RAPID CITY – The most memorable season in Aberdeen Christian history came to an end with a sixth place finish at the Class B State Volleyball Tournament Saturday.
The Knights fell to Chester Area 22-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-23, in the fifth place match at The Monument.
Christian got off to a solid start before the Flyers slowly gained momentum as the match wore on.
“They’re a good team. They just kept swinging, and kept moving the ball around and trying different things,” said Christian coach Maggie Jett. “We just weren’t able to adjust to what they were doing early enough.”
Chester Area hitters were able to find open spots on the floor by going down the line. That strategy caught the Knights off guard throughout the match.
“We weren’t really ready for them to hit down the line,” said Christian hitter Hanna Miller. “We should have made an adjustment.”
The Flyers had a pair of left-handed hitters that did a good share of the damage. The ball obviously comes at a different angle than with most hitters.
“It’s definitely an adjustment, but I thought we did pretty well with it,” said Christian senior Libero Joy Rohrbach. “They’re just really good at moving the ball all around the court and we just weren’t there to pick it up.”
Jett said that even though the Knights knew about Chester Area’s southpaw attack, it is difficult to replicate those angles in practice.
“We knew that was coming,” Jett said, “but when you don’t get to play against that too often and to have two on the same team, you’re not used to that.”
Mallory Miller led the Knights with 19 kills, while Hanna Miller followed with 15 and Mary Fites added 10.
The Knights ended their season with a 24-5 record and had a year full of first-time accomplishments.
“I think we’ve really grown as a team from start to finish,” Rohrbach said. “We got a lot better working together.”
Of course, one of those first-time moments occured this weekend by competing in the state tournament.
The atmosphere was much different than the regular-season with three courts in action at the same time.
“It’s crazy. The noise in here is like unbelievable,” Hanna Miller said. “Everybody is yelling. It’s sometimes distracting, because another court will get a point when we’re in the middle of ours.”
Christian will graduate six seniors, the bulk of which were the cornerstone of the team the past few seasons.
Jett was proud of the team’s record-setting accomplishments of the past season.
“I got emotional seeing the sixth place trophy. I mean it’s sixth in the state, you can’t be upset about that,” Jett said. “It really has been an incredible season. Just a ton of memories. This group has worked really hard and I’m glad that we’re ending it at the state tournament. I think that this group has earned that.”
Serving: Aberdeen Christian 6 aces (Mary Fites 2, Joy Rohrbach 1, Kaylee Block 1, Grace Kaiser 1, Chloe Bosma 1); Chester Area 8 aces (Lily VanHal 6, Emery Larson 1, Breckyn Ewoldt 1).
Hitting: Aberdeen Christian 52 kills (Mallory Miller 19, Hanna Miller 15, Fites 10); Chester Area 53 (Jayda Kenyon 15, Ewoldt 14, VanHal 8, Emmerson Eppard 7).
Setting: Aberdeen Christian 42 assists (Block 37); Chester Area 49 assists (VanHal 24, Carly Becker 17).
Digs: Aberdeen Christian 80 (Fites 17, H. Miller 17, Rohrbach 16, Block 14); Chester Area 99 (Larson 24, Becker 14, VanHal 12, Jacy Wolf 11, Serena Larson 10).
Blocks: Aberdeen Christian 1 solo 10 assists (H. Miller 1 solo 3 assists, M. Miller 3 assists, Kaiser 2 assists, Fites 1 assist, Bosma 1 assist); Chester Area 1 solo 6 assists (Eppard 1 solo 1 assist, Addison Bates 2 assists, Kenyon 2 assists, Ewoldt 1 assist).
Records: Aberdeen Christian 24-5; Chester Area 28-6.
