On Saturday, the Patriots traveled over to Clark to take part in a 12 team tournament. In pool play, the Patriots faced the De Smet Bulldogs. In the first set, the Patriots went back and forth with the Bulldogs. The Patriots would make a late run to win the first set 25-22. In the second set, the Patriots built a big lead only to see De Smet make a run late in the set and make it interesting. The Patriots would hold off the Bulldogs 27-25 and win the match 2-0.
Leading the way in the match was Katelyn Schroeder with 13 kills and 2 aces, and 11 digs. Ella Johnson added in 8 digs. Lila Johnson recorded 13 assists for the winning team. Rebecca Huizenga played huge at the net as she recorded 2 solo and 4 block assists. Lila Johnson also recorded 3 block assists.
Match two in pool play was against the Britton-Hecla Braves. It was all Patriots in the both sets as, the Braves had a tough time stopping the barrage of hits the Patriots were giving them. The ladies won both sets by a score of 25-17 and 25-18.
Schroeder would tally double digit kills with 12 and Rebecca Huizenga recorded 9 kills. Isabel Gilbert and Schroeder each recorded an ace in the match. Lila Johnson led the team with 21 assists.
Defensively, Gilbert and Lila Johnson each tallied 2 block assists. Digs were spread throughout as Schroeder led the team with 6 and then Ella Johnson and Lila Johnson each having 5.
The Patriots then advanced to the Gold Bracket and faced the host, the Clark-Willow Lake Cyclones. The match was close throughout as the Cyclones gave the Patriots everything they could handle. In the first set, the Patriots got down early, but came back and both teams were out of time-outs as Clark-Willow Lake used the final time-out when the score was tied 16-16. The Patriots would keep the run going late in the set and finish set one, by a score of 25-19.
Set two, it was all Cyclones as the Patriots got down six right away and could never get much going. The Cyclones beat the Patriots 25-14 to set up a deciding set three.
Set three was the most exciting set of the match as both teams played point for point. The Patriots would take a 24-23 lead off a hitting error. The Patriots had several chances to put the set away and they finally did with a great hustle play. The Patriots would end up winning the set 25-23 and sending them to the championship match.
Leading the way for the Patriots was Katelyn Schroeder with 13 kills and Rebecca Huizenga with 10 kills. Ella Johnson also came up big with 9 kills. The Patriots recorded 5 aces in the match with five different players each recording an ace each. Lila Johnson tallied 29 assists.
Defensively, Cambree Hoekman tallied a team leading 18 digs, Schroeder would tally 16, Ella Johnson with 15. Emmerie Arthurs and Lila Johnson each had 10 digs in the win. Schroeder and Arthurs each had a block assist.
The win set up a rematch with the undefeated Estelline-Hendricks Redhawks in the championship match. Earlier in the season, the Redhawks defeated the Patriots in their own tournament. The Patriots came to play on all all cylinders. The Patriots jumped out to leads in both sets and blew the Redhawks out by scores of 25-15 and 25-16 and taking the championship match 2-0.
Schroeder led the team with 10 kills, Huizenga would follow with 6 and Ella Johnson added in 5 kills. The team would record 5 aces in the match, with Ella Johnson recording 2 aces. Lila Johnson tallied 18 assists in the match.
Defensively, the Patriots came to play as Cambree Hoekman led the team with 12 digs, Arthurs and Schroeder each had 10. Huizenga would tally 2 solo blocks and 3 block assists. Ella Johnson and Schroeder would also chip in 2 block assists.
The Patriots went a perfect 4-0 on the day and improved their record to 9-3. The Patriots are right back in action on Tuesday night as they travel to Aberdeen to take on the Aberdeen Christian Knights. Jr. High will begin at 5:15 p.m, followed by JV and Varsity.