Panthers Fall In OT in State Volleyball Final

In an epic, back-and-forth battle of volleyball heavyweights, came up short by the smallest of margins.

Lakeville North fell in overtime to Eden Prairie in the 2011 Minnesota Class AAA girls volleyball tournament championship Saturday night.

Eden Prairie won 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18 and 22-20.

Tied at 2-all in game five, back-to-back kills by the Eagles were finally too much for the Panthers to overcome.

"I think we played our hearts out," said Lakeville North sophomore Alyssa Goehner, who competed heroically in the final. She led all players in the championship match with 34 kills and 38 digs.  "But they definitely deserve this championship. I'm so proud of the team."

The Eden Prairie Eagles came out strong and took a 9-3 lead in game one, only to watch as the Panthers stormed back to catch and pass them for a 25-22 win. That game set a pattern for the rest of the match.

Lakeville North won games one and three and looked good doing so. Eden Prairie took games two and four and controlled the tempo in those two games.

The fifth game was a tense, back-and-forth battle.

As in game one, two and four, Eden Prairie started strong and broke out to a quick 5-1 lead. Punctuated by fierce attacks by Goehner, the Panthers regrouped and battled to get back into the match. Goehner tied the game at 13-all with a kill and the two teams proceeded to alternate furious attacks with heroic defenses.

The two teams were tied seven times in the final game and there were two lead changes. Lakeville North had two chances to close out the match, leading 118-17 and 19-18, but each time Eden Prairie rallied to tie.

Tied at 20, Eden Prairie's Michaela Sir and Sarah Wilhite scored consecutive kills to give the Eagles the title.

The Panthers finished the season with a record of 26-6.

"The ids battled through and they deserved to be in this match," said Lakeville North head coach Steve Willingham. "We were right there, where we needed to be at the end to win it. We could of taken it to, but I'm going to give a lot of credit to Eden Prairie and their players. They have really done a nice job. They've improved a lot this season. They have a great team and it turned out, we didn't have an answer for some things that they could do."

Lakevile North's Goehner, Sami Flattume and Jessica Wolff -- who had 50 assists in the final -- were named to the all-tournament team.

"There were stretches where our unforced errors caught up with us," said Willingham. "We beat ourselves for stretches of the game.

Lakeville North's remarkable 2011 season included regular-season a win over eventual Class A champion Bethlehem Academy, a split against Class AA champion Marshall, victories over No. 2 Eagan and No. 1 Lakeville South in section play and a 3-0 sweep of No. 6 Andover in a Class AAA tournament semifinal.

Lakeville North lose five seniors off this year's team: Emma Woodruff, Kelly Nizzari, Bri Hagen, Nicole Latzig and Jessica Wolff. Headliners back for the Panthers are Goehner, Monson and Flattum, who will be juniors next season, and seniors-to-be Laura Larson and Haley Walker.

"Our core is young," agreed Willingham. "And so we're looking forward to getting ready for next year."