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In a battle of the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the Class B high school volleyball poll, Northwestern outlasted Warner in four sets, 23-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-23 Thursday, Sept. 11 in Warner.
The third-ranked Wildcats have won six in a row and improved to 8-1. Warner dropped its second-straight match and is now 7-2.
Northwestern’s Ashley Haven tries to hit through the block attempt of Warner’s Makenna Leidholt during their match Thursday, Sept. 11 in Warner. Haven had 20 kills to help her team get the win. Aberdeen Insider photo by Allie Hoekman.
“We really enjoyed the win tonight,” said Northwestern head coach Nora Groft. “Our kids caught a glimmer of what could be. I think they’re believers now. They’ve been in some big matches and they’re starting to realize they can be scary good if they really want to.”
Warner took the opening set before, Groft said, the Wildcats settled in.
“Defensively we really got to a lot of things. The longer the rally, the more likely we were going to win the point. We gave them no free points. Sophia Troske, Tara Blachford, they just cover a lot of the floor and you saw that tonight. We like to score out of defensive transition, and it was really fun to do that tonight,” Groft said.
The No. 2 Monarchs had 42 kills to Northwestern’s 36 as Jaycee Jung led the way with 19, but it didn’t translate into victory.
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For the Wildcats, Ashley Haven had a match-high 20 kills. Breelyn Satter added 11 and Lila Johnson 10.
“We had a great night on offense,” Haven said. “We were hitting our shots. We found what was open, found what worked and kept going with it.”
Strong serving for Northwestern
Groft had said her team knew it had to play as clean a match as possible to get past the Monarchs and did.
Third-ranked Northwestern went 94 of 95 from the service line with six aces. Warner went 67 off 80 on its serve attempts.
“We missed one serve all night. Our kids really took care of things tonight and with the way we served, kept them on their heels,” Groft said.
Warner took an 18-13 lead in the fourth set before Northwestern had a 7-1 run to lead 20-19. Three of the Wildcat points came on blocks.
“Going into the fourth set we knew Warner was going to try and swing high off our block, and that’s exactly what they started to do,” Haven said. “I just told the girls to try and stay calm. We knew what we were capable of, and we adjusted and we got the win.”
Northwestern finished with 13 block assists. Five came from eighth-grader Kylee Henjum.
“Our eighth-grader, right? She led us again in blocks. We just have a lot of flexibility with this team. We have a setter who can set and can swing. We have our base lineup, but can tweak some things if we need to and can move players around based on what other teams give us,” Groft said.
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Wildcats downed Class A Madison 25-10, 25-10, 25-20 in Mellette. Haven was 32 of 33 on the attack with 13 kills, while Ella Boekelheide 68 of 69 setting with 25 assists.
That same day, Warner got back to its winning ways with five victories to win a tournament in Deubrook.
The Monarchs picked up 2-0 victories against Deubrook, Elton-Lake Benton, Faulkton, Burke and Arlington. McKenna Leidolt led Warner with a combined 44 kills on the day.
Northwestern is ranked second in this week’s Class B high school volleyball media poll, while Warner is down one spot to No. 3.
Aberdeen Roncalli’s Jillian Ellwein attempts to hit over the block of Groton’s Chesney Weber (8) and Taryn Traphagen Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Roncalli Gym. Ellwein had nine kills, but Groton swept the Cavaliers in three sets. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Groton net game too much for Roncalli
Groton Area took advantage of its attack game and blocking to pick up a 25-23, 25-17, 25-18 sweep over Aberdeen Roncalli Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Roncalli Gym.
“Anyone that tries to say, ‘Oh this is just another match,’ it’s not. This match is always big regardless of records or whenever we play it, and I love that. I think it’s good for us to learn how to play under pressure and learn how to win big matches,” Chelsea Hanson, Groton volleyball coach, said.
Roncalli head coach Leesa Ware said the Cavaliers still have issues to work on.
“Error after error after error,” she said. “We just continue to make errors at important points in the match, and it kills our momentum. We’re coming off a couple really good wins, including a ranked team (Miller), where we didn’t let those affect us, but tonight when we made a few, we just couldn’t clean things up. We really hurt ourselves way too much.”
