ST. PAUL — For the Hawley Nuggets, about the only thing that felt different at this year’s state Class AA volleyball tournament was the name of the venue.

It’s Grand Casino Arena these days instead of the Xcel Energy Center.

The New London-Spicer Wildcats had a similar familiarity level, but Thursday it didn’t seem to translate as well.

Hawley is the defending state champion and the Nuggets definitely looked the part against the underdog Wildcats, beating NLS 25-18, 25-18, 25-15 in the state Class AA quarterfinals.

“I think we played really well together,” said Nuggets senior Sella Fleming, who had 29 set assists along with eight kills, most of them of the off-speed variety, catching NLS’ block off guard. “We stayed energetic the whole time and just had fun, and (did) what we do.”

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