by Kelsey Buchholz, GHS Teacher & Coach
The Blue Dragon (6-0) volleyball program opened up their season on Tuesday, August 24 with a brand new lineup. After graduating six seniors last year, the underclassmen have had to step up to fill those roles, and that is just what they have done.
Hosting Tri-Valley in the season opener, the Blue Dragons came out swinging taking an early 9-2 lead. They kept that strong pace throughout the first set winning easily 25-11. The second set mirrored the first as the Blue Dragons took care of business with a 25-12 victory.
The third set however caught the Blue Dragons by surprise as the Mustangs pushed the Dragons on their heels, with scores tied at 7s and then again at 18s. However, Garretson pushed seven of the final nine points for a 25-20, three set victory.
Senior outside hitter Lily Ranschau led the way with 9 kills, 6 digs, and 2 aces. Sophomore Alli Gawarecki tallied 6 kills, 5 digs, and 3 aces on the night. Senior Maren Bonte read the Mustang offense well, gathering 14 digs. Junior Logan Bly had a strong serving night with four of the team’s nine aces and senior Jaelyn Benson put up 25 assists.
Garretson turned around two days later to face Big East Conference foe, the Beresford Watchdogs. After a down season last year, Beresford was looking to defend their territory. They put the pressure on the Blue Dragons throughout the first set.
Garretson took an 8-4 lead but the Watchdogs closed that gap to just a two-point Blue Dragon lead, 16-14. Garretson was able to come out on the right end of some long rallies for the first set victory, 25-19.
The second set saw an aggressive Beresford team, as the game was knotted at 8s. But the Blue Dragons kicked it into high gear and came away with a 25-16 win.
Garretson looked to close out another win in a straight set victory and they did, taking an early lead of 6-3 and then spreading it to 12-4, sparking a Beresford timeout. While the scoring was fairly even after that, it was just too much for the Watchdogs to overcome. Garretson won in three, with a 25-14 win in the last set.
Ranschau once again led the team in kills with 9, picking up six digs, and an ace on the night. Bly put down 8 kills, picked up 3 digs, and served another ace. Gawarecki had 7 kills and led the team with 9 digs.
Junior Anna Jones, sophomore Kaylin Koch, and Benson each had four kills on the night. Benson also had 27 assists.
Then with one day off in between, the Blue Dragons rounded out their hectic opening week with an appearance at the Canton Tournament. They were placed in a pool with West Lyon (IA), Lennox, and Canistota.
Garretson swept their opponents in pool play, winning the first two sets as it was a best of three format. They took down West Lyon 25-18 and 25-13, Lennox at 25-13 and 25-11, and then Canistota 25-9 and 25-13.
Coming out as the top seed of their pool, Garretson played the top team out of the other bracket, the Dell Rapids Quarriers. Dells looked strong but Garretson took care of business with 25-14 and 25-18 wins to secure the Canton tourney championship.
The stats piled up for the Blue Dragons during the tournament including in kills (Ranschau – 27, Bly – 18, Koch – 15, Gawarecki – 12), digs (A. Gawarecki – 22, Lexi Gawarecki – 18, Ranschau – 14, Benson – 14), aces (Benson – 6, A. Gawarecki – 6, Bly – 4, Sydney Olson – 4).
The Blue Dragons are back in action tonight in the Dragons’ Lair hosting rival Baltic Bulldogs. C team starts at 5:00, JV at 6:15, and varsity at 7:15. It is also parents’ night.