Groton Area’s Taryn Traphagen tries to hit through the block attempt of Aberdeen Roncalli’s Grace Cogley Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Roncalli Gym. Traphagen had eight kills, helping Groton to the three-set sweep. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Groton controlled the match at the net. The Tigers limited Roncalli’s offense with one solo block and 10 block-assists. Groton also put down 34 kills. Taryn Traphagen, Tevan Hanson and Jaedyn Penning each had eight kills. Chesney Weber finished with 28 assists.
“Offensively, we have four players who can go for double-digits in kills,” Hanson said. “We’re scoring 40, 50 points in matches just on kills, and that’s tough to stop. When we’re able to receive the serve, make the first pass to Chesney, she has a few places where she can go and she’s been setting so well it’s kind of like open season for our hitters, and it’s been paying off so far.”
Traphagen credited Weber for how she distributed the ball.
“I think she’s one of the best setters in the state, and she’s always able to get the ball to where we need it to go,” Traphagen said.
She made two plays to negate potential Roncalli points in a slightly unconventional way — with her feet.
In the second set, Traphagen stuck her foot out and kicked the ball over the net to extend the point. In the third set, she was able to deflect a dig to teammate McKenna Tietz, who sent the ball to Roncalli’s side of the net.
Traphagen also plays soccer for the Tigers.
“I mean, between soccer and volleyball, you have to practice it sometime, and it just worked out tonight. I remember my sister did it last year and we got hyped after the point, so it definitely helps get your team. You just play to the whistle, right?” she said.
Jillian Ellwein led Roncalli with nine kills.
Ware said there were times the Cavaliers played up a level, but not often enough.
“When we were in system, things went well. The problem was, we just couldn’t get connected tonight,” she said. “We just didn’t communicate well enough in our zone, we couldn’t consistently get in system. You have to credit Groton, they’re a good team and they played well, but for whatever reason I just felt mentally we weren’t there.”
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Cavaliers fell to Hamlin 26-24, 23-25, 25-11, 25-13 to fall to 4-3 on the season. Rylee Voeller finished with 17 kills for Roncalli.
Aberdeen Central’s Lauryn Burckhard attempts to hit through the block of Spearfish’s Kaitlyn Wheaton, left, and Liliana Sadowski Friday, Sept. 12 at Golden Eagles Arena. Waiting on a block for Central are Taylin Kleffmen, center, and Karlie Nieman. Central won the match in five sets. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Central picks up home wins over Spearfish, Sturgis
Aberdeen Central picked up a 25-14, 25-18, 25-11 sweep of Sturgis Saturday, Sept. 13 at Golden Eagles Arena.
Lauryn Burckhard had 12 of the Golden Eagles’ 35 kills.
Central’s battle against Spearfish on Friday, Sept. 12 was a much different story as the teams split the first for sets before the Eagles prevailed 26-24, 19-25, 25-13, 15-25, 15-12 at Golden Eagles Arena.
Aberdeen Central’s Camryn Albrecht hits a jump-serve during the third set of Central’s match against Spearfish Friday, Sept. 12 inside Golden Eagles Arena. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
“Our kids just came through down the stretch,” said Central head coach Jackie Bindenagel. “We didn’t play a perfect fifth set, but we played aggressive and we played to win, which says a lot.”
Central had a solid performance from the service line. The team finished with nine aces and rallied 50 points off its serve. Camryn Albrecht went 26 of 28 from the service line and finished with three aces. In the third set, she served nine points in a row.
“I think getting it over the net and trusting where my coaches tell me to serve and making sure I put it in the spot was helpful tonight,” Albrecht said. “It’s always nice to have an ace, but you’re just trying to put the ball in play to make the other team have problems and help us defend better.”
Bindenagel was impressed with Albrecht’s performance.
“Cami did a great job serving. She has a really nice float serve, and she can put the ball where she wants to. She had 19 serving points tonight. That’s impressive,” Bindenagel said.
Albrecht also had 16 assists on Central’s 50 kills. Alivia Miller led the way with 20 assists.
“Our setters spread the ball around tonight,” Bindenagel said. “Our outside hitters took the most swings, but they threw it back to our right sides when they needed to. Jaidyn Forsyth and Kennadi Withers combined for 15 kills, which is a nice balance to have.”
