ROCHESTER — The Hayfield volleyball team overcame a major obstacle when it shocked the No. 1 ranked team in Class A to move within one win of its first state volleyball tournament in school history in Mayo Civic Center Thursday.

After being knocked off by Faribault Bethlehem Academy in each of the past four seasons, the Vikings finally turned the table and unseated the top-ranked Cardinals by scores of 18-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-23 in a Section 1A West championship.

“I’ve never been so happy in my life,” said Hayfield junior hitter Carrie Rutledge, who piled on 20 kills and 31 digs. “It’s such a great feeling. It’s a great moment for all of us.”

Hayfield (24-5 overall) put the finishing touches on a historic night when Kate Kruger, who had 11 kills, pounded down the match’s final kill to give the Vikings the win. Hayfield had to fight for every point in the second set when Maggie Streightiff, who had 14 kills and 30 set assists, hammered down a key kill to make it 25-24.

Hayfield head coach Jeremy Struck said it was a great feeling to finally get past FBA (21-8 overall) in the postseason.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Struck said. “We’ve had a lot of red ribbons on our necks. An opportunity presented itself. We had a balanced attack, an even keeled team and we knew we could do it.”

Hayfield was on its heels in the first set, but it was able to adjust and start controlling the pace in the last three sets. The Vikings were able to shut down FBA’s tip attacks and Hayfield dominated the action in the middle of the net.

“We knew they were going to come out very strong,” Streightiff said. “We knew they were going to be tipping a lot so we just kind of had to watch that.”

Once the Vikings got into their offense they started to look comfortable on the big stage, but senior libero Anna Carney, who had 23 digs, said the team never got too relaxed.

“I think we knew they were number one in that first game,” Carney said. “But once we started winning, we knew we could play with them.”

Hayfield will now play for its first trip to the Minnesota Class A State Volleyball Tournament in school history when it plays Caledonia (26-5 overall) in the Section 1A volleyball finals in Mayo Civic Center in Rochester 1 p.m. Saturday.

“Caledonia is no easy one,” Struck said. “They have big hitters, they have great blockers and they have a balanced attack.”

Hayfield stats: Carrie Rutledge, 20 kills, 31 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace; Maggie Streightiff, 14 kills, 30 assists, 23 digs, 2 blocks; Kate Kruger, 11 kills, 9 digs, 6 blocks; Emily Sprau 7 kills, 2 assists, 2 blocks; Olivia Matti, 7 kills, 1 assist, 18 digs; Alexis Dudycha, 1 kill, 30 assists, 10 digs, Katrina Thoe, 3 kills, 6 blocks; Anna Carney, 23 digs