Watertown escapes with victory against Tigers

SIOUX FALLS —As first round state tournament matches go, this was a classic.
The fifth-seeded Huron Tigers fought back from a 2-1 set deficit to force a fourth set, persevered in that set to force a fifth and deciding set and withstood 10 ties and seven lead changes, but ultimately fell just short of the win, falling to the No. 4 Watertown Arrows 25-14, 21-25, 25-19, 24-26 and 19-17 in the first round of the Class “AA” State volleyball tournament Thursday afternoon.
“I am so, so elated and extremely sad at the same time,” said Huron coach Shelly Buddenhagen moments after the match. “We played so well today, and it came down to just a couple of points, and the ball didn’t bounce our way at those times.”
The Arrows had taken both previous meetings between the two clubs this season, halting Huron’s 4-0 start with a 3-1 win for Watertown in late August, then coming into Huron Arena and sweeping the Tigers in a match that clinched the ESD title for the Arrows in the middle of October.
It was that October Watertown team that showed up in the first set, as the Arrows sprinted to an early lead and increased it throughout for a 25-14 win.
Set two set the tone for the remainder of the match, as the teams played very closely throughout. A 5-0 run for the Tigers, keyed by a pair of Kylie Overbay aces, as well as kills from Alaina Dale and Libby Rounds staked Huron to its largest lead of the set, at 15-9. Watertown came back, as Meghan Heggelund and Sophie Tietz drew the Arrows to within a point, at 15-14, be for Huron went on a little 6-1 spree. Hollee Niehus got things rolling with a kill down the line, Dale smacked an ace serve of the Arrows’ back row, Mikena Moore split the Watertown defense with a kill, then Tenley Buddenhagen slipped a quick set past the Arrow’s formidable front line and then caught the defense napping with an ace serve.
Watertown got the margin down to two points - at 22-20 - but Huron closed out the set with a kill by Niehus, to tie the match.
Set three was a back-and-forth struggle to the midway point, when back-to-back errors by the Tigers gave Watertown a 14-11 lead. After a Huron timeout, the Arrows increased their lead, owning a seven-point margin at one point and cruising to the 25-19 win.
With their backs against the wall, Huron built a lead in the fourth set. Isabell Ford had two aces, Tenley Buddenhagen added an ace and both Niehus and Dale contributed kills to take the Tigers to an 8-5 lead. Huron was not able to put the Arrows away, but did maintain the lead, with solid play from Dale, Tenley Buddenhagen and Moore. A Niehus ace serve gave Huron its largest lead of the set, at 20-14.
The Arrows chipped away and after a kill and a block-kill from Mckenzie Buisker, Watertown tied the score at 22-all. Watertown gave up two points on errors, putting Huron at match point, then pulled even on kills by Heggelund and Tietz.

But Huron regrouped, getting a kill from Moore for set point and then ending the match on a slicing Niehus kill to set the match to its fifth set.
The fifth set saw both teams throw haymakers from the initial tip. Huron fell behind 7-4 on a hitting error and a kill by Mariah Gloe, but allowed Huron back into the match with hitting errors and infractions. With the score tied at 12, back-to-back errors put Watertown at match point.
But the Huron front-line defense came to life, as the Tigers scored three straight points on block kills, as a combination of Alaina Dale, Emily Dale and Niehus thwarted every Arrow kill effort, and forged a 15-14 Huron lead. A block from the Dale sisters put Huron up 17-16, but a Gloe kill knotted the score again, and then two straight Huron kill attempts floated just wide.
“We told the girls coming in that if you do everything that you can to win, but don’t come out on top, you can walk away with your head held high,” coach Buddenhagen said. “We did that tonight, and I am so very proud of these girls.”
For the match, Niehus ended with 22 kills, Alaina Dale added eight and Moore chipped in seven. Tenley Buddenhagen had 34 set assists in the match and added two aces. Ford ended with two aces and Overbay had three, while Havyn Heinz led the defense with 29 kills.
Watertown got 18 kills from Gloe and 15 from Tietz in the match, while Heggelund chipped in nine. Annie Norberg had 25 set assists, and both Gloe and Tayler Corey contributed 20 digs.
“We came in here as underdogs and we knew that,” coach Buddenhagen said. “So we were able to go out relaxed and just play. We fought hard, we fought really hard but the volleyball gods weren’t smiling on us. Still, I firmly believe that this was our best match of the season and, honestly, now is the time that you want to be playing your best.”
Watertown will move into the championship round today, facing top-seeded Rapid City Stevens, while Huron will take on Brookings in the consolation semifinals at noon.
“I told the girls right after the match that we’re going to take a few hours to be sad about this match,” coach Buddenhagen said. “We played our hearts out, but we have to come back ready to play Friday against Brookings and win that one.”

Watertown     25  21  25  24  19
Huron     14  25  19  26  17

Statistics
Hitting: W — Mariah Gloe 18 kills; Sophie Tietz 15 kills; Meghan Heggelund 9 kills. H — Hollee Niehus 22 kills; Alaina Dale 8 kills; Mikena Moore 6 kills.
Serving: W — Mariah Gloe 3 aces; Mckenzie Buisker 1 ace. H — Kylie Overbay 3 aces; Tenley Buddenhagen 2 aces; Isabell Ford 2 aces.
Setting: W — Annie Nordberg 25 assists; Alexx Bayles 18 assists. H — Tenley Buddenhagen 34 assists.
Digs: W — Tayler Corey 20; Mariah Gloe 20; Siri Kranz 14; Alexx Bayles 13. H — Havyn Heinz 29; Hollee Niehus 13; Tenley Buddenhagen 12.
Blocks: W — Sophie Tietz 8; Mckenzie Buisker 6. H — Emily Dale 7; Hollee Niehus 7.