Caledonia High School volleyball coach Dan Reinhart likes to challenge his team.
So when the Warriors rolled into a two-day invitational at Lakeville North a couple of weeks ago, he was excited about the learning opportunity that awaited.
Caledonia (23-5), which enters the MSHSL postseason ranked fifth among Class AA teams by the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association, won three of five matches against bigger schools that weekend.
“The girls did a great job of managing the stress,” Reinhart said. “We were playing (AAA and AAAA) schools, and the goal is to try and get better, not just win games.
“But we got some bumps and bruises up there.”
The goal Thursday night is to win, and the obstacle presented is 16th-seeded Lake City in the first round of the MSHSL Section 1AA tournament. The match begins at 7 p.m.
Caledonia closed out that invitational in Lakeville with a two-set loss to Lakeville South, which is 25-3 and ranked third in Class AAAA.
It came back home and took care of business with sweeps of Wabasha-Kellogg and Byron to close out the regular season, and Reinhart thinks the proper mindset for elimination matches is there.
The Warriors went unbeaten in the Three Rivers Conference and are two years removed from playing in the state tournament. After spending one season transitioning to the style of Reinhart as he took over the program, they are back in contention for a state spot.
Fourth-ranked Chatfield (21-6) — last year’s Section 1AA champ — is the top seed on the other side of the bracket. The Warriors swept the Gophers in their conference match on Sept. 9.
A win over Lake City means a quarterfinal match against either-eighth-seeded Rushford-Peterson or ninth-seeded Dover-Eyota on Monday at the Rochester Mayo Civic Arena.
Reinhart knew this was a team that could contend in the conference and beyond back when the season began. But there have been some teaks and different points of emphasis to make while the team piled up victories.
That involved a continuation of players understanding his coaching style, which direct and honest.
“It’s important that they realize that I’m not judging them for what they do, just trying to help,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure they know what they are doing, and I need them to be honest with me if they don’t, so I can do that.
“It’s my second year, and I think they are understanding that more. They are fun to coach, and people tell me they are a fun team to watch, and that’s what we want.”
One area of improvement Reinhart said he has seen is the growing volleyball camaraderie between junior setter Avery Augedahl and Caledonia hitters. Finding a groove together within a system takes time, especially among the depth the Warriors have.
Setters for some teams are looking continuously for one or two hitters, but not Augedahl.
Whether it’s junior Elsa Blum, senior Kelsey King, freshman Ashlynn Reinhart, junior Adrienne Lange or senior Paizley Lange, Augedahl has to have the right delivery and touch.
“I wish I had time to sit down with the stats and figure out our attack in the first half of the season versus the second half,” Reinhart said. “Avery’s done a good job of understanding the best set to give our attackers the best opportunity (at the net).
“That’s something we try to make her aware of, and she’s doing a great job of applying that.”
Blum leads the attack with 224 kills, or 2.9 per game. Reinhart has 207 (2.7 per game), King 164 (2.1) and Adrienne Lange 112 (1.5). Paizley Lange has 88 (1.1) from the right side. King has the top kill efficiency among the heavy lifters with a .245.
“Elsa had a couple of matches with 14 and 15 kills late in the season,” Reinhart said. “She’s find a real groove, and Paizley Lange has been great on the right side.
“All of the girls are doing a better job as we go.”
He has seen similar improvement in serve-receive, learning better angles on attacks and the attempt to take away portions of the courts from attackers. Again, Reinhart can go back to the invitational at Lakeville for the explanation.
“I thought we got a lot better in first-level blocking and digging while we were there,” he said. “And the servers up in Lakeville were all good, so with serve-receive we need to keep Avery efficient off of that and spreading the ball around.
Augedahl is averaging 8.9 assists per game, ranks third on the team with 22.5 blocks and fourth with 2.2 digs per game.
Senior Aubrie Klug tops the Warriors with 5.8 digs per game. Reinhart averages 2.6 digs and leads the team with 71 service aces. King leads the Warriors with 51 blocks.
