2025 Sabers Boys’ Volleyball Making History as Inaugural Season Gets Underway
By Bill Schleper
It’s history in the making! After 7 years as a club team, the Shakopee High School Boys’ Volleyball Team is now one of 87 Minnesota high schools officially participating as a Minnesota State High School League-sanctioned sport, following the long-awaited approval by the MSHSL in 2023—making 2025 the inaugural season for Minnesota high school boys’ volleyball!
Coming off 2024 as the MSHSL Emerging Sport year as state champions in boys’ volleyball, the Sabers have much to learn and much to prove after losing a whopping nine seniors from last season’s championship team. Varsity Coach Krista Flemming admits that the Sabers “have lots of room for players to step into new roles and carry out our strong volleyball tradition,” as there are just two returning starters from last season’s team. But Flemming has confidence and determination—much like she and colleague Jenny Kilkelly had seven years ago when they set out to make boys’ volleyball a sanctioned sport in the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). It took time, but they got it done! And seven years later, 2025 will be a historic year for thousands of high school boys—many of whom never participated in extracurricular activities until this sport was introduced at the high school level in Minnesota.
Last season, the Sabers ended the “Emerging Sport” volleyball season as state champions! But with nine seniors from that team now graduated, 2025 senior Dom Tor and junior Grant Menke will be relied upon to furnish the experience and leadership for an inexperienced yet talented new group of teammates—who will try to follow in the footsteps of their state champion predecessors from 2024—a team that was also coached by Flemming.
In this inaugural season, the Sabers will have just four seniors—Dom Tor, Tayzen Keomalaythong, Son Huynh, and Anthony Daoheuang—with Keomalaythong coming off a recent shoulder surgery. Still, “He puts up a strong block and contributes leadership intangibles to the team,” according to Flemming. Menke, Keomalaythong, and Tor will serve as the 2025 Sabers’ captains during this historic inaugural season of the newly sanctioned boys’ volleyball team in Shakopee.
Although relatively inexperienced as starters, the Sabers opened the season ranked #10 in the state in the preseason coaches’ poll and have already climbed to #7 since the season opened just two weeks ago. Not bad when you consider there are 87 Minnesota schools participating with teams in the single-class sport!
Currently, the varsity is 3-1 after opening the season by defeating Chaska/Chanhassen 3-0 and Rochester Mayo 3-1. The Sabers took it on the chin against #1-ranked Eden Prairie but still managed to take a set over the top team in Minnesota, losing 1-3 in that match. The Sabers bounced right back this past Friday evening by defeating Bloomington Jefferson in a closely fought match, 3-2. Prior to the match, the Sabers honored last season’s senior players who paved the way for this year’s team. The Sabers captured game one by a score of 25-20 after several ties and lead changes throughout. Jefferson came back with a fierce 25-17 victory over the Sabers in game two, with the Sabers again capturing the third. Jefferson wouldn’t go down in the fourth in another close one, 25-22, tying the match at 2-2. That brought things down to a deciding fifth set. The game was no different than the first four. Sabers up 7-6, then tied 7-7, down 7-8, tied 8-8, back up 9-8, then tied 9-9. Finally, the Sabers pounded out two consecutive points to stretch the lead to 11-9. Timeout, Jefferson—but the Sabers were done messing around. After a missed serve coming out of the timeout by the Jaguars, senior Alex Magin came up with a HUGE block that ignited the hometown crowd and brought them to their feet. Then, with the Sabers up 13-10, a pair of powerful kills that sounded like a timpani drum were pounded down to the floor by junior Cruz Butterfass—which sealed the deal and secured the victory for the Sabers in the fifth and final set, 15-10.
Following the match, Coach Flemming was visibly proud of her young team, stating, “We are really learning how to work together as a mostly new team on the court this year. There are guys learning to work through the nerves with starting positions, and they are doing a great job—especially starting off ranked in the Top 10.” Flemming went on to say, “We are working especially hard on improving our serve receive passing and getting to balls defensively. These components are coming along each match, but [they’re] critical for us to see a deep run in tournaments and playoffs.”
Flemming was also quick to point out some outstanding performances during the first few matches of the season:
Dom Tor and Grant Menke stepped up as returning starters and leaders in the team’s opening night win at Chaska.
Son Huynh was key with a solid performance in the middle, with 3 blocks, 7 kills, and 6 ace serves.
Ricky Teng hit .300 with a team high of 11 kills against the number-one-ranked Eden Prairie team.
Alex Magin had 10 kills, hit .529, and put up many block stops with his 6’7” presence in the five-set thriller win over Jefferson.
This will be a historic season, with no shortage of excitement and good volleyball. It’s a new era in Minnesota high school sports, and you won’t want to miss a single point!
Visit the Shakopee Volleyball website for the 2025 season schedule, Booster Club info, volunteer opportunities, summer programs, girls’ volleyball, and much more.
