‘Fierce’ Tigers set for post season

HURON — For the third straight season, the Huron Tiger volleyball team will host it’s first state tournament playoff game at the friendly confines of Huron Arena. It’s a sign of the continued success of the program that it has become a fixture in the top half of the power point standings year in and year out.
The final home volleyball game, this Thursday’s SoDak 16 game versus Sturgis, will begin at 6 p.m. Season passes will not be honored for this playoff game. In Class AA volleyball, the top eight teams in power points host the next eight teams in what is essentially a state tournament play-in game. The bottom two teams in AA don’t qualify for post season play, leaving Spearfish and Douglas on the outside, looking in this season.
Huron coach Shelly Buddenhagen took time out of her busy schedule of preparing for Thursday’s important game to reflect on the past season and how her team is readying itself for an 11th straight state tournament run.
As a former teacher, Buddenhagen said that she would give her team an “A” for a grade on its 17-6 regular season.
“A big old fat A,” she said. “Maybe an A+, but you know we had a couple of hiccups this year.” Buddhagen noted that one of the team’s goals for the season was to win the ESD, which they failed to do - the Tigers finished second at 7-1, to Watertown’s 8-0 season mark.
“We got Watertown early in the season for our conference game,” Buddenhagen said. “I think to finish third in power points in the state is an accomplishment, with the quality volleyball teams in AA.”
As the season has progress, the focus of the team has evolved with the development and improvement in the quick-set offense that the Tigers play and for which they are becoming known around the state. And the reason that the quick-set offense is becoming formidable is…..defense?
“Our focus was on offense to start the season,” Buddenhagen said. “We started wondering how we were going to replace Hollee (Niehus, the leading hitter last season) and now, we have seen such improvement from our ‘Little Dogs’ that play in the back row, we are much more focused on defense to create offense.”

Buddenhagen explained the process. “We started not really knowing what we were going to have for back-row defense,” she said. “We knew Havyn (Heinz) would be our rock, but the other girls - Alaina Dale, Mattie Huber, Lexi Gilbert - have come so far, especially on serve receive, which is one of the most difficult parts of the game, but is also one of the most important.”
Buddenhagen pointed out that it is a rare occasion when the Tigers score on their first attack. “We don’t always get a kill on that first swing,” she said. “We create chaos with our athletic abilities and defend, defend, defend. We’ve had some really long rallies and that all starts with the back row. We’ll get the kill on a later swing.”
Getting those kills this season has been a ‘by-committee’ endeavor, as five players — Libby Rounds, Brooke Schiltz, Mikena Moore, Emily Dale and Alaina Dale — are all offensive assets that setter Tenley Buddenhagen has at her fingertips. Some times it’s who has the hot hand; other times it’s where is the best matchup or who can be quick set to take advantage of a defensive laps by the opponent.
It makes for a potent, difficult-to-defend attack. Add to that the knowledge that most of the time, when a team attacks the Tigers, the ball is coming back.
With the regular season behind them, coach Buddenhagen said that the focus in practice is more on perfecting what her team needs to do to be successful, and less about preparing for a specific opponent.
“I’d say right now it’s probably 70/30 focused on us,” she said. “Doing the fundamental things and doing them well.”
While a discussion on fundamentals may seem mundane with the playoffs beginning, coach Buddenhagen said that this year’s team has a hunger to continually improve.
“Some teams at this time of year are just happy that the playoffs are here and want to get it over,” she said. “We were talking the other day about our 2010 team (which finished third at the state tournament). That team was at the point that we felt we were playing at our highest, that we couldn’t get better. This year, the kids are excited to come to practice and work to be better. They continue to amaze me in their willingness to continue to work, which I think is a good sign.”
Buddenhagen said that the Tigers feel they can play with anyone on a given night. “The stars may have to align just so,” she said with a grin, “but we can play. We find the harder we work the luckier we get and the kids understand that we are going to have to put ourselves out there and take a risk to win. They’re not afraid. This is a team of FIERCE competitors, and we have things left on our bucket list.”
“It’s interesting,” Buddenhagen said, “that when you look at the classifications in volleyball through the prism of the football divisions, (AAA vs. AA) Huron is third in power points and is the only AA school in the top 11. The rest are all the bigger, AAA division teams.”
Thursday will also be the final time that two seniors - outside hitter Alaina Dale and libero Havyn Heinz - will step on the home volleyball court. With a win, the team will get three more matches at the state tournament Nov. 21-23 in Rapid City.
“I’d like to tell folks that if they want to see a very good volleyball team, with a couple of great senior leaders, this is your last chance on the Arena floor,” she said.