FT. PIERRE The top-seeded Miller Rustlers made short work of the Lakota Tech Tatanka Thursday at Stanley County High School with a 25-11, 25-11, and 25-10 sweep to earn a spot in the Class A State Volleyball Tournament.
Gracen Werdel slammed down a kill for the first point of the first set, and that hitting would be a theme for the first set. Kate Lichty went back to serve for Miller and the Rustlers went on a run that eventually got to 16-6 before Rustler hitting errors gave the Tatanka their longest run of the first set to get to 16-9.
Thats when Lichty went back for her second serve rotation at 21-11, and the 18th kill of the first set for Miller ended the first set at 25-11.
A service ace by Jolie Palmer opened the second set, and Miller built an 8-2 lead, but hitting errors and passing struggles led to a Tatanka run to get within 9-7.
Lichty stepped back to serve and the Rustlers went on an eight-point run to open up a 17-7 lead. Aleah Schlechter took over serving and nailed a pair of aces to make it 23-9. A few points exchanged back and forth led to a service error that ended the set at 25-11.
The third set opened with a service error by each team. Millers hitting then keyed another long run, with only hitting errors interrupting consecutive scoring. A Paige Werdel kill made it 17-7, the first 10-point lead, but the run for Miller continued to 20-7 before a Lakota Tech timeout.
Olivia Resel stepped back and served up an ace while getting the Rustlers one away from match point. The Tatanka got the serve back, but Lichty slammed down an overpass in the middle of the net for match point, with a 25-10 third-set victory.
The Rustlers move to 28-1 with the win
Lakota Tech finishes the year 22-13.
The Rustlers will be the top seed in the Class A tournament, with their first game set for Thursday, Nov. 21, at 11 a.m.
Leave a Reply