SIOUX FALLS A magical run for the Hitchcock-Tulare Lady Patriots came to a disappointing end Saturday, as the Burke Lady Cougars swept the Lady Pats in straight sets to take third place in the Class B State Volleyball Tournament held at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
Burke moves to 35-4 with set scores of 25-19, 25-21, and 25-16.
The Lady Cougars jumped out to a quick lead behind the hitting of Paige Bull and Kailee Frank, who each put down two kills as Burke jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The Lady Patriots followed a block by Cora Hofer and Isabel Gilbert to stop the run and got back within one at 10-9 after a Burke hitting error.
Hitting errors plagued the Lady Patriots to open the first set, with a pair of hitting errors and a Paige Bull kill quickly given Burke back a 13-9 lead, and the Lady Patriots would never get closer than three the rest of the way. A service error by Hitchcock-Tulare put the final point on the scoreboard for a 25-19 victory for Burke.
It was Hitchcock-Tulares turn to come out fast in the second set, as Katelyn Schroeder had the first three points, and after a pair of kills from Ella Johnson and Rebecca Huizenga, the Lady Patriots were staked to a 5-2 lead. Burke survived the early onslaught and then came out firing. Emmie Hausmanns third kill of the mini-run capped a 5-0 run and drew a timeout from Hitchcock-Tulare coach Jordan Opp.
The teams traded shots out of the break until Lila Jo Johnson nailed a tough-angle, cross-court shot and Schroeder followed with a power swing. A hitting error by Burke knotted the score at 11.
From that point, the teams traded points, but after a Huizenga block made it 17-16, Burke rattled off three straight points to make it 19-17 and draw the second timeout from Opp.
A pair of service aces and a Gilbert ace serve brought the Lady Patriots even at 21-21, drawing a timeout from Burke, but the Lady Cougars came out of their huddle inspired, rattling off four straight points for a 25-21 second-set victory.
After Paige Bull nailed the first point for Burke in the third set, Schroeder put down back-to-back kills and Gilbert and Hofer combined for a block. Gilbert added back-to-back aces and Huizenga and Schroeder combined for a block that made it 7-2 early for Hitchcock-Tulare and drew a timeout from Burke.
Frank put down a center-court kill out of the break and the Lady Patriots hitting was out of sorts, committing three hitting errors to quickly bring the Lady Cougars within 7-6. The teams would go back and forth until a service error by Burke gave Hitchcock-Tulare a 10-8 lead.
Thats when Burke used the powerful swings of Hausmann and high hands of Paige Bull on defense to a 5-0 run and a 13-10 lead.
After the television timeout at 13-11 Burke, the Lady Cougars went on another 5-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Schroeder picked up five kills late in the set as she tried to will her team back into the contest, but each time shed record a kill, Hausmann or Paige Bull would respond in kind. A Hausmann kill closed out the third set 25-16, giving Burke the match.
The Lady Cougars had a diverse attack, with three players recording double-digit kills, led by Hausmann with 13. Frank had 11 kills and led the defense with 18 digs. Paige Bull nailed 10 kills and had three blocks on defense.
Ava Sargent had 16 assists and Emmy Spencer added 12 assists, while Kyrie Matucha had 13 digs.
Frank and Hausmann were selected to the all-tournament team for Burke.
The Lady Patriots finish the year 32-4. Schroeder had 18 kills and 11 digs in her final match. Lila Jo Johnson had 22 set assists.
Gilbert recorded three aces and Cambree Hoekman had 17 digs to pace the Lady Patriots.
Schroeder and Lila Jo Johnson represented the Lady Patriots on the all-tournament team.
Chester repeats as Class B champion
SIOUX FALLS Saturday night marked the third straight Class B State Volleyball Tournament that ended with the Warner Monarchs and the Chester Flyers in the championship game, with each team winning one title. It was only fitting that the two teams went to five sets before the Flyers defended their 2023 championship with scores of 18-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-15, and 15-10 Saturday night at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
The defending-champion Flyers jumped out with the first four points of the match, but Warner responded with the next 13 points, and a match filled with long streaks of momentum was underway. The Flyers could not recover from that long Warner run in the first set, and the Monarchs took the set 25-18.
