Milan Mader Invitational is Friday, Saturday
The volleyball tournament Milan Mader started four decades ago now will bear his name.
Lakeville North High School’s 39th annual tournament has been re-christened the Milan Mader Invitational, honoring the man who created the event and also led Lakeville and Lakeville North teams to 806 victories and 15 state tournament appearances. Mader, who taught and coached in Lakeville for 34 years and is in seven different athletic halls of fame, died in April 2022 at age 83.
The 2024 tournament will have 16 varsity and 16 junior varsity teams playing Friday and Saturday at Lakeville North and McGuire Middle School. The varsity field includes the top four teams in this week’s state Class 4A rankings – Champlin Park, Lakeville South, Lakeville North and Eagan – plus the second- and third-ranked teams in Class 3A, Marshall and Northfield.
Naming the tournament after Mader might seem automatic, but in reality it wasn’t that simple because the event already had a name. Mader named it the Todd L. Bachman Invitational in 2008 following Bachman’s death at the Beijing Olympics, where he was watching his daughter Elisabeth – the best high school player in Lakeville history – compete for the U.S. women’s national team.
Current Lakeville North head volleyball coach Jackie Richter said she had discussions with her assistant coaches last winter about ways to integrate Mader’s name into the tournament activities. But then members of the Bachman family, who also revered Mader, approached Richter and suggested the name change. It was done during a meeting with Barbara Bachman (Todd’s wife), Elisabeth Bachman (known to the Lakeville community and beyond as “Wiz”) and Marie Mader (Milan’s wife).
“It was very special to be part of that meeting,” Richter said. “I felt like it was a God-driven decision.”
Members of both families will be recognized at this year’s tournament, and Richter said she’s hopeful both families will continue to be involved in the tournament in the future.
Champlin Park, Lakeville South, Lakeville North and Eagan were semifinalists at the Eagle Invitational in Apple Valley in September, with Champlin Park winning. North took first at the Southwest Minnesota Challenge in Marshall in early September. Eagan won the Shakopee Invitational. Lakeville South leads the South Suburban Conference and has defeated North and Eagan in conference play.
Richter said the host Panthers realize they need to be ready for a tough weekend.
“Our practices have been very challenging,” Richter said Tuesday morning. “We know we’ll have a tough match with Eagan (which North won in three sets Tuesday), and that will continue this weekend. The players have been coming into practice enthusiastic and ready to improve.”
October Classic
Apple Valley holds three weekend regular-season tournaments each season. The last of the three is the October Classic, which will be Friday and Saturday.
Longtime state power Stewartville is in the 14-team field and is 14-3 this season. Apple Valley and Farmington represent the South Suburban Conference. Other Class 4A teams entered are Anoka, Blaine, Centennial and Minneapolis Southwest.
Twin Cities Challenge
The Twin Cities Challenge tournament, co-sponsored by Burnsville and Eastview high schools, held its second edition last weekend. Belle Plaine won the 28-team varsity tourney, defeating Eastview 25-20, 25-18 in the championship match Saturday at Burnsville High.
Belle Plaine, ranked first in Class 2A, won all 10 sets it played in the tournament, including a 25-22, 25-16 victory over Burnsville in the semifinals.
Eastview, 12-15 overall, went 4-1 in the Twin Cities Challenge, with the victories coming against St. Agnes, Jackson County Central, Cannon Falls and Centennial. The matches against JCC and Centennial went to a third set in the best-of-three format.
Lacey Kusnier-Dancer had 10 kills and Josie Richter 23 assists in the Lightning’s 25-22, 19-25, 15-7 victory over Centennial in the semifinals.
Burnsville (9-18 overall) defeated Twin Cities Academy, Pine-River Backus and Rosemount in the first three rounds of the tournament, fell to Belle Plaine in the semifinals, then defeated Centennial 21-25, 26-24, 15-13 for third place.
Senior outside hitter Mesaiya Bettis had a match-high 25 kills against Centennial, and Katie Murray had 21 assists.
Rosemount (11-10) won four of five matches at the tournament and placed fifth. The Irish defeated Forest Lake and Chatfield before losing to Burnsville in the Gold bracket quarterfinals. They finished the tournament with straight-set victories over Owatonna and Cannon Falls.
Mike Shaughnessy can be reached at mike.shaughnessy@apgecm.com.
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