Dakota Valley unplugged the power source of the Hamlin Chargers Friday night.

The top-seeded Panthers moved into the championship match of the State A Volleyball Tournament following a 25-20, 25-17, 25-9 semifinal victory at The Monument.

“They’re a strong team, they’re a fast team. Obviously run an even faster tempo than we do,” said Hamlin coach Ashley Heinrich. “We were having a hard time catching up. Unfortunately, it did not roll our way today.”

Hamlin fell behind 6-1 in the opening set and needed an answer to slow down the Panthers.

That solution came from Jayci Trowbridge, who put up back-to-back aces cutting the deficit down to 6-4.

“I just really was trying to focus on getting it in bounds,” said Trowbridge.

However, serving was a double-edged sword for the Chargers as they suffered service errors while serving down 4-6, 6-8, tied at 9-9, up 11-10, down 17-18, and down 20-23.

“We would get back in it, get close. We’d tie it up, maybe get ahead by one, service error,” Heinrich said. “I mean you’re gonna have those, but when you’re playing a team like Dakota Valley, it just, yeah it sucks.”

The Chargers found themselves in a similar situation in the second set trailing early on, and this time it was Addison Neuendorf who hit an ace to help get the Chargers back in it.

Later in the set, Hamlin trailed 12-7 and Heinrich called a timeout to rally the troops. Neuendorf responded with three straight kills to cut the margin to 12-10.

“As a competitor, my thought is always ‘How can I get us back into the game?’” Neuendorf said. “What can I do to get my team in a better position to win this set, win this game? So just kind of doing everything that I could.”

The run stopped there, however, as Dakota Valley scored four straight points, before going on another four-point run to push the lead to 22-15.

The Panthers were able to muster multiple runs of a few points at a time, which is what separated them from Hamlin in the first two sets.

“They get some of those, and we, unfortunately, did not get many to go our way. We wouldn’t get too many runs on our side,” Heinrich said. “So that definitely is a difference in a game when we allow them on that kind of run, and then we couldn’t get some to go our way.”

A key to those runs was an efficient offense led by Claire Munch who finished with 18 kills on the night.

“I think we kind of struggled with our block, but that’s any team against a really good team,” Trowbridge said. “We weren’t prepared for their big hitters and how fast they were moving.”

And those big hitters made adjustments throughout the match making it even more difficult for the Chargers.

“Their hitters are really good. They read our block really well. We were set up in the cross, so they were going line,” Neuendorf said. “And then we pulled line and they were going cross.”

Going into the third set, the Chargers found themselves facing a deficit once again. And once again, it was Trowbridge who hit back-to-back aces to give some momentum to the Hamlin side.

“I was just really thinking I need to get the positive energy somehow and try to cheer them up a little bit,” Trowbridge said. “And just getting those easy points will help us a lot with our energy and get everybody a little bit excited.”

The Chargers weren’t able to sustain that energy though as Dakota Valley finished off the sweep.

With one more match left in the season, Hamlin will face Sioux Falls Christian for third place at 5 this evening (MST).

“These girls gave it their all tonight, and I told them that we have an opportunity to still go for third place (Saturday) and come out of this 2-1,” Heinrich said. “I certainly hope that we’re gonna rise to that challenge and bring our best game (Saturday).”

Serving: Hamlin 7 aces (Jayci Trowbridge 4, Addison Neuendorf 2, Paxton Neuendorf 1); Dakota Valley 11 aces (Samantha Kimbell 7, Madie Munch 2).

Hitting: Hamlin 21 kills (A. Neuendorf 11, Addelyn Jensen 7); Dakota Valley 37 kills (Claire Munch 18, Kimbell 7, Skylar Anderson 5).

Setting: Hamlin 20 assists (Issie Steffensen 19); Dakota Valley 36 assists (M. Munch 32).

Digs: Hamlin 43 (Trowbridge 14, P. Neuendorf 9, A. Neuendorf 7); Dakota Valley 55 (Aubree Worden 12, Coryn Kimbell 10, S. Kimbell 10, C. Munch 10, M. Munch 10).

Blocks: Hamlin 2 (Maddy Jutting 2 assisted, Jade Thue 1 assisted, Kayde Nebel 1 assisted); Dakota Valley 4 (M. Munch 1 solo 2 assisted, Anderson 2 assisted).

Records: Hamlin 22-5; Dakota Valley 33-3.