Chester went on an extended run in the middle of set two to take the set 25-23. Warner used a 6-0 run to break open a tight third set and come away with a 25-23 win and pull out the 2-1 match lead.
Chester controlled the fourth set, with Warner within a few points until sophomore hitter Jacy Wolf took over the game for the Flyers, and Chester forced a fifth set, winning 25-15. The Flyers took the first three points of the fifth set and never let Warner truly get back into it, and a big swing from Wolf ended the match at 15-10 for a championship in five sets.
The Flyers finish the year at 32-2 behind a huge night from Jacy Wolf. Wolf led all athletes with 20 kills while tying for the team lead with 25 assists and also added 15 digs, an ace serve, and two blocks.
Lily Van Hal had 19 kills, 25 assists, three ace serves, and led the team with 25 digs. Emmerson Eppard added 10 kills and 20 digs.
Warner closes the season at 33-5 despite a double-double from Kyleigh Schopp, who had 11 kills and 10 blocks. MaKenna Leidholt had 10 kills.
Libby Scepaniak led the setting with 15 assists and nailed three ace serves. Jordyn Jensen had three aces and paced the Warner defense with 27 digs. Jaycee Jung recorded four aces.
Wolf and Van Hal were selected to the all-tournament team from Chester, while Jordyn Jensen and Schopp represented Warner.
Fifth Place – Colman-Egan 3, Castlewood 2
In a rematch of an earlier five-set marathon match during the regular season, the Colman-Egan Hawks jumped out to an early two-set lead, but the Castlewood Warriors stormed back and the two teams battled for extended time in the fifth set before the Hawks emerged for the victory to claim fifth place.
Set scores for the Hawks (25-6) were 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, and 19-17.
The Hawks were led on the attack by Brynlee Landis (21 kills) and Elaina Rhode (18 kills). Finley Luze (29 assists) and Kaylee Voelker (26 assists) shared setting duties for Colman-Egan.
Presley Luze led the defense with 26 digs and also had three service aces for the Hawks.
The Warriors were led by senior Emerson Carter, with 18 kills. Nora Solberg led the defense with 24 digs. Cassidy Kirwan had a strong all-around game with nine kills, 17 assists, three service aces, and 23 digs.
Dayton Knect had four aces and Ciara Kjetland had three aces at the service line while Cydni Kudrna and Ava Ruml each had seven blocks.
Kirwan of Castlewood and Landis and Rhode of Colman-Egan were selected to the all-tournament team.
Seventh Place – Gayville-Volin 3, Kakoka Area 1
Coming into the tournament with 29 team victories, the Gayville-Volin Raiders needed just one additional victory to become the ninth team in Class B in 2024 to secure 30 victories. Finally, in the Seventh Place game against fellow 30-game winner Kadkoa Area Kougars, the Raiders got the job done with a four-set win, 25-19, 25-23, 20-25, and 25-16 at the Class B State Volleyball Tournament at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
The Raiders finish the season at 30-6 behind 18 kills from Maia Achen. Achen added four blocks, two ace serves, and 26 digs for a big all-around match. Paisley Dimmer added 11 kills while Kayden Bye had nine kills and eight digs.
Britton Scheetz set up the Gayville-Volin offense with 37 assists. Taylor Hoxeng led the defense with 35 digs, and Jolie Westrum added 26, including the 1,000th dig of her career in the match.
The Kougars finish the year 31-6 despite a big game from senior Bella Williams, who had 18 kills, Sister Kassidee Williams set up the Kadoka offense with 36 assists and had two ace serves.
Breezy Amiotte had two aces while Madisyn Nemecek had nine kills and led the defense with 20 digs.
Scheetz led the tournament in assists to earn a place on the all-tournament team for Gayville Volin.
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