Showing good form, Meredith Sutton bumps the volleyball at one of the Minnesota North practices that are held several times a week in Duluth. Minnesota North is made up of area all-star volleyball players who compete in tournaments. Sutton was recently voted All-American by coaches at the AAU National tournament held in Florida.
Cook County High School junior-to-be Meredith Sutton led the Duluth-based Minnesota North volleyball team to a third place finish at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Nationals in Orlando, Florida.
The tournament was played June 23-26 and featured competition between 101 AAU clubs from all parts of the country. Minnesota North finished 8-2 in the tournament, losing to the eventual national champion in the semi-finals.
Minnesota North is made up of area all-star players and is coached by University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) assistant volleyball coach Christyn May and UMD graduate assistant Kate Lange.
Joining Sutton on the roster is another strong CCHS player, Raina Ryden, who will also be a junior this fall. Other players hail from Grand Rapids, Virginia, Hermantown, Duluth Marshall and Lakeview Christian Academy.
Of Ryden, Coach May said, “She is awesome. She subs in on the back row for us and does a tremendous job of serving. She is a hard worker and has a great attitude and is a pleasure to coach.”
Sutton, a hard-hitting front line player and great all-around back court player earned All- American honors for her play at the National Championships. Her teammate, Lexi Aherns of Virginia, Minnesota, was also named All-American.
As a sophomore at CCHS Meredith earned first team Polar League All-Conference honors and was named All-State Honorable Mention.
May said that statistics weren’t kept at the tournament, so there was no way to know how many kills, blocks, aces, assists etc. a player had, but head coaches nominated one or two players from the teams that made the semi-finals for All American honors and those selections were then voted on by all of the coaches.
“I have been coaching Minnesota North for so many years I can’t remember,” said May. “And this is the best finish we have ever had at nationals.”
Tryouts for Duluth North were held in November and the team played in four nationally ranked tournaments, finishing in the top 10 of all of those events, said May.
As for Meredith, May had this to say about her, “Meredith has been an incredible leader both on and off of the court. She has the ability to turn it on and put our team on her back when we need her the most. She’s a huge part of what we do. She is surrounded by a good group of players and she is always upbeat and cheers her teammates on.
“In the front row she is an incredible blocker and a strong offensive player. She is equally as good in the back row, setting plays and serving.
“Meredith is a very natural player who is also very dedicated and works very hard. Throughout the year she has shown a lot of dedication by making that long drive to Duluth to attend practice two to three days a week. Meredith has a very special future in volleyball. Given the right coaching and right college, she will go far.”
Meredith is the daughter of Kevin and Jen Sutton of Grand Marais.
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