WATERTOWN – Clark-Willow Lake did something it has done all year Tuesday night in order to accomplish something it hasn’t done in more than two decades.
The Cyclones won for the 25th time in 26 outings to secure their first trip to the State A Volleyball Tournament since 2001 with a 25-15, 25-21 25-18 win over Aberdeen Roncalli in SoDak 16 action at the Watertown Civic Arena.
“It’s great. We’ve been working really hard for this. We knew we had a good shot at it, we just had to put it all together,” said Clark-Willow Lake coach Betty McGraw. “I feel like we’re finally hitting our stride on the season which is so important. Yeah, just a super fun win.”
The opening set was tight most of the way, before the Cyclones secured the victory.
“I think it was really awesome that we could establish the tone,” said Clark-Willow Lake middle hitter Shelby Begeman said.
Up until the Cyclones pieced together runs of three straight and four straight points to close out the set, neither team was able to gain much traction.
“We talked a lot about shutting down the opponents when they do kind of get on those runs,” said Roncalli coach Leesa Ware, “and not allowing them to do that and score more and more points.”
Roncalli jumped out to an early lead in the second set and held it for the majority of the set.
“The girls knew that hey, this could potentially be our last match and for the seniors, that’s really, really crucial to them. And everyone just kind of picked it up,” Ware said. “We’re on when we’re talking and you could see that on the floor.”
Even in a packed gym, you could hear Roncalli senior Ava Danielson from the backline communicating throughout each point.
“It’s a very big part of the game. I know personally for me, I try and talk to my hitters as much as I can,” Danielson said. “Even if they can’t hear me through all the chaos, I at least try.”
With Roncalli up 18-13 in the second set, McGraw called a timeout.
The Cyclones responded to the message that McGraw delivered.
“Lock in, and just keep going,” Begeman said. “And get on a run.”
The Cyclones did just that, scoring six straight points to take a 21-20 lead. Roncalli tied it up on a Grace Cogley kill, but the next four points belonged to the Cyclones, as they completed a 5-point comeback to take the second set.
“Momentum is everything in volleyball, and we had it right away. We let it slip in the second set a little bit, but we practice this stuff. We practice what to do in those moments,” McGraw said. “Everybody just had to refocus into what we were doing. Lock back in. Focus on each other, not our own mistakes and then we went from there.”
Begeman helped to secure the sweep as she tallied 11 kills in the third set alone, more than any other player on the court in all three sets.
“Zoe (Nichols) had really good sets tonight and it just kind of meshed together,” Begeman said. “It felt good.”
Begeman scored the final five points of the match to send her team into the state tournament next week in Rapid City.
“It was crazy,” Begeman said. “It was just fun to finish the game off strong.”
Although the Cavaliers fell short of their goal of making the state tournament, the girls fought hard until the end.
“I said, ‘You guys need to be extremely proud of where we ended up,’ even just their growth, their leadership, everything else throughout the entire season,” Ware said. “They cannot hang their heads one single bit about the season and where we ended up. They played hard tonight. They did.”
Few people get to win their final competition. Danielson was happy she got to experience her last one with her closest teammates.
“I’m just so proud of my team. We had so many ups and downs, but we fought all the way through. I mean, we made it this far. That’s a great accomplishment altogether,” Danielson said. “Oh, it’s hard. It’s so hard. I grew up playing with them. Yeah, it’s very bittersweet. It’s kind of hard to let go of that.”
The Cyclones will get ready to face Hamlin in the first round of next week’s state tournament. The Chargers handed Clark-Willow Lake its only loss of the season.
On the other side of the court, the Cavaliers have a bright future ahead of them with young talent.
“I think we’re gonna be just as good, if not better, next year,” Ware said.
Serving: Aberdeen Roncalli (Rylee Voeller 14-14 2 aces); Clark-Willow Lake 64-72 2 aces (Zoe Nichols 15-16 1 ace, Zoey Helkenn 8-9 1 ace)
Hitting: Aberdeen Roncalli (Karsyn Davis 10 kills, Grace Cogely 6 kills, Jillian Ellwein 5 kills, Voeller 5 kills); Clark-Willow Lake 104-114 (Shelby Begeman 20 kills, Ella Sass 9 kills, Eliza Larson 6 kills).
Setting: Aberdeen Roncalli (Elyana Roach 28 assists, Ava Danielson 2 assists); Clark-Willow Lake (Nichols 31 assists).
Digs: Aberdeen Roncalli (Voeller 19, Morgan Helms 14, Cambry Fiekert 13); Clark-Willow Lake (Kadee Frankfurth 19, Helkenn 6, Kelsey Hofer 5)
Blocks: Aberdeen Roncalli (Gabby Thomas 1 solo); Clark-Willow Lake (Begeman 4 solo, Sass 3 solo).
Records: Aberdeen Roncalli 18-12; Clark-Willow Lake 25-1.
