SALEM The Wolsey-Wessington Lady Warbirds came into the SoDak 16 matchup with the Gayville-Volin Raiders knowing this would be a tough matchup after the two teams squared off during last years Class B state tourney. With only one of the two going to return to the tournament, the teams played a spirited five-set match, with Gayville-Volin coming out on top Tuesday 3-2 at McCook Central High School in Salem.
Set scores for the Raiders were 21-25, 27-25, 25-27, 25-20, and 21-19.
Wolsey-Wessington scored the first point of the match on a hitting error by the Raiders and held a steady three to five point lead through most of the first set until a run brought it to 20-18 and drew a Warbird timeout.
The Lady Warbirds hitting took over the net out of the timeout and an ace by Shae Uttecht closed out the first set 25-21 for W-W.
The Raiders jumped out early to a 6-2 lead in the second set before the Warbirds called a timeout. Wolsey-Wessington began to chip away at the lead, eventually tying it at 20-19.
After Gayville-Volin scored their 20th point, Wolsey-Wessington went on a five-point run to get to set point at 24-20, but the Raiders were able to score four straight to force extra points. A net violation on the Warbirds gave the Raiders the second set, 27-25.
The Lady Warbirds opened the third set with a service error and a hitting error before Tatum Luce nailed a kill for the first W-W point.
The Raiders held a stead three-point lead through most of the set until a pair of quick points gave them an 18-13 lead and drew a timeout from Wolsey-Wessington.
The Lady Warbirds stormed out of the timeout to get within 18-17, but Gayville-Volin pushed the lead back out to 22-19 before W-W tied the score at 23 all. A Samara Clemente kill ended the set in the Lady Warbirds favor, 27-25.
The two teams played back and forth early on in the fourth set before the Raiders capitalized on a pair of Warbird hitting errors to push the lead to 20-17, drawing a Warbird timeout.
The Raiders got to set point at 24-17 before the Lady Warbirds stormed back, but a net violation again ended the match for the Birds, with Gayville-Volin forcing the fifth set with a 25-20 set win.
The two teams went back and forth throughout the fifth set. The Lady Warbirds worked to match point at 14-12, drawing a Raider timeout, but then Gayville-Volin scored three straight, and the race for a two-point margin was on.
Finally, Raider leading hitter Maia Achen nailed a kill to give the Raiders the 21-19 set victory and the match win.
The Raiders move to 29-4 and move on to the Class B state tournament, which begins Nov. 21 in Sioux Falls.
Wolsey-Wessingtons season ends at 24-8.
Leave a Reply