Last week Tuesday, the Garretson Volleyball team was victorious against the Redfield Pheasants in the Class A Region 3 SoDak 16 tournament, sending the team to State for the first time since 1997!
On Tuesday, Garretson took down the Pheasants in 3 sets, 16-13, 25-20, and 25-18.
The 1997 District Champion team consisted of Mandy Nesheim, Tina Julson, Bobbie Bennett, Kayla Garry, Amy Liester, Jamie Lowe, Nikki Benson, Meredith Rekstad, Emily Korthals, Vanessa Stevenson, and Shannon Johnson, under the tutelage of Coach Julie McMahon and Asst Coach Brittney Klinger.
Two of those players, Jamie (Lowe) Benson and Meredith Rekstad, have players on this year's team. Seniors Jaelyn Benson and Lily Ranschau are following in their mothers' footsteps by heading to the State tournament. They, along with four other senior girls, have been solid leaders in this year's team play.
In 1997, the Lady Dragons took on the Howard Tigers to ascend to the State tournament, beating them after 8 sets.
"GHS was able to handle the pressure with confidence, great digging, and excellent teamwork," wrote the Garretson Weekly in its February 27, 1997 issue. It was the smallest class A team in the tournament.
That year, the State tournament was held in Watertown at the end of February. The team first faced Philip, who was seeded #1 that year. While they were not victorious, it was a season to be grateful for.
In 2021, the Dragons are again aiming to head for the top, and they have a solid chance. They are undefeated in regular conference play, having only lost once this season, at the end of the Big East tournament. Most of those victorious games were won in three sets, too. The Lady Dragons are seeded #2 in Class A, only behind Sioux Falls Christian.
They start out by taking on Elkton-Lake Benton on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. MT. All games will be streamed on-line at SDPB.org and can be found on SDPB1.
