Champlin Park and Lakeville North are not far apart in the preseason rankings of girls volleyball teams, and there wasn’t much separating the two teams when they met Thursday in Champlin on the opening day of the season.
Lakeville North, ranked No. 2 in the coaches association’s preseason poll in Class 4A, defeated first-place Champlin Park in five sets, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23, 26-24 and 15-11.
Champlin Park played without three players, including first-team All-Metro right wing Carly Gilk, who has joined the Gophers. Coach John Yunker would not comment on the reason for the players’ absence, but described the situation as “a maturing experience for everyone.”
Despite the failures, every set was exciting.
“Every season, this opening game is a real blast,” said Panthers coach Jackie Richter.
Champlin Park also began last season with a five-set loss to Lakeville North and finished the season 24-7.
“Jackie and I joke that maybe we’ll just clear the rest of our non-conference schedule, start over and just play each other on a regular basis,” Yunker said.
For each of the teams, the season began with a challenge and will lead to another. Champlin Park plays in Class 4A, Section 5 with Wayzata, winner of the last four major state championships, two of them undefeated. The result is that Champlin Park last reached the state tournament in 2018 and won the championship this season.
