net for heavy shots that rocked the Adrian defense. Sluis slipped a shot down the line to give the Flying Dutchmen a 23-20 lead, and the Dragons could do little to keep Edgerton from going up 2-0 in games.
Adrian stormed out to a 6-point lead midway through Game 3, earning an 18-13 advantage by finding room down the lines. Edgerton, however, called a timeout to talk things over and came out of the break on fire. Wolthuizen was involved in three consecutive plays at the net, and the Flying Dutchmen were suddenly within three points. The Flying Dutchmen were called for a lift, but brushed that aside to knot the score at 20-all on three shots from Steffl. An errant serve by the Flying Dutchmen helped Adrian regain the lead, but Drooger and Bostic teamed up for three consecutive points to give Edgerton a match point.
Vaske (block) and Trysten Lange momentarily put the kibosh on Edgerton’s celebration, but Bostic pounded a shot off the block to put the Flying Dutchmen over the top.
With the sweep, the Flying Dutchmen advance in the tournament and will face the Windom Eagles Friday night in Luverne. The Flying Dutchmen will have to bring the same intensity and quality of play if they have a shot at beating the defending Class A champions.
“I have not seen them play, but I understand they have two really awesome servers – hard jump top-spin servers,” Coach Butson said of the Eagles. “So, we’ll again have to receive serve well and hope to get our hitters going early. I’m sure we’re considered the underdog, but anything can happen in the playoffs. We’ll give our best effort and see how it turns out.”

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 3,
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg 2
The Knights advanced to the quarterfinals of the Sub-Section 3A north volleyball tournament with a 27-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-25, 15-8 marathon victory over the host Fighting Saints Monday night in Kerkhoven.
The ninth-seeded Knights, who finished the regular season on a roll, upset the eighth-seeded Fighting Saints to earn a match against the top-seeded Canby Lancers, Friday evening at SMSU’s R/A facility in Marshall.
Casey Thooft and Lindsey Willert each had 12 kills to pace the Knights offensively, while Sam Neyens followed with eight. Willert also had three blocks in the match.
Jade Possail (five kills) led the defense with 18 digs, and Thooft (16 digs) served 17-for-19 with two aces. Casey Goodmund had 14 digs for the Knights.
Senior setter Chelbi Welvaert had 36 set assists and served 26-of-27 with two aces, while Willert and Rachel Kinney ahd three and two blocks, respectively.

Southwest Christian 3, Fulda 0
The Eagles (19-7, 9-2) garnered the No. 4 seed for the Sub-Section 3A south tournament with a regular-season finale sweep of the Raiders Thursday night in a Red Rock Conference volleyball match in Edgerton.
Game scores were 25-10, 25-17, 25-15.
Jada Vander Veen paced the Eagle offense with eight kills, while Kara Van Dyke posted seven kills to go along with four blocks.
Setter Kayla Broekhuis served as playmaker, dishing out 23 set assists for the match, while Morgan Spronk added four kills.
Kelsey DeKam served for 10 points, including seven aces, and Mara Vander Maten was a defensive standout with 12 digs.
The Eagles will open tournament play against the Westbrook-Walnut Grove Chargers at 6 p.m., Friday in Luverne.