by Morgan Pierret, Garretson Blue Ink; with additional information from Coach Kelsey Buchholz
After so much uncertainty if fall sports were going to happen, the volleyball team was very eager to get back on the court when they found out their season was still on.
Losing three seniors last year, the seniors this year had to step up to the plate. Peyton Hove, Lauren Heesch, Kennedy Buckneberg, Lizzie Olson, Madden Lardy, and Mattea Fiegen finally had their turn to be the team leaders.
Heesch, the team's libero, noted the team's positive response to the new seniors. “So far it’s been good! Everyone’s listening to the advice that they’ve been given,” she said.
The Lady Blue Dragons kicked off their volleyball season on Tuesday, Aug. 25 with a win against the Tri-Valley Mustangs. The game went into four sets with the scores of 25-17 in the first set, 25-13 in the second set, 21-25 in the third set, and 25-6 in the final set.
Lily Ranschau led the team with 18 kills, followed by Logan Bly with eight, and Kennedy Buckneberg with seven. The girls also had 11 aces and 64 digs as a team. Buckneberg and Jaelyn Benson both had three aces, and Heesch popped up 16 digs followed by Ranschau with 14.
“I think the game went pretty well, I think we worked good as a team and I think that our crowd was great, as well,” responded Ranschau.
The Dragons battled as a team to pull off these scores, and they won across every level. A clean sweep!
The Blue Dragons also played the Beresford Watchdogs on Thursday, Aug. 27, and took them down in three sets. The girls played fiercely and worked together as a team.
In the first set of the night, the Dragons came out on top 25-12. The second set the girls also won, 25-10. Winning the third set, and also the game, the Dragons beat the Watchdogs 25-17. C-team, JV, and varsity all won that night in another clean sweep.
Coming off of last year's impressive season, the girls have big goals for this year. Last year, the Blue Dragons had one of their best records in years, finishing as consolation champions of the conference and earning a number two seed in region play.
The girls made it into the SoDak 16 last year, but unfortunately, they ended the 2019 season with a record of 17-11. Although they fell one game short of making it to state last year, Heesch says one of the team's goals this year is to make the state tournament.
The Lady Blue Dragons' young season stayed busy as they played their third game in five days. However, that torrid pace hasn't taken anything out of the team as they were able to continue their winning streak, taking down Lennox in three sets.
The first set started strong for the hometown team as Garretson took an 8-1 lead with aggressive serves and strong attacks. The Blue Dragons were able to keep that strong gap in scoring throughout the first set, downing the Orioles 25-8.
This was the first set of the year for Lennox and they quickly made some in-game adjustments heading into set two. Despite falling behind quickly 2-7 and then 6-14, Lennox found their rhythm and closed the gap to five points, but was unable to finish it off. Garretson took set two 25-20.
The third set was a different story as the Orioles began to find their feet and the Blue Dragons maybe settled in a little too much. Garretson quickly fell behind 1-6 but was able to rally back midset, taking the slight 13-11 lead. After that, the game was in Garretson's claws as assuredly as it was all the way through the first two sets, and the Blue Dragons finished off Lennox 25-19 to sweep the game in three straight sets.
Leading the way for the Blue Dragons were junior Lily Ranschau (11 kills, 8 digs), senior Kennedy Buckneberg (8 kills, 5 digs), junior Jaelyn Benson (3 kills, 6 digs, 13 assists). Senior Lauren Heesch chipped in 7 digs and 2 assists while senior Mattea Fiegen and sophomore Logan Bly mirrored each other’s efforts with 3 kills, 4 digs, and 1 assist apiece.
Garretson returned to action Tuesday, September 1 in the Dragons' Lair, hosting Viborg-Hurley (results were pending at press time) and then they travel to Baltic on Thursday, September 3.
