Girls volleyball 2026: Friday state semifinal scores

The Class AAAA semifinals were Thursday.

Here is a look at Friday's matches. Click on a score to jump to a recap of that match.

Class AAA semifinals

• Benilde-St. Margaret's 3, Stewartville 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-11)
• Marshall 3, Princeton 0 (25-9, 25-22, 25-16)

Class A semifinals

• Minneota vs. Sacred Heart, 1 p.m.
• Fillmore Central vs. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 3 p.m.

Class AA semifinals

• New Life Academy vs. New London-Spicer, 5 p.m.
• Southwest Christian vs. Minnewaska Area, 7 p.m.

Consolation semifinals

• Class AAA: Cretin-Derham Hall 3, Hill-Murray 0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-16)
• Class AAA: Sauk Rapids-Rice 3, Totino-Grace 0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-16)
• Class A: Chisholm vs. Pine River-Backus, 1 p.m.
• Class A: Mayer Lutheran vs. Sleepy Eye St. Mary's, 3 p.m.
• Class AA: Dover-Eyota vs. East Grand Forks, 5 p.m.
• Class AA: Rush City vs. Watertown-Mayer, 7 p.m.

Benilde-St. Margaret's 3, Stewartville 0

• Box score

The Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights have one box left to check. Literally.

"We have this thing in our locker room where we have check-boxes," Benilde-St. Margaret's junior outside hitter Brooke Kinkead said.

Topping the Class AAA bracket at the end of the season is "obviously where we want to be, but that's not where we are right now," she said. "We're really trying to stay focused and be like, OK, this is the next step."

The top-seeded Red Knights (30-3) checked off another box Friday morning with a 25-19, 25-23, 25-11 Class AAA semifinal sweep of No. 5 Stewartville (25-7). Kinkead led three Red Knights in double figures with 15 kills. Sailor Friedly added 13, Avery Minor 10.

Benilde-St. Margaret's will play for a state title the third time, seeking its first crown following runner-up finishes in 2022 and 2025.

"Since probably five minutes after that match, that's been a goal of this group," Benilde-St. Margaret's head coach Michael Becker said of last year's defeat to Marshall in the final.

Serving helped carry the Red Knights back. They totaled nine aces, three apiece from Friedly, Jojo Nguyen and Sela Lynk.

"They served really well, which then made it tough offensively for us to get our middles involved, so we were a little more predictable," Stewartville head coach Sammy Pedersen said.

Stewartville made a big push in the second set. It was 23-23 before back-to-back kills from Sydney and Sailor Friedly kept Benilde-St. Margaret's in control of the match.

Spencer Nagel and Sylvia Heusinkvelt posted seven kills apiece for the Tigers.

Marshall 3, Princeton 0

• Box score

A 25-9 first set could have fooled observers into believing Marshall was about to coast to another appearance in the Class AAA championship match.

But third-seeded Princeton settled in with a 10-4 start to the second set. No. 2 Marshall needed the same effort, focus and intensity that has powered the program to a state-best 10 state championships, including four in the last five seasons.

With the deficit at 10-5, Marshall sophomore Bentley Krull displayed that hustle by chasing a ball into the courtside media table. Junior Chika Nwakama had the wherewithal to send it over the net and a somewhat-rattled Princeton side committed an attack error. It was just one point in Marshall's 25-9, 25-22, 25-16 victory that illustrated why the Tigers are in this position again.

"That might be the most energetic way to get your team going, even maybe more than a big kill," Marshall head coach Dan Westby said.

Krull tallied 13 kills, one of three Marshall players in double figures along with Julia Fahl (14) and Nora Holmgren (11).

Princeton head coach Mary Patnode called Fahl and Holmgren "unbelievable" while complimenting Marshall's passing as a whole.

"They are a well-oiled machine," Patnode said.