by Peyton Hove, GHS Blue Ink and staff reporting
The Garretson Blue Dragon volleyball team’s upcoming postseason is putting everyone on the edge of their seat. The Blue Dragon’s last regular season game was last Friday against the Dell Rapids St. Mary Cardinals, who were 9-7 prior to game time. The past week, Garretson also played the Sioux Valley Cossacks and Colman-Egan Hawks at home.
This season is by far one of the best seasons GHS has had in a while, with the Lady Dragons currently 18-4 (43.364 points). As of right now the Blue Dragons are second in their region, falling between Sioux Falls Christian (23-1, 46.667 points) and Baltic (14-6, 42.350). The Dragons’ goal was to keep the second seed to get a first-round bye, then they would host the winner of Baltic and Dell Rapids. The Lady Dragons were victorious, and the semi-final game was set for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 5 in the Dragon’s Lair. After that is the SoDak 16, where last year the Blue Dragons played MCM and fell short on their ticket to state.
Tuesday, October 20, Garretson had their last regular season away game against the West Central Trojans. The visitors started on a high note, winning the first two sets 25-19 and 25-22; however, they fell short of a clean sweep and lost the third set, 17-25. Garretson stayed on its game and won the fourth set 25-15, but lost the play-off set 13-15. But Garretson came right back and won the fourth set 25-15. The team ended the night with 80 digs, 53 kills, 52 assists, and seven aces.
Leaders
- Digs- Kennedy Buckneberg: 28, Lexi Gawarecki: 20, Peyton Hove & Lily Ranschau: 9
- Kills- Buckneberg: 19, Ranschau: 13, Logan Bly: 6, Anna Jones: 5
- Assists- Peyton Hove: 23, Jaelyn Benson: 18
With almost a week “break” the Dragons played on Monday October, 26 against the Sioux Valley Cossacks (now 11-15) in the Dragons’ Lair. The “C” team and JV started off the night strong, both winning their games. Carrying the momentum onto the varsity court, the Lady Dragons were focused and in high spirits starting off the game with a 5-1 run. Even though it wasn’t their best game, the Blue Dragons won 3-0: 25-15, 25-20, 25-19. Rounding out the night, the Blue Dragons tallied up 44 digs, 40 kills, 40 assists, and six aces.
Leaders
- Digs- Ranschau, Buckneberg, L. Gawarecki: 9 digs (each)
- Kills- Buckneberg: 11, Ranschau: 9, Bly: 6, Jones: 5
- Assists- P. Hove: 19, Benson: 9
The following night, the Blue Dragons hosted the Colman-Egan Hawks. Not only was it a big match, it was also senior night. Garretson volleyball seniors consist of Kennedy Buckneberg, Mattea Fiegen, Lauren Heesch, Peyton Hove, Madden Lardy, and Lizzie Olson. Although it wasn’t technically their last home game, “C” team had their last game and capped off their season perfectly, winning all 17 games. JV fought hard, but ended the night losing 0-2, which was their second loss of the season.
After the JV game, the senior night ceremony took place, then warmups, and finally game time. With emotions running high and heads not entirely in the game, the Blue Dragons fell short the first two sets: 19-25, 18-25. However, after Garretson decided to step up and fight back, they won the next two: 25-18, 25-18.
With momentum clearly on the Blue Dragons’ side, they were ready to get that fifth set. Winning the coin toss, the Dragons served the first ball and battled back and forth (no team getting more than a two-point lead) until the home team went down 8-11. Coach Northrup called a timeout to talk to his team, and following that the Blue Dragons scored two consecutive points causing Colman-Egan to call a timeout themselves. Soon after, the game was all tied up, 13-13.
Unfortunately, Garretson fell short 13-15 and walked away with their fourth loss of the season and first loss at home. In all, the Hawks outscored the Blue Dragons by just one point on the night. Garretson ended the night with 91 digs, 51 kills, 43 assists, and six aces.
Friday was the Blue Dragons’ last regular season game against Dell Rapids St Mary’s, which was a rescheduled game. DRSM had to postpone the Oct 6 game due to COVID. The Lady Dragons walked away victorious, winning in three sets with a score of 25-14, 25-19, 27-25.
This week playoffs began; everyone’s record is the same: 0-0.
When asked how they are preparing for the postseason, Buckneberg replied, “We are getting mentally prepared and focused with having great practices beforehand.”
Ranschau added, “I will be working hard in practice and practice like I would in a game, so I will be prepared come game time.”
While everyone’s goal is to make it to state, sophomore Anna Jones expressed, “I hope to make it to state, but we are going to focus one game at a time.” State A volleyball will be October 19-21 at the Watertown Civic Center.
Update 11/4/20: The by-line in the print edition was incorrect and has been corrected for the on-line edition.
Photo by Angela Bly Photo by Angela Bly
