HAMLIN – The Hamlin Chargers are back in this year’s State A Volleyball Tournament following a thrilling five-set victory over West Central in the SoDak 16.

The Chargers enter the tourney as the fifth seed with a 21-4 record.

“Obviously emotions were pretty high that day and I think we kind of settled into our normal groove of postseason practices,” said Hamlin coach Ashley Heinrich. “We were kind of living that high for a little bit, but now, we kind of got down to business and are focusing on Clark-Willow Lake.”

Out the Chargers’ four losses, a pair came in their first two matches of the season against Brandon Valley and Groton. It took Hamlin a little bit to find its footing.

“We’re kind of young. A good mix of young and veteran players, and I think the first two games were definitely just sort of finding our groove as a team,” said Heinrich. “I think it really showed us like hey, if we don’t get this figured out, the season that we thought we were gonna have might go down the drain real fast.”

As the season progressed the Chargers grew with their young talent, led by the team’s older leaders.

“I really think our younger girls look up to and model the behaviors of our older girls, which is really great. I mean that’s kind of the culture of our gym, so they just kind of figured out their roles,” Heinrich said. “We’re gonna win big games if our younger girls can play without fear, which I think they’ve done. Which is also because they are supported by our older girls as well, so I guess it’s kind of a great mix.”

After the slow start to the year, the Chargers won seven straight matches, followed by losses to Miller and Dell Rapids. Hamlin has now won its last 14 matches heading into today’s state tourney.

“We really kind of drill that in practice to just keep our emotions even and not to let those highs and lows really affect us,” said Heinrich. “That’s kind of what we’ve just been focusing on is just how do we play the game and just making sure we’re at the best level possible going into the state tournament.”

A pair of standout basketball players have also been solid leaders on the volleyball squad.

“Obviously Addie Neuendorf, she’s clearly our team leader. So, we kind of look to her to set the pace of the game,” said Heinrich. “But then Addie Jensen, she’s my opposite pin and I mean, as a left-handed, that girl has grown so much and she’s only a sophomore.”

On the defensive side, a couple more names stand out for the Chargers.

“Defensively, we got some young girls as well. Jaycee Trowbridge is my Libero. She does a great job back there,” said Heinrich. “Honestly, it just feels like all of these girls have really kind of figured out what their role is.”

With nearly every girl on this year’s team being a part of last year’s tourney, the Chargers have state tournament experience, which they hope will give them an upper hand.

“I think some of our strengths is just the fact that we’ve been here before, so there’s not as much of the nervousness that goes into it,” Heinrich said. “All of the girls I have playing right now were either playing in the state tournament last year, or at least part of the team so they’ve been through that atmosphere.”

Today’s first-round contest against Clark-Willow Lake at 12:45 p.m. is a rematch of game late in the regular season when Hamlin handed the Cyclones their only loss of the season.

“How unfortunate we have to go six hours to see a region or conference opponent, in a sense. But at the same time, we’re super excited and I know they’re probably looking forward to a rematch with us,” Heinrich said. “You kind of know what they’re gonna bring to the table, and I’m sure they know what we’re gonna bring to the table. So, at the end of the day, it always just comes down to who makes the least amount of unforced errors.”

The Chargers come into the tournament with a saying they’ve used all year.

“On the back of our warmups this year, we kinda had our slogan for the year. It says, ‘Sometimes you, sometimes me, always we,’ and then we always use the word ‘grit’ a lot,” Heinrich said. “Sometimes you’re the one getting the kill, sometimes it’s me. But together, I mean volleyball is the ultimate team sport, so together, we have to win this game.”