Royal Court: Rogers High Volleyball Hopes Sensational Start Leads to Golden Finish
It’s not necessary for a program that’s captured three straight Section Championships and top five finishes at the State 4A level to make an announcement to start the season, but Rogers High School did just that, opening the 2024 campaign with a convincing win over Wayzata, the perennial state power in the sport.
Since then, there’s been no mistaking the situation - the Royals aren’t a “surprise” to anyone, anymore. They’re among the queens of the court.
“We knew they didn’t have the lineup that they usually have, but it was important to us to show that we could do that (beat them). They’ve been the standard, lately. And we wanted to meet that standard,” said head coach Bo Schmidt. “It was a great opportunity for us to get a win from them, and to get that was just a boost to show us what we can do.”
The Royals parlayed that 3-1 win, which was on the Trojans’ home floor, to 20 straight wins, including a 3-1 performance at St. Michael-Albertville and a 3-2 thriller at Maple Grove.
The success hasn’t just been at the varsity level. At one point, the Royal volleyball teams were a combined 73-4. To say Schmidt and his seniors have built a “culture” of winning wouldn’t be an understatement for a program that has finished fourth twice and consolation champs at state over the past three years.
“It really starts by everyone being together, working together,” said senior Anya Schmidt, co-captain and floor ‘general,’ said. “We start practice as a group every night. We attend each other’s games. If it’s a 9B game you’ll see all the girls there watching and cheering. The more support you feel the more you’re going to want to be part of the program.”
“It’s better when we’re all seeing success,” said senior Megan Murray, a middle hitter for the Royals. “They see what it takes to get to the level where we want to be. When they get to the varsity level they know the standard.”
“It’s a family environment,” Bo, who coaches both of his daughters in the program, said. “That just encourages everyone to take it to that next level because you don’t want your family to have something on you. I mean, really, the success has been amazing. And we’re proud of what we’ve built here.”
Captains Claire Larson, Schmidt and Murray are an example of buying into that culture. Anya has been part of the varsity program since she was in Grade 8, riding with the past three teams that went to state - now serving as a senior leader. But as the dynamic changes with new faces each year, the culture doesn’t, Bo said. Leadership means hard work, supporting each other and lifting each other up.
“They’ll be here [the seniors] right after school helping set up nets, get out balls and getting things ready to go for all practices, not just varsity. They show the way,” Bo said. “It’s not the easiest thing, but they were the younger kids showing up getting led by the older kids a few years ago. Now, they’ve bought into it and are leading by example.”
From here, the competition only gets tougher. There have been bumps - a more experienced Wayzata team exacted some revenge in a 3-set win at the St. Michael-Albertville Showcase tournament. Champlin Park - the top team in the state - also handed Rogers a close 3-1 defeat in the conference championship. But it’s Section Tournament time, which means another shot at getting back to success and, maybe, lifting a trophy.
“We’ve been close,” Anya said. “We’re here. We’re not coming out of the blue and making [the] state [tournament] with some upsets. People can see that we’re here to play, and that we can win. There might be more pressure with that, but we’re ready for it.”
“We’re not done,” Larson said. “We have more we want to accomplish.”
The Section 8-4A Tournament will start later this month. The State AAAA Girls’ Volleyball Tournament will be Nov. 6 through Nov. 9 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.