ST. PAUL — A scrappy effort put forth by sixth-seeded Esko proved not enough to take down No. 3 seed Chatfield in the Class AA state quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Gophers–making their second straight appearance at the state tournament—powered through a second-set loss to win the next two and ultimately the match in a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 25-14) final.

Esko head coach Pete Stasiuk acknowledged their inexperience on the big stage at Grand Casino Arena hindered them early on in the match.

“I think in the first game we battled a few jitters,” said Stasiuk. “We didn’t quite make the plays that we’d like to. The second game we came out, and we were just a little bit more relaxed and just played hard…”

Chatfield entered the contest with wins in 15 of its last 16 matches, creating a high

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