MELLETTE The Hitchcock-Tulare Lady Patriots, ranked third in the state, followed the lead of senior Katelyn Schroeders hard hitting to punch their ticket to the South Dakota Class B State Volleyball tournament with a sweep of the Herreid/Selby Area Wolverines Tuesday at Northwestern High School.
Set scores for the Lady Patriots, now 31-2, were 25-17, 25-22, and 25-21.
A Schroeder kill opened the first set. The Lady Patriots worked the lead to 10-6 before the Wolverines closed it within 11-10.
Hitchcock-Tulare followed strong passing to push the lead out to 19-14, and a Rebecca Huizenga kill closed the first set for H-T at 25-17.
Schroeder again opened the set with a kill in the second set. This set, the Wolverines used Hitchcock-Tulare errors to push out a lead to 12-8 over the Patriots, who then called a timeout.
Coming out of the break, the Lady Pats went on a run and reclaimed the lead on a Herreid/Selby Area hitting error at 16-15. The two teams would play tight from that point, with a Schroeder kill ending the second set at 25-22.
Again, Schroeder opened the scoring in the set, though this time it was for the Wolverines as she hit long. The Lady Patriots used a team attack to establish the lead and keep the Wolverines at a distance, eventually working the lead to 18-9 before a Herreid/Selby Area timeout.
The Wolverines made a valiant comeback and forced a Hitchcock-Tulare timeout as they closed within 23-18. Lila Jo Johnson slammed down the match winner to give the Lady Patriots the sweep with a 25-21 third-set win.
Hitchcock-Tulare was led by Schroeder with 21 kills on 42 of 45 hitting. Schroeder also had 17 digs and a pair of aces on 12 of 12 serving.
Lila Johnson had 23 assists while Cambree Hoekman led the defense with 21 digs. Isabel Gilbert had three aces on 16 of 18 serving.
Herreid/Selby Area finishes the year at 18-12. Jordyn Rossow led the Wolverine attack with 10 kills on 35 of 39 hitting. Katie Allbee had 19 assists while Steph Allbee led the defense with 20 digs.
The Lady Patriots will open state tourney play on Thursday at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
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