Hill-Murray Pioneers

Hill-Murray and Holy Angels were clearly the top two volleyball teams in Section 4AA and they met the in finals last week. The match went four sets, two of which were close and the other two not so much. 

The first round of the Section 4AAAA football playoffs turned out to be the end of the 2016 road for North and Tartan. Both teams were on the road in the quarterfinals on Oct. 25 and couldn’t get past a pair of big city foes.

What a week it was for the Hill-Murray athletic department. Three different teams at the private Maplewood school picked up big victories last week. Here’s a rundown.

Girls soccer

The Hill-Murray football team headed into the playoffs a year ago having not won a regular-season game. The Pioneers went on to upset New Life Academy in the quarterfinals for their only victory of the season.

The high school football regular season has reached week eight, which means games on Wednesday because of the teachers’ convention. It also means that teams have one more chance to prepare for the post-season.

Before any of them could have headed off for an MEA-week trip, the North High School boys soccer players had some business to attend to on Oct. 18. The Polars had a state-tournament berth to earn.

The North High School football team was able to earn its first victory of the season and did so on homecoming night. The Polars picked up win No. 1 in a 21-14 victory over Hill-Murray at Polar Field.

The high school boys soccer match between North and St. Thomas Academy on Oct. 6 was expected to be high drama as the two teams appeared destined to meet with the Metro East Conference championship on the line.

The high school soccer regular season has entered its final week. Some teams are spending this week trying to win conference championships while others are using their final games as tune-ups for the post-season.

The top three teams in the East Metro Red District following the week-four slate of high school football games were Mahtomedi, South St. Paul and Park-Cottage Grove.