Burckhard again led the Golden Eagles on the attack, going 57 of 64 with 22 kills. She said the Eagles blocking was a big part of the victory.
“When we finally got those touches on (the Spearfish) attack, we were able to play the ball and get in system and then we’d come back and just try to slam it down as hard as we could,” she said. “Volleyball is a game of mistakes, and I’m trying to make sure my teammates have someone to lean on when we make them. When I make a mistake, I own it, and when someone else does, I just say, ‘Hey, you’re good, let’s go.'”
The Golden Eagles were swept 25-23, 25-21, 25-18 by Sioux Falls Lincoln on Tuesday, Sept. 16 in Sioux Falls. Burkhard’s nine kills led the way for Central, which hosts Sioux Falls Washington on Thursday, Sept. 18.
Aberdeen Christian’s Ari Johnson, right, and Hitchcock-Tulare’s Gracyn Bixler battle to win a point during the third set of their match Tuesday, Sept. 16 at the Aberdeen Christian Gym. Johnson put the ball down for the point, but Hitchcock-Tulare won the match in four sets. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Aberdeen Christian stumbles in four-set loss to Hitchcock-Tulare
After splitting the first two sets, Aberdeen Christian struggled to consistently get in system and lost to Hitchcock-Tulare 27-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-17 Tuesday, Sept. 16 at the Aberdeen Christian Gym.
The Knights are now 3-3 on the year, while the Patriots improved to 10-2.
Christian jumped out to an 8-2 lead the third set, but the Patriots staved off a set point to claim the game.
“I think once they gained just a little bit of momentum we kind of just shut down,” said Christian head coach Sally Gaul. “That’s pretty much what happened. We got the lead and couldn’t finish.”
Ari Johnson led the Knights on the attack with a match-high 24 kills.
“She makes some really good swings, no doubt. In that fourth set, I think Hitchcock-Tulare said, ‘Oh, I think they’re gonna set Ari Johnson, let’s go front her and put a block up on her.’ When that happens we have to rely on our other hitters to come up with kills, and that just didn’t happen enough for us,” Gaul said.
The Patriots gained separation by getting Christian out of system on serve receive, which allowed Hitchcock-Tulare’s offense to find space.
“Again, it’s nothing that they did serve-wise, I just thought our girls got a little timid and just made too many errors,” Gaul said. “I’m trying to teach them errors happen, but we have to move on to the next point.”
Hitchcock-Tulare was led by a trio of seniors. Rebecca Huizenga had 19 kills and Cora Hofer added 10, while Gracyn Bixler finished with 36 assists, including the 1,000th of her prep career in the fourth set.
Christian returns to action Thursday, Sept. 18 on the road at Wolsey-Wessington.
Volleyball scoreboard
Tuesday, Sept. 16
- Warner def. Ipswich 25-13, 25-10, 25-16. Jaycee Jung had four of the Monarchs’ seven aces and added seven digs. Marley Guthmiller had 17 kills for Ipswich.
- Faulkton def. Leola/Frederick 25-6, 25-17, 25-17.
- North Central def. Langford 25-14, 25-12, 25-16.
Monday, Sept. 15
- Britton-Hecla def. Langford 25-13, 19-25, 25-17, 30-28, 15-9.
Saturday, Sept. 13
- Ipswich def. North Central 15-25, 25-23, 25-22; def. McIntosh 25-11, 25-20; def. Stanley County 25-21, 25-13; def. Timber Lake 25-9, 25-13 to win a tournament in Roscoe and improve to 8-1. Marley Guthmiller had a combined 53 kills in the four matches.
- Langford lost to Sanborn Central 22-25, 25-7, 25-15; def. Sunshine Bible Academy 25-18, 25-19; lost to Wolsey-Wessington 25-13, 25-11; def. Marty 25-16, 25-17. Lizzie Gustafson had 19 kills in the Lions’ four games.
Thursday, Sept. 11
- Aberdeen Christian def. North Central 20-25, 25-23, 9-25, 25-16, 15-7.
- Leola/Frederick def. Tiospa Zina 25-2, 25-10, 25-11.
- Ipswich def. Sunshine Bible Academy 25-16, 25-5, 25-10.
- Florence/Henry def. Langford 25-16, 25-11, 18-25, 25-19.
