Tigers ‘flat’ against Aberdeen Central

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HURON — The Huron Tigers volleyball team dropped its second consecutive match Saturday night, 3-1 to the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles at Huron Arena. Set scores for Central were 25-23, 25-20, 22-25 and 25-20.
After falling behind 2-0 after close opening sets, the Tigers rallied to take the third set, but ultimately dropped the fourth set and the match. Aberdeen improves to 6-5 with the win, while Huron falls to 10-4.
“We just came out really flat tonight,” said Tiger coach Shelly Buddenhagen after the match. “It was not a great effort on our part.”
Two weeks earlier, Huron had gone into Golden Eagle land and brought home a five-set win. “This was a totally different match,” Buddenhagen said. “We both had errors that night, but Aberdeen addressed their errors, took control of them and we absolutely didn’t.”
Hollee Niehus tallied 17 kills to lead the Tigers as the senior hitter had a solid night at the net. Sophomore Mikena Moore added eight kills, while Alaina Dale and Libby Rounds each chipped in five kills.

Setter Tenley Buddenhagen passed out 36 set assists in the match and also had two aces, as did Dale.
Havyn Heinz, who was recognized for her 2,000th dig during the match, led the defensive effort with 39 digs, while Niehus had 16, Buddenhagen added 12 and Dale chipped in 11.
“We passed well,” coach Buddenhagen noted, “we did have few passing errors in the match, but our serving game had way too many errors.”
Buddenhagen reiterated that the Tigers’ serve game is the team’s first line of defense. “We’re just not getting it done serving. Serving is all focus and mindset, so as we head into the end of the season we will need to improve that going forward.”
Huron is back in action on Tuesday when the Tigers travel to Pierre to take on the Lady Govs in their only match of the week.
“Pierre is one of the hottest teams in the state right now,” Buddenhagen said. “They beat Aberdeen in straight sets, in Aberdeen, right after we played up there.
“We had our chances tonight,” she added. “But we had crucial errors at crucial times and that saunk us. Our margin of error is very small, so if we have a lot of errors and mental lapses we will struggle. We have to improve our discipline and focus and get things going right again.”

PHOTOS BY ANGELINA DELLA ROCCO/PLAINSMAN

Huron junior hitter Alaina Dale makes a kill attempt during the first set of the Tigers’ ESD match with Aberdeen Central on Saturday night.

Next, Huron Tiger setter Tenley Buddenhagen prepares to deliver a back-set to Hollee Niehus, right, as she circles in behind for a kill attempt Saturday night.