The inaugural Minnesota State High School League-sanctioned boys volleyball state tournament takes place this week at St. Thomas.
It’s a three-day, eight-team event that opens with Tuesday’s quarterfinals and ends Thursday with one team left standing as a history maker.
Here are three East Metro teams with a chance to stake their claim as the first state champion.
Eastview
The Lightning (27-3) are the No. 2 seed this week, and for good reason. Eastview can win this tournament. It just took top-seeded Eden Prairie to five sets in mid-May and beat the Eagles 2-0 in a tournament in Bloomington in late April.
The Lightning feature just three seniors, a scary proposition given the fact that taking a set from Eastview in matches this year was a legitimate feat. It didn’t drop a set in 24 of its 30 matches to date.
The Lightning will meet seventh-seeded Hopkins at 1 p.m.
North St. Paul
The Polars (25-2) are the No. 5 seed and will take on fourth-seeded Spring Lake Park at 3 p.m. But the seeding may undersell the Polars’ potency.
North St. Paul’s only two losses all season came at the hands of Eastview, the No. 2 seed in this week’s tournament, and it beat Spring Lake Park less than a month ago.
The Polars featured a balanced attack with a number of players through which they can run their offense and score.
St. Paul Central
The Minutemen are the de facto home team in St. Paul this week after edging Eagan in a five-set thriller in their section final.
Central (23-7) is the No. 6 seed and will square off with third-seeded Rogers at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
The Minutemen have won nine straight matches and star Josiah Walker, who touts 208 kills offensively to go with 101 digs. But the Central offense runs through Gus Walz, who has a whopping 568 assists.
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