MaxPreps Volleyball Tour of Champions celebrates Champlin Park High School

The 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard passed through Minnesota on Friday, December 21 to recognize Champlin Park (Champlin, Minn.) High School and its girls volleyball team for winning a state championship and earning a high national ranking.

Having upended Eagan 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 22-25, 15-12 in the MSHSL Class 3A state championship match, the 32-2 Rebels claimed their first state championship, earned the No. 26 ranking in MaxPreps' National Rankings and played their way into the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Writers' Poll at No. 14!

In its ninth year of honoring girls volleyball, the Tour of Champions and the Minnesota Army National Guard arrived on campus ready to present the nationally acclaimed Army National Guard national ranking trophy to head coach John Yunker and his state championship volleyball team on the winter solstice at halftime of the girls basketball game with Centennial.

In front of a rowdy, screaming hometown crowd, MaxPreps representative Rolf Erdahl congratulated the Rebels, one of just 10 girls volleyball programs being honored by the TOC, on the record setting 32-2 season that resulted in the high national ranking. Erdahl emphasized the historic achievement of winning the school's first state title and reminded the crowd that many players, not just a few superstars, contributed to the success of the season.

Sergeant Jonathan Behrens of the Minnesota Army National Guard, a Champlin Park graduate, was on hand to present the prestigious trophy and a nationally ranked rafter banner to Yunker and the entire girls volleyball team. "It's a very special honor to be one of the few chosen by MaxPreps this year," Yunker said. "Our hard work paid off. We had a lot of depth this year, 4 or 5 hitters had over 200 kills, it's hard to beat that."

Captain Izzy Ashburn, Yunker's setter, spoke about the closeness of her team. "We all love each other off and on the court," she said. "All the girls are hard-working and we had a lot of school support."

"It was a wonderful Fall culmination in a State Championship," added assistant principal for activities Matt Mattson. "We knew this team could come together and we would like to thank MaxPreps and the Minnesota Army National Guard for their recognition."

Congratulations to the Champlin Park girls volleyball Rebels and their amazing, hard-earned and well-deserved state championship! You've made history and cemented your legacy!