By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

The Burnsville volleyball team has one of the best middle blockers in the state in junior Tori Dixon.

But will the team have enough on the outside to contend in the highly-competitive Lake Conference?

The Blaze is coming off a 19-9 season last year under second-year coach Ryan Dehnel (6-4 in the conference). Dehnel put the team back in the Class AAA state polls for the first time since 2003.

Burnsville, ranked No. 10 in the state in preseason poll, is one of four ranked Lake teams.

However, the team lost five seniors and the its best two outside hitters – Bobbie Meier and five-year letterwinner Samantha Pitzl – to graduation last year.

“We’ll have some new players on the outside and some haven’t played out there before,” said Dixon. “We just have to find the right combinations.”

Dixon and junior Molly Duehn make a formidable middle for the Blaze. Dixon is coming off a stellar summer where she was one three Minnesotans on the U.S. Girls Youth National Team that won the gold medal at the NORECA Youth Continental Championships in Puerto Rico.

Dixon also led her 16-1 Mizuno Northern Lights Junior Olympic team to the American Athletic Union national title last June in Chicago.

In her second season on the Blaze varsity, Dixon was selected all-state. The 6-foot-4-inch standout led the Blaze last fall in total kills (399), blocks (71) and ace serves (66).

Meanwhile, Duehn showed some promise as a middle blocker in her first season on the varsity with 27 blocks on the year.

On the outside, the candidates for the Blaze are seniors Lauren Butler and Casi Gries, ninth-grader Ali Butler and sophomores Laura Beckman and Alyssa Michaels. Lauren Butler was a starter as a sophomore, but was more of a part-time player last year. Ali Butler saw limited varsity action a year ago.

“We are going to have a lot of different combinations to start off,” said Dixon. “We need to work on our passing and just running the system.

Junior Abby Olson will be the team’s starting setter with Ali Butler backing her up. Olson started nearly half of the games last year and played behind then-senior Justine Munger, finishing with 304 setting assists and 11 ace serves.

Senior Steph McCullum is returning as the Blaze’s top defensive specialist, while ninth-grader Camille Benson also figures into that role.

The Blaze open the season on Thursday, Aug. 21 when it plays at Prior Lake in a non-conference match at 7 p.m.  

Burnsville will be at Holy Angels on Thursday, Aug. 28 for a second non-conference match, before opening the Lake Conference season on Sept. 2 at home against perennial power and No. 1 Chaska. Both matches are at 7 p.m.