Langford Area’s Montana Marlow set the ball for a teammate as Coach Susan Larson looks on during regular season action. Marlow and Avery West will be the only members of this year’s team that will be lost to graduation.
Volleyball Tourneys Set
All three state volleyball champions are back to defend their titles when the state classics get underway on Thursday at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls O’Gorman returns to defend its Class AA crown, Sioux Falls Christian is the defending Class A champ, and Warner is seeking another Class B title. This year the tournament will be combined with Class AA, A, and B all competing at the same time.
The state meet will be a six session tournament with adult session tickets at $15.00 each and the student session tickets at $10.00 each session or a season ticket may be purchased for $50 for adult and $30 for students.
Sessions begin at 11:30 a.m. each day with the championship matches set for 7 p.m. on Saturday.
First round Class AA matchups pair top-seeded Sioux Falls Washington (25-4) and number eight Rapid City Stevens (23-12) at 11:30 a.m., #4 Sioux Falls Jefferson (23-6) plays #5 Pierre (16-5) at 1:15 p.m., second seed Sioux Falls O’Gorman (25-4) vs. seven seed Huron (18-9) at 5 p.m., and third-seeded Harrisburg (25-3) takes on sixth seed Sioux Falls Lincoln (20-10) at 6:45 p.m.
Class A pairings match #1 Wagner (31-3) against eight seed Elk Point-Jefferson (24--9) at 11:30 a.m., fourth seed Sioux Falls Christian (30-5) plays fifth seed Dakota Valley (26-7) at 1:15 p.m., second seed Miller (32-2) meets #7 Platte-Geddes (27-7) at 5 p.m., and #3 Elkton-Lake Benton (30-3) vs. #6 Belle Fourche (32-6) at 6:45 p.m.
In the Class B tournament #1 Warner (34-2) plays #8 Freeman (21-9) at 11:30 a.m., #4 Northwestern (27-8) vs. #5 Wolsey-Wessington (28-4) at 1:15 p.m., #2 Burke (31-4) meets #7 Castlewood (22-7) at 5 p.m., and #3 Chester Area (26-5) vs. #6 Colman-Egan (23-9) at 6:45 p.m.