by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
On Thursday, Sept 9 and Saturday, Sept 11 the Lady Dragon volleyball team competed in the Big East Tournament, taking on Flandreau, McCook Central/Montrose, and Chester. While the Dragons dominated against the Flandreau Fliers, the MCM Cougars and Chester Flyers came out of the gate ready to take on the powerhouse team.
First to the net were the Fliers, taking the first point on a return by Flandreau. However, the Dragons quickly rallied and began racking up the points, netting six before allowing Flandreau to have the ball back. The Fliers began catching up, nearly tying the Dragons before the team began pulling away again, but stayed close behind. The Lady Dragons continued to return the ball and were successful, taking the first set 25-17.
The Fliers took the first two points on the second set, but the Dragons hit their stride and gathered 4 points to Flandreau's 3. At that time, Garretson began pulling away. This deflated the Fliers' spirit, and Garretson took full advantage and won 25-12.
The Fliers again took the first point of set 3, but a kill by Logan Bly netted the Dragons their return to the scoreboard. Their lead was short-lived, however, as Flandreau pulled ahead 7-5. A kill by Lily Ranschau and solid serve by Kaylin Koch returned the team to a tie, and a block with a tip over the net by Anna Jones put the team back in front. The Dragons pulled ahead and didn't look back, keeping the lead until the end, 25-17.
With the win against Flandreau under their belt, Garretson was determined to win against MCM. The Cougars had taken on Parker in the Garretson School old gym earlier and won in three sets as well.
With the two teams evenly matched, the points traded back and forth. MCM was victorious during the first set despite a solid showing from the Dragons, who netted 20 points to the Cougars' 25. Garretson was determined to make a comeback, and a kill by Bly put the team on the board first during the second set. A solid serve by Aaliyah Leedy put the Dragons two points in the lead. When Alli Gawarecki took possession of the ball, the Dragons refused to let the Cougars have it back until they had gathered four more points, putting the score at 6-1. The Cougars' attempts to rally were foiled as Garretson continued to settle the ball in the competition's court, and the Dragons finished the set 25-13.
Now with one set win each, the two teams faced off in set three, staying neck-in-neck throughout. Minor errors by the Dragons added up to MCM taking the lead and holding it for much of the set, but the Dragons dug in and didn't give up. They continued tying the score as MCM would attempt to pull away. Garretson took the lead as the teams hit 20 points each, but the Cougars stole it back until game point. The Dragons re-tied the set 24-24, then 25-25. Garretson pulled ahead after a kill by Bly and took the set after another kill by Lily Ranschau.
In the fourth set, the Cougars were out for blood, sinking the Dragons point after point. Garretson just couldn't seem to rally, showing their exhaustion and losing the set 16-25. Though team spirits were low and exhaustion high, the Dragons hit set five determined to win. The Dragons put the first point on the board and worked to keep the lead. MCM made it difficult, tying up the score. The Cougars then pulled ahead and wouldn't let go until they had gathered twelve points to Garretson's ten. The Dragons then roared into action, re-taking the lead and keeping it. With one point left to win the set and the game, Garretson's Bly and Jaelyn Benson provided a solid block and tip over the net that the Cougars couldn't return, winning the set 15-13.
During the game with MCM, Benson, a senior, reached a milestone of 1000 assists during her high school volleyball career.
The team then had a day of rest and traveled to Montrose on Saturday to face off against the Chester Flyers. Garretson put up a solid fight against the first-seeded Flyers, taking the first set 25-23. They gave up the second set 23-25, but didn't let that stop them as they won the third set 25-19. With the game on the line, Chester fought back, barely taking the fourth set 27-25. Now in the final set, the two teams traded points, with the Flyers stealing the game from the Dragons at 15 points to Garretson's 12, leading to the Dragon's first overall loss of the season.
The team sat at 9-1 overall for the season as they faced off again with the Flandreau Fliers on Tuesday evening (results unavailable at press time), and will be playing in Dell Rapids next Tuesday, Sept 21.