FORESTBURG and WOLSEY — The 281 Conference volleyball tournament got underway Thursday evening, with two games in Forestburg and another two in Wolsey. All eight teams will be looking for the tournament title that Hitchcock-Tulare won last year.
Semifinal and final games for all eight places will be played on Saturday.
Here is how the first round went.
Wolsey-Wessington 3, Sunshine Bible Academy 0
WOLSEY — The second seeded Wolsey-Wessington Lady Warbirds cruised into the championship semifinals Thursday night, with a 25-17, 25-17, 25-10 win over the Sunshine Bible Crusaders
The Lady Warbirds had a balanced effort on Thursday, getting five kills from both Lizzi Brandt and Raquel Nelson, while Cortney Sprecher added three kills, four aces and a pair of blocks. Brandt chipped in five aces in the game and Ally Boomsma had two.
Shayla Muilenburg handed out 14 assists in the game and also had a block. Brandt claimed nine digs to lead the W-W defense, while Hailey Clarke and Chantel Haider each had 7.
For Sunshine Bible, Shariah Brockel had a match-high eight kills, while Lindsey Wilken added four kills, three aces, a pair of blocks and 20 digs. Abby Hawn had 14 set assists, while Dori Brockel added 16 digs and Hannah Appel chipped in 10.
Wolsey-Wessington, now 7-4, will face Hitchcock-Tulare at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Forestburg, while Sunshine Bible, 0-14 will hope to break into the win column against James Valley Christian at 2:30 p.m. in Highmore on Saturday.
Hitchcock-Tulare 3, James Valley Christian 0
WOLSEY — The Hitchcock-Tulare Lady Patriots moved into the championship round of the 281 Conference tournament on Saturday, by way of a 3-0 win over the James Valley Christian Lady Vikings in an opening round match. Scores for the Lady Patriots were 25-11, 25-20 and 25-18.
Dannyn Peterson had nine kills and a block kill to lead the H-T offense, which also got six kills from Cassidy Johnson. Kennidee Enander passed out 24 assists, had 17 digs and had six aces, while Dawson Otto had four kills and six aces.
Julia Blom had three kills and Josalyn Wipf added two kills and three blocks for the Lady Vikings. Rebekah Williams had nine assists and a pair of aces, while Brenna Held accounted for nine blocks in the match.
JVC, now 5-8, will face Sunshine Bible Academy in the consolation round at 2:30 p.m. in Highmore, while the Lady Patriots, who improve to 9-10, will face Wolsey-Wessington in the championship round in Forestburg, also at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Sanborn Central-Woonsocket 3, Iroquois 0
FORESTBURG — The top-seeded Sanborn Central-Woonsocket Blackhawks took out the Iroquois Lady Chiefs in straight sets Thursday night, in the open round of the 281 Conference volleyball tournament. Set scores for the Blackhawks were 25-6,25-8 and 25-17.
SC-W, now 11-5 on the season, was led by Tesa Jensen’s 13 kills and one block. Kaylee White had eight service aces and led the defense with 10 digs. Madi Moody passed out 19 assists in the match, while Erica Howard had nine digs and three kills for the Blackhawks.
Iroquois got two kills each from Jorja Hulse and Niah Rogers. Rogers also added an ace, a block and 12 digs for the Lady Chiefs, while Kaitlyn Maas had 12 digs as well, to go with four blocks. Hannah Hofhenke had six assists.
SC-W, now 11-5, will face Wessington Springs at 1 p.m. in Forestburg, while Iroquois, which falls to 0-18, will face Highmore-Harrold at 1 p.m. in Highmore.
Wessington Springs 3, Highmore-Harrold 0
The fifth-seeded Wessington Springs Lady Spartans posted the only upset in the opening round of the 281 Conference tournament Thursday, as they shut out the No. 4 seeded Highmore-Harrold Pirates 3-0. Set scores for the Lady Spartans were 25-22, 25-13 and 25-12.
Wessington Springs was led by Maddie Neely’s nine kills, two aces and 10 digs in the match. Grace Gran had seven kills and a pair of blocks, while Sierra Burg led the defense with 22 digs. Chasity Vissia had three aces and handed out 30 assists, while Trinity Flowers had six kills and Linzi Olinger had two aces.
Highmore-Harrold, now 7-9, got six kills and one block from Madison Bollweg. Grace Knox and Maria Pazour each had two kills, and Kassie Hale had a pair of ace serves and 18 digs, while Halle Tvedt had one ace and a block and also contributed eight digs.
The Spartans, 8-7, will face top-seeded Sanborn Central-Woonsocket at 1 p.m. on Saturday, while Highmore-Harrold will host Iroquois in the consolation round Saturday afternoon.
PHOTOS BY ANGELINA DELLA ROCCO/PLAINSMAN
Beth Koneche tracks down an errant pass for the Sunshine Bible Crusaders in the 281 Conference volleyball tournament Thursday night in Wolsey.
Next, Sunshine Bible Academy hitter Shariah Brockel (13) goes above the net on a kill attempt Thursday night in the 281 Conference volleyball tournament in Wolsey. Defending the play for Wolsey-Wessington on the left is Cortney Sprecher.
And next, James Valley Christian setter Rebekah Williams sets the ball over her head behind her to a teammate Thursday night, while Hitchcock-Tulare’s Cassidy Johnson prepares to move and set up the block.
