ST. PAUL — Grand Rapids was unable to withstand aggressive serving and offense from Benilde-St. Margaret’s on Wednesday, leading to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 26-24) loss in the state Class AAA volleyball quarterfinals at Grand Casino Arena.

The second-seeded Red Knights had a .252 hitting percentage and 19 more kills than the seventh-seeded Thunderhawks and finished with four times as many aces, 8-2, though at the expense of 11 service errors.

The Thunderhawks, making their fourth state tournament appearance in the last five years, got off to an early 3-1 lead in set one but gave up six points in a row and stayed behind for good. The Red Knights had a hitting percentage of .516, with 18 kills and just two attack errors on 31 attempts.

Rapids trailed for most of set two as well, but was close

See Full Page