Never mind the Knights. It's a safe bet that the Climax-Fisher volleyball team will go by a different name this weekend: the team that beat Fosston.
"It's pretty hard getting anywhere in the playoffs with Fosston," Knights coach Cheryl Wardner said. "Nobody could do it. Nobody in the state could do it, obviously, with them winning the state championship twice in a row."
The streak won't reach three, as Climax-Fisher beat the Greyhounds -- for the second time this season -- in the Minnesota Class 1A, Section 8 title match. Now it's the No. 9-ranked Knights (27-4), ousted by Fosston the two previous years, who are on to the state quarterfinals for a 3 p.m. contest against Carlton (21-8) at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
And it's been a while. The most recent, and only other trip, came in 1992. Senior setter Kelli Rutherford was 7 then, and appeared in a newspaper photo attending the state tournament. Now it's her turn to play.
"We've been working really hard," said the 5-foot-6 Rutherford. "We knew it was capable of happening and finally it comes true."
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It's been three years coming, thanks to a core that's as solid as the center of a golf ball. That's the amount of time Wardner has been coaching and Rutherford (1,846 career assists), 5-11 middle hitter Brenda Slyt (1,000-plus career kills) and 5-7 outside hitter Anna Tinkham (304 kills this season) have been starting.
"She's been a great coach and she's put together a good team and we've became closer," Rutherford said. "We've become like family."
This family knows how to win. The Knights claimed the Pine to Prairie Conference crown in their first year in the league in addition to beating Section 6 champion Ada-Borup and Class 2A, Section 8 winner Lake of the Woods.
"Three years ago was a big rebuilding year with lots of sophomores and freshman filling the varsity roster," Wardner said. "When you have that, you have hopes in a year or two of really shining."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548
