As his players walked through the bowels of Xcel Energy Center en route to their post-match press conference, Lakeville South coach Stephen Willingham heard them discuss how loud and fun the state volleyball tournament environment was.

But in the opening portions of a match, it can be a little jarring.

“I feel like we had a little bit of jitters in the first set,” senior outside hitter Rowan Carr said. “We’re not used to this atmosphere, I feel like.”

The top-seeded .Cougars found their footing in short order, downing eighth-seeded Apple Valley 25-21, 25-18, 25-17 in the Class 4A quarterfinals on Wednesday.

“A lot of new variables introduced,” Willingham said, “and I’m really proud of how our kids handled it.”

Elleora Utecht led the way with 14 kills and seven aces, followed by 12 kills from Romi Chlebecek. Kaelyn Bjorklund added nine kills and 26 assists.

Lakeville South (30-2) will meet fifth-seeded Roseville in a semifinal at 9 a.m. Thursday back in downtown St. Paul.

Wednesday marked the second time this season the Cougars swept Apple Valley. It’s a safe bet when their first match occurred in late September, Lakeville South didn’t assume a rematch was coming.

But Apple Valley put together a Cinderella-like run through sections. The Eagles upset top-seeded Edina in four sets in the semifinals, reeling off 10 straight points to close a third-set victory in which they trailed 24-16. After dropping the first two sets to Minneapolis Southwest in the section final, Apple Valley rallied to win the final three to seal its first trip to state since 2001.

Eagles players Madelyn Welsch and Sophia Cowan recalled attending past state tournaments and not being able to fathom what it’d be like to be on the court themselves. Yet there they were Wednesday.

“We haven’t gone to state for 23 years — two decades — before we were born,” Welsch said, “so it’s such a crazy experience and it’s definitely going to change the (coming) years in this program.”

Aiding in Wednesday’s atmosphere was a massive Eagles fan base, the likes of which the team hasn’t seen this season.

“We had a much bigger student section than we had in the past,” sophomore middle blocker Ginny Gores said.

It was a moment of arrival for a program that hasn’t necessarily been on the radar of many in recent years. Runs like this one can quickly change that course.

“I really hope people see us here and they take it as like, ‘Oh, they might actually be competition,’” Cowan said. “We’re still a really young team, and there’s a lot more to come, so I hope people in the back of their heads are like, ‘Oh, what about Apple Valley?’”

They better. Because the Eagles (14-15) don’t seem likely to fade. Apple Valley coach Hannah Specktor was flush with optimism as she stood at the state banquet on Tuesday evening and read off the names of her numerous underclassmen.

“It’s just a super optimistic place to be to know that I don’t have eight seniors that I’m graduating, and that I’m bringing a lot of the same kids back and we just get to build and make some adjustments to fill the holes that our two seniors are going to leave for us this year,” she said. “It’s just a super optimistic place to be to have so many young athletes that are high level and ready to come back in future years to hopefully give Apple Valley a few more state tournaments before they go.”

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