UPDATE 11/2/22: The Blue Dragons pulled off the win against Dell Rapids on Tuesday, sending them into the second round of the quarterfinals against Sioux Falls Christian in Sioux Falls on Thursday, Nov 3 at 7:00 p.m.
On Tuesday, October 25, Garretson Volleyball played its final game of the regular season in Madison against the Bulldogs. While the two teams were evenly matched, Garretson gave as good as it got and took home the win after five sets.
The Lady Dragons took the first set after coming out of the gate roaring, snatching the first 6 points to Madison's 3. The Bulldogs didn't take kindly to the score, and caught up to the Dragons 8-8 before taking the lead. The Bulldogs continued to lead until the gap grew to 18-13, making it seem as though Madison might take the set. The Dragons didn't allow this to stand, and held the Bulldogs back as they tied the score back up at 19-19 and quickly pulled ahead. The Dragons closed the set on a failed serve by Madison, 25-21.
Set two continued in the same vein, with the two teams trading the lead until Madison again pulled ahead 9-14. They maintained that lead and widened the gap as Garretson struggled to pull the game back together in their favor. With the competition looking at the set point, the Dragons rallied to 20 points, then 22, driving hopes they would take the comeback win on the set. Madison pulled off a line drive that landed just inside of bounds, ending the set 22-25 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Madison took the lead early in set three, causing the Dragons to play catch-up. However, the Bulldogs widened that gap and dashed the Dragons hopes of snatching the third set at 13-25.
Assistant Coach Kelsey Buchholz wasn't going to allow her players to lose this game, and rallied the Dragons during the set break, helping them to break out of the gate swinging in set four. The competitors matched point-for-point until they were 6-6, when Garretson grabbed the ball and the lead. They broke away and widened the gap as Madison continued racking up service errors. The Bulldogs obtained its final point of the set on a line landing with the score at 22-14, allowing Garretson to snatch the win when they gathered the final three points.
The decisive fifth set saw Madison pull ahead and keep the lead 5-10 until a Bulldog kill went out of bounds. The Dragons then began to rally and closed the gap, tying the game 12-12. The powerhouse team grabbed the lead on a ball that landed in the net, and headed to the set point 14-12. They won the game on an ace with a net ball served by the Dragons.
With that 3-2 win and an overall season win-loss record of 18-7, the Lady Dragons headed into the quarterfinals to face off with Dell Rapids on Tuesday and took the win after five sets. The winner of that game plays tonight in Sioux Falls against the winner of the Sioux Falls Christian (25-7)/West Central (5-16) game.
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