Bemidji Boys Volleyball Makes State Tournament In Inaugural Season

This spring, for the first time in school history, an organized boys volleyball team took the court for Bemidji High School. And in their first season, the Lumberjacks made the state tournament. With boys volleyball in its final year as an emerging activity, set to be MSHSL sanctioned in 2025, it is now time for all schools, including Bemidji, to decide between joining the MSHSL or continuing as a club team.

In a season of firsts, you might as well check off all of them, and for Bemidji Boys Volleyball, that includes a trip to the state tournament.

“It’s really exciting,” said Caleb Anderson. “I’m a senior. I can’t play next year, so I was really hoping to go this year and we did it. And it’s great. I’m super excited about that. And the first year that we’ve ever done this, it’s just really great.”

It wasn’t an easy road. The Lumberjacks had to beat Proctor Hermantown in a play-in match to make the 16 team tournament after the Hawks had already taken two of three games from the Jacks during the regular season.

“We lost to them before, so we were hoping we were going to win,” said junior Elijah Caron. “It was really a close match. I think it was four points away from us not going to state. So it’s pretty crazy. But when we won, it was just it was awesome. I was super thankful. And we have a bunch of seniors on our team and because it’s their last time being able to go to state, I’m really glad we won.”

Getting to the state tournament is an even more impressive feat when you consider a majority of the roster had never played volleyball competitively until this spring.

“It is amazing to know where we’ve been because a lot of those teams have been playing since 2018 and these guys have been playing for like two months,” explained Erika Bailey-Johnson. “But to be able to compete and do really well, I think it just speaks to how hard they’ve been working. And so I am super excited to see how they do.”

A decision still hasn’t been made if Bemidji will have boys volleyball when it becomes a sanctioned MSHSL activity next season. But there is hope the hype of a state tournament berth and the support of the community will be enough to keep the team.

“I tried basketball, soccer, all those, and nothing really clicked,” said Weiss Sutton. “But I’ve really enjoyed volleyball. This is my sport. I mean, nothing gives me…” he paused, “it’s just an incredible feeling and I hope that we get a lot of support. That we can spread to more programs so that the middle school can have something. So then freshmen coming in have something to look into.”

“I hope that they continue to be strong,” added Anderson. “I know that a lot of seniors are leaving this year, so hope that we get new people next year and I’m going to come watch the games. I’m super excited about it.”

Bemidji’s bid for a title will have to go through top seed Shakopee in the first-round. This years state tournament will be held in Shakopee over two days and is run by the MN Boys High School Volleyball Association.