Harrisburg, Sioux Falls Christian claim state volleyball titles

BY PLAINSMAN STAFF
RAPID CITY — Third-seeded Rapid City Stevens had hopes of claiming a state title in its home territory on Saturday at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Those hopes were dashed with a 3-1 victory by top-seeded Harrisburg in the championship game of the Class AA State Volleyball Tournament.
The Tigers, who used the victory to end the season at 23-1, opened the match with a 25-17 victory in the first set. Rapid City Stevens managed to pull even with a 25-21 victory in the second set, but it was Harrisburg winning the next two sets with scores of 25-23 and 25-15, respectively, to claim the state title.
Madison Wassink was the only player to reach double figures in the kills column for the Tigers with 23. Avery Thorson recorded 41 assists, while Wassink and Rachel Nelson had four and three aces, respectively.
Nelson also led Harrisburg with 13 digs, while Ashlee Cain had nine digs.

Rapid City Stevens, which ended the season at 30-7, was led by Kyah Watson with 15 kills. Elizabeth Schaefer and Phebie Rossi each had 10 kills.
Marlee Schneider had 39 assists and two aces for the Raiders, while Laura Petik and Schaefer had 17 and 16 digs, respectively.

Class A
RAPID CITY — Top-seeded Sioux Falls Christian needed a rally against second-seeded Dakota Valley to secure the championship during the Class A State Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
After cruising to a 25-13 win in the opening set, Chargers found themselves trailing 2-1 after a pair of 25-19 setbacks.
Sioux Falls Christian would even the match with a 25-15 victory in the fourth set and pull out the match with a 15-13 decision in the fifth set.
Ellie Voss sparked the Chargers, who finished the season at 31-4, with 22 kills, while Kylie Van Egdom had 17 kills. Samantha Fykstra amassed 50 assists, while Voss and Emily Strasser each had three ace serves and Van Egdom had a team-high 15 digs.
Meredith Lammers led a trio of players in double figures with 17 kills for Dakota Valley, which ended the season at 28-4. Nikita Reinschmidt finished with 14 kills, while Elizabeth Lammers had 10 kills.
Ally Beresford recorded 47 assists for the Panthers, while Alyssa Johnson had 23 digs.