Last Thursday, August 25, the Blue Dragon Volleyball team stepped onto the home court for their second game of the season and showed the community that they've got the same can-do spirit that took them to State last year, trouncing Beresford in three sets.
Several players from the 2021 fall season are back, including seniors Logan Bly, Grace Hove, Rian Smidt, and Anna Jones.
The Lady Dragons opened their season at Tri-Valley on Tuesday the 23rd and brokered no argument that the stellar team was back on the court. Head Coach Dennis Northrup is back at the wheel with assistant coaches Kelsey Buchholz and Lauren Stoterau.
The Tuesday game against the Mustangs ended with a three-set score of 25-12, 25-17, 25-9.
Junior Kaylin Koch carried the game with 11 kills, followed by sophomore Aleah Wagner with 8 and Bly with 5. Hove had 5 aces and 22 assists, while sophomore Sydney Olson had 6 assists and 7 digs. Bly and Hove had 8 digs each.
On Thursday against the Beresford Watchdogs, the Lady Dragons came out on fire, blazing through the first two sets with a score of 25-7 and 25-11. They left a little bit of themselves on the sidelines when they entered set three, as Beresford attempted to take back the game. The two teams stayed neck-in-neck throughout most of the set, with Beresford pulling slightly ahead before Garretson would tie the set back up.
After that back-and-forth and with the set tied 16-16, Garretson again found its groove and pulled ahead, leaving Beresford behind. They ended the set 25-19, winning the game.
On Saturday, August 27, they traveled to Canton to partake in the Canton Tournament. There, they took their first loss of the season against Canton, 21-25 and 23-25. The Dragons did not let the loss stop them, and won their next three tournament games against West Sioux, Lennox, and Vermillion.
Against the West Sioux Falcons, the Lady Dragons came back with scores of 25-9 and 25-10. Wagner led the way with kills, hitting 12 in two sets. Tayler Benson had 9 digs, followed by Bly's 8. Hove gathered 23 assists and Koch powered the ball over the net with 4 aces.
Next, the Dragons took on Lennox and overpowered the team with 25-13 and 25-14. Koch, Bly, and Wagner had the most kills with 9, 7, and 6 respectively. Bly had the most digs with 13, followed by Benson's 11. Hove again stood out with assists, gathering 24.
In their final match-up of the day versus Vermillion, they again let the opposing team look at the ball but didn't allow them to get very far, winning the sets 25-16 and 25-13.
Bly led the last game against the Vermillion Tanagers with a kill score of 7, followed by Jones and Koch at 5. Olson had 4 aces and led the pack with 10 digs, while Wagner dug 6 balls and Bly had 5. Hove had 19 assists.
The team plays tonight (Thursday) against the Bulldogs in Baltic, then takes a week to perfect their game before taking on the first night of the Big East Conference tournament here in Garretson next Thursday. The Conference tournament begins at 6:00 p.m. and will play in 20-minute games.
