KoMets finish fifth at Class AA Showcase

The Kasson-Mantorville volleyball team has some high goals to achieve this season and the middle part of the schedule is where some of those goals can start to become reality. With a difficult schedule that includes the high competition in the Hiawatha Valley League schedule as well as some key tournaments, the confidence for the KoMets to make a run during the section tournament in a couple weeks could be created in late September and early October.
The first step in that was taken at the Minnesota Class AA Showcase last weekend. In a field that included some of the best teams in the state and included 11 of the top 12 ranked teams in Class AA, the KoMets were able to put together a solid effort and finish in fifth place.
“Fifth place at the showcase was a fantastic finish for us at this stage of the season,” K-M volleyball coach Adam VanOort declared. “It took an excellent and complete effort by every player on our team to turn things around and come back to win our last four matches and all of those were very tough.”
The tournament didn’t start well for the KoMets as they received a tough draw with the top-ranked team in the state, Maple Lake. After being swept in two games by the Irish, the team came together to re-assess their goals for the rest of the tournament. It was then that they wanted to win out for the remainder of the tournament.
“We decided that fifth place was a very worthy goal for us,” VanOort explained. “I told them in order to attain that goal, we would have to win every one of our matches and that they were all going to be tough. We just decided to take it one game at a time and give our best effort. The girls went out and were able to make that happen.”
From there the KoMets went to work defeating Roseau, New Life Academy, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta and Southwest Christian in succession to achieve their goal. It was a total team effort as even the players who weren’t on the court were helping out their team and pushing them through some of the rough patches.
“The players who weren’t on the court at any given time were instrumental in keeping the energy high and building everyone up throughout the tournament,” VanOort stated. 
The performance of the KoMets at the showcase should help create momentum as they head