| SIOUX FALLS — Pierre wanted to
venture where no Lady Governor volleyball team had
gone before. Standing in the way were the defending
Class AA champion Sioux Falls Roosevelt Rough
Riders. In a breathless, classic matchup, Pierre did gain its first AA championship berth, but the Lady Govs were stretched to five games in a see-saw struggle before prevailing 21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 13-25, 17-15, at the Sioux Falls Arena on Friday night. |
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“I knew it would be tough match,” said Pierre coach Kacy
Kienholz. “Roosevelt has the experience of moving on and we
haven’t.”
Roosevelt indeed played like a defending champion not ready
to relinquish the crown just yet. The Rough Riders rebounded
from a 19-15 deficit in Game 1, outscoring Pierre 10-2 down
the stretch.
Pierre claimed Games 2 and 3, but struggled in Game 4.
“There were times, like in that Game 4, that they seemed
like a totally different team,” Kienholz said of the Lady
Govs.
In the pivotal Game 5 Gina Geffre’s ace gave the Lady Govs
13-10 lead, but Roosevelt bounced back on a pair of Pierre
hitting errors. A lift called on Roosevelt put Pierre a
match point, but Alyssa Chambers’ kill kept the Rough Riders
close.
Polly Gill’s kill gave Pierre a 16-15 advantage, and when
Heather Goehring’s attack found the wrong side of the net,
the Pierre bench went into delirium.
“This shows the true heart of our team and how badly they
wanted it,” Kienholz said. “We made errors. We were down at
times. They were able to play through it and kept their
heads. You don’t give up. They were determined to get to
that state championship.”
Gill wound up with 16 kills to lead Pierre offensively,
along with Stephanie Paluch (10 kills) and Sam Flynn (eight
kills).
Chambers had 13 kills, four aces and five blocks, and
Goehring had 19 digs for Roosevelt.
“This game could have gone either way,” Roosevelt coach
Holly Lynch said. “I thought our girls put up a great fight.
They fought hard.”
“Pierre’s a great team,” Lynch said “They made their points
when it really counted “
Roosevelt, 17-7, will play cross-town rival Sioux Falls
Washington for third place today at 10 a.m. MST. Pierre
(22-0) will face Rapid City Stevens for the AA championship
at about 7 p.m.