On Saturday, September 25, the Lady Patriots left early in the morning to take part in the Sioux Falls Pentagon Tournament. The first match of "Pool Play" pitted the Patriots against Alcester-Hudson. The ladies came out blazing as they got up by 10 early on in set one behind some aggressive serving. Eventually the Cubs would storm back and nip the Patriots at the end of set one by a score of 22-25. In set 2, the Patriots could not get much going and found themselves down four and five points most of the set and losing the match and set two 15-25. In this match, Katelyn Schroeder led the hitting with 9 kills. Shandi Chasing Hawk came up with 10 assists. Bethany Wiebe led the serving department going 12-13 from the line with 3 aces. Defensively Danielle Nowell led the team with 7 digs.
In the second match of the day the Patriots went up against Irene-Wakonda. In both sets, the Patriots controlled the sets early on and ran away with both by winning set one 25-15 and winning set two 25-17. Schroeder would once again lead the Patriots in offense with 8 kills. Ella Johnson also had a nice game at the net and chipped in with 5 kills. Wiebe went 8-9 at the service line with 2 aces. Chasing Hawk ran the offense and had 18 assists. Defensively Schroeder led the team with 14 digs and Brooklyn Frankenstein had a nice game and came up with 13 digs. Schroeder and Johnson each recorded a block solo and block assist to help the defense.
The third match of the day found the H-T squad going up against Oldham-Ramona/Rutland in the semi finals of the bracket. The Patriots got down early in both games. They did not have any answer to the Raiders attacks. The Patriots dropped both sets, to the eventual tournament champions, by scores of 16-25 and 19-25. Schroeder led the team with 6 kills. Chasing Hawk contributed 13 assists. Schroeder went 7-7 with 2 aces to lead the Patriots in the serving department; Chasing Hawk also had 2 aces on the day. Schroeder also led the team in digs with 8.
In the final match of the day, the Patriots took on Bon Homme for third place. The Bon Homme team came our blazing in the first set and Patriots found themselves down huge in the first set. They would eventually get back into the match but the deficit was to much to overcome and they dropped the first set 19-25. In set two, the set was close the whole way as both teams battled point for point and the Patriots would win set two 25-20 and knot the match at 1 game apiece. In set three, the Patriots played from behind most of the set. The Patriots called their final time-out as they found themselves down 21-22. The Patriots would come back in the final four points and nip the Cavaliers 25-23 and took the set and match and taking third place. Leading the way for the Patriots was Schroeder with 8 kills. Bethany Wiebe had a great game at the net with 6 kills. Chasing Hawk had 25 assists. Wiebe went 17-17 with once ace to the lead the Patriots and Schroeder went 12-12 and had 2 aces. Defensively, Schroeder had 15 digs and Madison Hofer chipped in with 13.
After the Saturday tournament, the Patriots move to 7-9 on the year. They will entertain Sunshine Bible Academy Tuesday night (9-28) in Hitchcock. The Jr. High/C game will begin at 5:15 p.m, followed by the JV and Varsity.