SIOUX FALLS – Castlewood pushed Colman-Egan to the brink once again on Saturday, and for the third time this season came up just short.

Colman-Egan edged the Warriors 21-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 19-17 in the fifth-place match of the Class B State Volleyball Tournament Saturday at the Sanford Premier Center.

It was a nearly identical situation to the SoDak 16 when Castlewood rallied from two sets down to pull out a win over Faith to qualify for the state tournament.

“It was good. It was nice to see because we did the same thing with the SoDak,” said Castlewood senior Emerson Carter. “We kind of thought that we would come back and do it again, but not quite. It was close though.”

Before Castlewood tried to stop the bleeding on the court, the Warriors had to stop the bleeding off the court.

Setter, Cassidy Kirwan, exited the court just after starting lineups were announced because of a nosebleed. She entered the game shortly after, but Castlewood had to play part of the set without her.

“Well, nosebleed right away doesn’t really help. We’ve been having nosebleeds all year, so it’s been a constant struggle,” said Castlewood coach Breanna DeKam. “So, our main setter was out. So that kind of throws us off. But I thought they did well coming back after that.”

Castlewood features a young squad and only had one senior on the court as well.

“We had to get the nerves. A lot of us are young,” DeKam said. “I kept telling them, ‘You gotta swing hard, and you gotta be aggressive.’”

The Warriors knew blocking would be crucial to help slow down a variety of Colman-Egan hitters.

“We work really hard. They got back row setters, so we don’t worry about the setter, and you focus on that hitter,” DeKam said. “I thought Lilly (Jacobsen) did a really nice job. I kept telling her, ‘Own that net. Everything up there is yours.’”

The Warriors accumulated 26 assisted blocks, four coming from the sophomore Jacobsen, who said the team has been working on blocking all year.

“We’ve been working a lot on blocking this year, especially with the newer girls because we are a younger team,” said Jacobsen. “I’m working my hardest at it, and I can only go uphill from there. They have really good hitters, congrats to them.”

Trailing by two sets to start the match, the Warriors turned to Carter, who has led them in hitting all season.

“I’m really proud of Emerson. I mean, she started since her freshman year and her confidence has just grown and grown each year, and she has the best attitude on the court,” DeKam said. “She goes out and she knows that she can do it, and she shows it.”

The Warriors tried to take advantage of their crowd to gain some traction during the match.

“I feel like volleyball’s such a momentous sport, so it really helped having an awesome student section,” said Jacobsen. “And such awesome teammates that will help uplift you in those times in need.”

Castlewood had momentum nearing the end of the fourth set up 19-15 with Carter at the service line. The Warriors extended the lead to 21-15 before losing a point, meaning that Carter rotated off the floor, leaving Castlewood to get four points without their best player.

Carter had faith in her team to close out the set while she waited on the sideline.

“I believed in them pretty well. We sometimes fold under pressure, but we didn’t this time. Which was really nice to see under this big crowd,” Carter said. “I believe that they could do it, and they did, which was nice.”

Not being on the court at the end of the fourth set, Carter wanted to make an instant impact in the fifth and she did. She scored the first point of the set, and had three kills total in the pivotal set. She finished with 18 total.

“I was just trying to get as many swings in when I was in the front row as I could,” said Carter. “Trying to make a difference in the score a little bit. Trying my best.”

The Warriors kept battling until the end, but came up just short one more time to Colman-Egan.

“I’m very proud of our season,” Jacobsen said. “We didn’t stop fighting until the end.”

The Warriors came in as the eighth seed and walked away with a sixth-place finish.

“We definitely had our struggles. A lot of ups and downs,” DeKam said. “So, making it to this point and showing that we can play with the top eight teams, it’s awesome. I’m proud of the girls.”

Castlewood is only losing two seniors, but one of them is Carter.

“We’re definitely going to miss our seniors. We have two of them, one being Emerson,” said DeKam. “So, filling that role is what we are going to be looking for, but I have a positive outlook on it.”

Serving: Castlewood 11 aces (Dayton Knecht 4, Cassidy Kirwan 3, Ciara Kjetland 3); Colman-Egan 8 aces (Presley Luze 3, Savanna Schmidt 2, Brynlee Landis 2).

Hitting: Castlewood 39 kills (Emerson Carter 18, Kirwan 9, Lilly Jacobsen 6); Colman-Egan 62 kills (Landis 21, Elaina Rhode 18, Anna Zwart 9).

Setting: Castlewood 33 assists (Kirwan 17, Emery Larson 14); Colman 57 assists (Luze 29, Kaylee Voelker 26).

Digs: Castlewood 101 (Nora Solber 24, Kirwan 23, Knecht 11); Colman-Egan 93 (Luze 26, Rhode 19, Landis 17)

Blocks: Castlewood 26 assists (Ava Ruml 7 assists, Cydni Kudrna 7 assists, Carter 5 assists); Colman-Egan 3 solo 12 assists (Landis 2 solo, Michoen Williamson 1 solo 3 assists, Voelker 4 assists).

Records: Castlewood 20-11; Colman-Egan 25-6.