HURON — The third-ranked Huron Tigers sputtered at times on offense and had difficulty with their service games, but when the team got into system, it outmatched the Rapid City Central Cobblers 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Huron Arena. Set scores were 26-24, 25-13 and 25-18.

The Tigers, now 11-3, were without the services of senior setter Tenley Buddenhagen, who tweaked an ankle in practice on Friday. But JV setter Jazz McGirr stepped into the role for the first time at the varsity level, ending the night with eight kills and three aces, and willing Huron to its first set win.

“I am proud of the girls for their effort this afternoon,” said Tiger coach Shelly Buddenhagen. “We fought hard and got the plays when we needed them.

That first set was nip-and-tuck from the get-go, as Huron would forge a lead, then the Cobblers would sneak back into the set. Huron would end the match with 15 kills, spread among six players, but also committed and equal number of serving errors. Those service errors, combined with some timing issues that come from working with a new setter and some misplaced kill attempts kept the Cobblers within four points in a set that they eventually tied at 24, before McGirr collected back-to-back kills to end the set.

“I have to give a big shout out to Jazz for the way she stepped up today,” said coach Buddenhagen. “She really did a good job and with her being left handed, it gives her an extra weapon that she used very well today.”

The Cobblers took an early lead in the second set, but a pair of service aces from Bryn Huber, sandwiched around a Cobbler net violation, turned a 5-5 tie into an 8-5 Tiger lead. Central fought back to within a point on a kill by Matayah Yellow Mule, but it was right then that the sputtering Tiger offense found itself.

Mikena Moore and Emily Dale collected kills, Brynn Gose got another and another Dale kill made it 12-8 and prompted a RCC timeout.

Out of the break, a Cobblers’ kill attempt sailed long and Gose pounded home consecutive kills for a 15-8 lead. The lead soared to 10 points, as Lexy Gilbert had a pair of aces, McGirr snuck another kill in and Gose got two more big swings for a 20-10 advantage. Down the stretch, an ace from Huber and a pair of kills from Brooke Schiltz closed out the win for Huron.

“So much of any offense is based on rhythm and timing,” coach Buddenhagen said, “and ours was off tonight. But to their credit, the girls kept at it; kept running the offense and at times it really clicked tonight.”

Following the script for act two, Rapid City took an early lead as Huron had trouble finding the floor inbounds on its kills. A service error gave the Cobblers a 10-6 lead before a kill from Gose, an ace from McGirr and two violations by Central knotted the score at 10-10. The score stayed close through the middle of the set, and the Cobblers tied the set at 15-15 on a service error.

But Schiltz hand a kill and two aces and Emily Dale powered home a pair of aces to establish a 20-15 lead for Huron. A pair of aces off the Tiger bench for Reese Rozell put Huron on the brink of the win and Heavan Gainey’s only swing of the match finished it for the Tigers.

In all, it was a balanced effort for Huron as both Schiltz and Gose ended with nine kills, while Dale and McGirr each notched eight. McGirr, Schiltz and Huber each collected a trio of service aces, while Mattie Huber, Rozell and Gilbert had two each.

“I think we passed better today than maybe we have for the a couple matches,” coach Buddenhagen noted. “We did a good job of coming together on the fly with a revamped lineup. I thank Central, who has three players sitting out for COVID, for putting together a lineup and playing today.”

Huron’s match with Rapid City Stevens, which was scheduled for Friday night, has been moved to Friday, Oct. 30, at Huron Arena. It is the first competition that the virus has affected Huron.

“We’ve got some bumps and bruises that are pretty common for this late in the season,” coach Buddenhagen said. “We’ll enjoy the day off tomorrow and go back to work Monday to get ready for Watertown on Tuesday night. Hopefully we will see a big crowd for rematch with the Arrows.”