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The Pipestone Area Schools football and volleyball teams learned their playoff fates on Thursday.
The Arrows (4-4), after a rough loss to Le Sueur-Henderson on Wednesday evening, have been seeded fourth in Section 3AA. That means PAS will serve as host for a home game versus No. 5 Windom Area at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Paulsen Field.
The Arrows will face the Eagles in the playoffs for the first time since 2023 when Windom Area came out on top. PAS won this year’s regular-season contest, 26-7, on Sept. 5.
Pipestone Area Schools’ Luka Quist signals during a Wednesday, Oct. 15, game in Le Sueur. (Contributed photo from Ben Camp/Southernminn.com)
The PAS-Windom winner will face top-seeded, defending Class AA state champion, Jackson County Central on Saturday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. in Jackson.
The other first-round games pit third-seeded Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial versus No. 6 Minnesota Valley Lutheran and No. 2 Le Sueur-Henderson playing host to No. 7 Sibley East.
Unlike last year, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton will participate in a meaningful playoff game. The Knights (6-2) are seeded third, and they will play No. 4 Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian (BOLD) at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 in Tyler.
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton’s Tucker Gile (74) blocks Lakeview’s Cody Helmke during a Friday, Sept. 12, game at Tyler. Gile helped the Knights amass more than 460 yards in total offense as RTR downed Lakeview, 42-14. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
The winner will advance to play second-seeded Murray County Central at 3 p.m. Oct. 25 in Slayton. One of RTR’s two losses this season was to MCC.
Springfield, one of the state’s premier Class A programs, is seeded No. 1. The Tigers will play the winner between No. 4 Tracy-Milroy-Balaton and fifth-seeded Sleepy Eye United.
In the 9-player format, Edgerton Public is seeded second with the Flying Dutchmen receiving a first-round bye. Edgerton (7-1) will play the winner of a Tuesday, Oct. 21 game between No. 3 Adrian-Ellsworth and sixth-seeded Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda.
Edgerton Public’s Tucker Arp reaches the ball over the goal line for a TD during the first quarter of a 9-player game between Edgerton and New Ulm Cathedral. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
The other first-round game pits No. 4 Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons against fifth-seeded Granada-Huntley-East-Chain-Truman.
Defending state champion Hills-Beaver Creek was awarded the No. 1 seed.
The Section 3 9-Player championship game is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 31 at Worthington High School’s Trojan Field.
Edgerton Public’s Michael Gunnink (8) runs a toss sweep during a Wednesday, Oct. 15, game versus New Ulm Cathedral. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
The Class A section title game is set for 12:30 p.m. Oct. 31 at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. The Section AA championship game follows on the same day at 3 p.m.
Volleyball
In volleyball, Pipestone Area (15-6) opens with Fairmont on Friday, Oct. 24, with the first serve set for 7 p.m. at PAS Gymnasium.
The Arrows were given the No. 3 seed, while Fairmont is 6th. Keep in mind, the Arrows were eliminated in the opening round during the 2024 tournament, so they’ll look to avoid that here.
The winner of the PAS-Fairmont match will play either No. 2 Jackson County or No. 7 St. James Area at the better seed on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
Windom has drawn the top seed, and the Eagles will square off with the winner of the match between No. 4 Luverne and No. 5 Redwood Valley.
Pipestone Area Schools head volleyball coach Shelly Hennager watches the Arrows practice on Thursday, Aug. 14, at PAS Gymnasium. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
The subdistrict championship will be played on Thursday, Oct. 30, at Springfield High School.
In Class A, Southwest Minnesota Christian finds itself in the uncustomary position of a play-in game. The No. 8 Eagles (5-17) will play host to ninth-seeded Red Rock Central in Edgerton, with the first serve set for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20.
The Southwest Minnesota Christian volleyball team celebrates winning a point during the Wabasso Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 13. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
Tenth-seeded Edgerton Public (5-18) will travel to face No. 7 Tracy-Milroy-Balaton — the play-in match will be contested in Tracy — at the same time.
The winner of the SWC-RRC match will then play top-seeded and state-ranked Russell-Tyler-Ruthton at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24.
Edgerton Public’s Kya Voge sets the ball while Joey Fleischman watches in the background. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
The Edgerton-TMB victor moves on to play second-seeded Westbrook/Walnut Grove in the second round at Westbrook (7 p.m., Oct. 24).
Other 3A south subsection matches that night will pit No. 4 Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda versus No. 5 Murray County Central and third-seeded Adrian-Ellsworth versus No. 6 Hills-Beaver Creek.
Quarterfinal matches will take place on Oct. 28 at Worthington High School, and the subsection championship Oct. 30 at SMSU in Marshall.
South Dakota
South Dakota scholastic playoff brackets will be determined at a later date.
The South Dakota High School Activities Association crowned three state champions in volleyball on Saturday, Nov. 23. (Contributed graphic from the SDHSAA)
The opening round of the football playoffs is set for Thursday, Oct. 23, while volleyball begins with regional play on Nov. 4 and Nov. 6. The SoDak 16 round will be on Nov. 11.