Huron sweeps No. 3 Golden Eagles

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ABERDEEN — Two of the powers in Class “AA” volleyball - not to mention ESD rivals - squared off at Aberdeen High School Thursday night and the match lived up to expectations.
The Huron Tigers defeated the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles 3-0, in a match that saw all three sets decided by two points, with two of the sets going extra time to determine a winner.
Huron, now 6-3 was fresh off a five-set marathon win over S.F. O’Gorman on Tuesday, while Aberdeen, now 4-2 saw its four-match winning streak snapped.
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead, as Hollie Niehus, Melissa Berg and Kayla Schimke staked Huron to a 5-3 lead. The teams traded points, as neither could establish any momentum. Jayda Shillingstad notched a kill to make it 11-6 Huron, but the Golden Eagles staged a comeback, built on the right arm of Paiton Burckhard, and knotted the score at 17.
From that point it was a see-saw set, as neither team held more than a two-point lead until a pair of Schimke kills, combined with an Aberdeen error, helped the Tigers prevail 30-28 in the first set.
The second set was tight throughout. Neither team held more than a one-point lead until Niehus notched back-to-back kills to give Huron a 13-10 lead. A Tenley Buddenhagen ace gave the Tigers a 15-11 lead, but Aberdeen mounted a comeback, behind Burckhard once again. The 6-foot senior had a pair of kills and a service ace to carve Huron’s lead to a single point, at 18-17.
But that was a close as the Golden Eagles would get, as Huron got a kill from Berg to go back up by two and the Tigers held on for the 25-23 win.
Throughout the second set, Aberdeen continually shot themselves in the foot, committing service or hitting errors that helped the Huron cause.
Set three started quickly for Huron, as Niehus had a pair of kills and Alexis Urena had and ace for a quick 3-0 lead. But a Burckhard kill, an ace from Laura Babcock and a Huron error made it 4-4 and the stage was set for another close match.

Neither team got more than a single point lead until Burckhard had a pair of kills, and Huron had a kill attempt sail wide for a 14-11 Golden Eagle lead, their largest of the night.
Mikena Moore stopped the mini-rally with a kill but a pair of Tiger errors put Aberdeen up 17-13. Slowly, but surely, Huron began to chip away at the lead. Shillingstad had back-to-back kills, Niehus tied it at 21 with a kill and Shillingstad gave the Tigers a lead with another tip.
But momentum turned again, as Aberdeen scored on back-to-back block kills to go ahead 24-22. Niehus notched a block-kill and Aberdeen hit a kill attempt wide to knot the score at 24 and set the stage for extra volleyball.
Tenley Buddenhagen gave Huron a lead with an ace, but Aberdeen responded with another Burckhard kill.
But then, with the score tied at 25-25, the Golden Eagles committed two errors - a net violation and a hitting error - to hand the set, and the match to the Tigers.
“I really think that our front-row defense frustrated them a bit tonight,” said coach Shelly Buddenhagen after the match. “They hit more and more balls into the net and out as the match went on.”
On the night for the Tigers, Niehus ended with 19 kills - three of them block-kills - and seven digs, while Shimke added 10 kills. Shillingstad had six kills and 33 assists and 10 digs on the night. Havyn Heinz led the defense with 32 digs and Isabel Ford added 10 digs.
“It all starts with our back row and our ‘littles’ had a great night tonight,” coach Buddenhagen said. “They did a great job of passing the ball to Jayda and I thought she made excellent choices with her setting tonight. She was aware of where the blocks were and who was hot for us.”
For Aberdeen Burckhard notched 19 kills and freshman Brooklyn Kusler chipped in seven.
Huron will be back in action on Tuesday, when they host undefeated Harrisburg at Huron Arena. Match time is 7 p.m.

Photos:

Huron's Melissa Berg (17) tries to hit the ball past Aberdeen Central's Melia Mounga, left and Cassidy Gough (21) during Thursday night's match at the Golden Eagles Arena.

Next, Huron's Tenley Buddenhagen, center, tries to hit the ball past Aberdeen Central's Brooklyn Kusler, left and Lexi LaFave, right, during Thursday night’s match at the Golden Eagles Arena.

Photos by John Davis of American News