Brooklyn Park’s Prairie Seeds Academy and Park Center High School met last week in a boys volleyball game. Park Center won the April 12 game 3-1, as both teams kicked off boys volleyball’s MSHSL-emerging sport season ahead of full integration next school year.
The two teams played one game each earlier in the week, with Prairie Seeds Academy beating Southwest 3-0 on April 9, before Park Center lost a tight five-set game 3-2 to Hmong College Prep Academy. Those results set up a battle in Brooklyn Park between the Lycans and the Pirates.
PSA started the first set strong, leading deep into play amid a high energy atmosphere in the Lycans gym packed with fans from both schools. PSA’s Meng Yang was a deciding force for the Lycans, helping them along. Park Center found a response late, completing a comeback to win the set 25-21 with major imput from libero Austin Kue, Titus Lee, Moua Teng, and Koua Chang.
The Lycans came narrowly short of winning the first set and responded in the second with a 25-22 win to make it 1-1. PSA’s Sean Yang provided deadly serves in set two, while Tydus Xiong was key in his role setting up hits for the Lycans. Kamryn Yang and Ko Mong Vang contributed several kills each.
Park Center found a strong response in set three, winning 25-17 with a strong showing from Kue. Alan Intanavong and Koua Chang took turns with key serves as well, scoring multiple aces.
With a chance to secure the win in hand, Park Center entered set four with intent. PSA was prepared, however, and the fourth set was perhaps the most eventful yet. The Pirates were dangerous at the net, while PSA’s Ko Mong Vang made it an entertaining matchup with several blocks.
Park Center led the early portion of the set, but PSA roared back into the action and led for a considerable period. Park Center caught up, but trailed by one to two points as both teams headed toward the precious 25 mark. Lee capped off a brilliant run from the Pirates to earn a kill and win the whole thing for Park Center, clinching set four 25-23.
Park Center head coach Michelle Phen told the Sun Post that she’s excited to see how much her group has grown over the last few years, with a team that combines youth and experience.
“It’s exciting because I see a lot of things that we’ve been building for the last two years I’ve had some of these guys and each year they grow,” Phen said. “The boys do a great job of staying disciplined and knowing how to react to last year, where we had a couple of losses that should have been wins and that was detrimental to us qualifying for state. They come to every practice. They put in the work.”
Phen noted that the mission of improving on last year is a big one for Park Center and that good performances in early non-conference action paint a positive picture for the upcoming conference schedule.
“It’s definitely one of our goals to make that state run this year. These guys are so experienced and it makes my job easier and more fun. Being able to pull out games like today proves to them that they can do it and it’ll help them be prepared for our conference teams.”
Park Center boys volleyball played one game the next week, hosting the Mound/Orono/Waconia co-op April 16, after this edition went to press.
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