Dragons volleyball team takes south subsection title with sweep of R-T-R

The Adrian-Ellsworth Dragons volleyball team will play for the Section 3A championship and a state tournament berth after winning the South Subsection title match Thursday night.

The third-seeded Dragons, who had been swept by the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights in their match earlier this fall, earned a sweep of their own Thursday, winning 27-25, 25-16, 25-21 at Southwest Minnesota State University. Adrian-Ellsworth will next face Minneota, ranked at No. 1 in the state, at 5 p.m. Saturday at SMSU, with the winner qualifying for state.

In the Dragons' game one victory, A-E and R-T-R — ranked third in the state — were tied at 15, but the Dragons later opened up a 23-19 advantage. The Knights were able to fend off three game points before a Charlee Lehnhoff block and R-T-R hitting error closed things out.

In game two, the Dragons and Knights were tied at 6-6, but A-E then scored three consecutive points and never trailed from there. Then, in game three, R-T-R went up by one at 15-14, but A-E scored the next three points to inch back in front. The Knights later forced two ties, but the Dragons were able to ultimately finish off the match on a kill by Kamry Lehnhoff, who had 12 unofficially on the night.

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In the Section 3AA South Subsectional final Thursday in Springfield, top-seeded Jackson County Central swept Windom 3-0 by game scores of 25-20, 27-25, 25-21. The Huskies, who are ranked fifth in the state, will meet fourth-ranked New London-Spicer at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at SMSU  for the right to go to state.

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A pair of defending Minnesota high school football state champions will aim to return to the state tournament when they each play in sectional final games Friday. 

In 9-Man football, unbeaten and top-ranked Hills-Beaver Creek will play at 11:30 a.m. Friday against Edgerton at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. The teams met in Edgerton back on Oct. 9, with the Patriots defeating the Flying Dutchmen 28-14 in what was H-BC's closest game of the season.

In winning all nine games they've played, the Patriots have scored an average of 43.3 points per game while surrendering just 4.4 an outing. Edgerton is putting up 39.6 points a contest while allowing 16.5. The Dutch have a record of 6-4; they won at Adrian-Ellsworth and Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons over the last two weeks to get to the sectional finals.

In Class AA, a pair of one-loss teams will battle to see who goes to state as top-seeded and defending state champ Jackson County Central meets Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial. The Huskies are currently ranked fourth in Class 2A; the Knights are ranked eighth.

JCC scores an average of 44.7 points a game and gives up 12.7, while Lake Crystal-Welcome-Memorial scores 36.7 points a game and gives up 7.1. The Huskies blanked the Knights, 25-0, on Sept. 11

Kickoff for the matchup is set for 7 p.m. Friday night at SMSU.