PIERRE While a match with eight more matches still left on the schedule cant exactly be called must-win, the Huron Tigers faced the second-worst-seeded team in Class AA on Tuesday when they traveled to Pierre to face the Governors. The Tigers took care of business, using scores of 25-9, 25-19 and 25-19 to sweep Pierre.
The Tigers could not have asked for a better start. Aly Davis got things going for Huron with a tip over the blockers for a kill. Two aces from Jencie Goergen, a pair of kills for Jaelee Olsen, and a kill for Arian Pfitzer drew the first Pierre timeout. Davis nailed a kill out of the timeout to make it 8-0 Huron.
The Tigers did not allow Pierre to score two straight points until a service error and a hitting error brought the Govs within 12-5.
Huron then ran off a three-point run in response. Pierre would not score two points in a row the rest of the match.
Pfitzer tipped the ball over the Pierre blockers to seal the first set, 25-9. Of Pierres nine points, six came from Huron service or hitting errors in a dominant start to the night.
The second set followed a similar script to open, with a Davis kill, a Goergen ace, a Pierre hitting error, and a kill from Pfitzer off the right side, staking Huron to a 4-0 lead to open.
The second set wasnt going to be as easy as the first, however, and Pierre was able to get outside hitter Sloane Waldron into the offense, quickly knotting the score 4-4. The two teams then traded scores back and forth until a Tiger service error tied the score at 8-8.
Huron then went on a 5-0 run, with strong serving from Addyson Knight keying the run. The Governors werent done, though, as they used a kill from Alexis Schlekeway to open a run, and an ace from Schlekeway finished a 4-0 run to tie the game at 14-14.
The teams traded points back and forth to 17-17, but a block/kill from Knight and a kill down the line by Pfitzer got Huron a two-point lead. Knight was able to nail a pair of aces to set up the team for a win, and Davis slammed down the final point for a 25-19 victory.
With an opportunity for the sweep, Huron opened similarly, with a Goergen ace, a Pfitzer kill, an Olsen kill, and a hitting error by Pierre giving the Tigers an early 4-1 lead.
Huron would use Pierre errors to build that lead out to 8-2, but Pierre slowly worked their way back, using Hurons own errors against them, as the home team went on a run, beginning with the Tigers up 12-7.
Huron would make six hitting errors as Pierre used an 8-4 run to get within 16-15 and draw the lone Huron timeout of the match.
Coming out of the timeout, Pfitzer nailed a kill, but Huron then had back-to-back hitting errors to knot the score at 17.
Thats when senior Davis took over the match. Davis got three straight kills to force Pierres second timeout of the set at 21-17, and she then traded kills with Pierre. When a Pierre hit went long to give Huron a match point, it was Davis who slammed down the emphatic match winner to give Huron a 25-19 third-set victory and a three-set sweep.
Huron coach Josh Lien called one timeout in the entire match, and he said it was to refocus his hitters.
We got away a bit from the scouting report in the second and third (sets), Lien said. We had to remind our hitters what shots would work with the Pierre defense.
Huron moves to 5-9 behind 14 kills and an ace from Davis. Pfitzer had 12 kills, and Olsen had seven kills.
Knight had five kills and three aces while Goergen dropped in four service aces.
Pierre falls to 2-10. Marena Buschbom led the attack with four kills.
Huron swept the lower-level action, winning the junior varsity match by scores of 25-20, 23-25 and 15-11. The Tigers swept the sophomore match, 25-8 and 25-20.
As Huron prepares for a busy rest of the month, trying to ensure a SoDak 16 berth, Lien was pleased with what he saw on the road.
Im proud of the effort tonight, Lien expressed. Everybody hit well on the attack, and thats a credit to Jencie (Goergen) for strong passing to put the hitters in a spot to succeed.
Huron hosts Rapid City Stevens, with varsity action beginning at 5:30 p.m., on Friday, and hosts Rapid City Central Saturday afternoon.
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