VOLGA Sioux Valley picked up its third loss of the season on Thursday as Baltic beat the Cossacks in four sets at the Cossack Center.
The Bulldogs are now responsible for two of Sioux Valleys three losses this season as Baltic swept the Cossacks in the other meeting in the Big East Tournament on Sept. 12. Sioux Valley head coach Jill Vincent said she thought Thursday nights match was more competitive despite another loss.
This was a better match for us, she said. We had some things that we thought we could do and we were able to connect on a few things. Obviously we wish it was a different outcome or at least went to five, Vincent said.
Sioux Valleys lone set win of the night came in the second set and the Cossacks came through in the clutch as they won 28-26. Vincent said she thought the passing from her team was the difference in the set they won and the sets they lost.
I think in the second set we were setting the ball really well and putting the ball towards the net where we could actually swing at it. In sets three and four I dont think our sets were close enough, so I dont know if our passing had something to do with that or confidence of our hitters, but well have to work on that, Vincent said.
The first set went back-and-forth in the beginning as it was tied 8-8. Baltic (18-3) then went on a 7-2 run to go up 15-10. The Cossacks would cut the lead to 20-17 but the Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run to finish the set and take a 1-0 lead.
Sioux Valley (17-3) jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the second set. Baltic would cut the lead to 17-11 and then went on a 7-0 run to gain the lead. The two teams traded points before the Bulldogs went up 24-22 but Sioux Valley scored two straight to tie things up. Each team then had a set point before the Cossacks eventually scored three straight to win the set and tie things up.
It was 3-3 in the third set before the Bulldogs went on a 13-2 run to go up 16-6. Sioux Valley cut into the deficit a little bit but Balitc ended up winning the set 25-19.
The Bulldogs then led 9-5 in the fourth set but Sioux Valley came back and tied it up at 13-13. Baltic then went up 21-16 but Sioux Valley would cut it to 22-20. Unfortunately a pair of service errors from the Cossacks led to the Bulldogs winning the set 25-21 and taking the match.
Service errors were a theme of the night for both teams as Sioux Valley had nine and Baltic had 11. The Cossacks also had 22 receive errors.
We missed some timely serves at bad moments, Vincent said. We usually miss a few serves, but never two in-a-row. So, those are probably some things that we need to talk about and improve on.
The Cossacks were led by Emma Gorvin who had 10 kills and 17 digs. Kaedyn Sapp had nine kills and 18 digs. Adison Renkly had six kills and four aces. Michaela Gerasch had 18 assists and Sunny Hesby had 14 assists. Caitlin Russell had 12 digs and Keyra Kruse had seven kills. Lacey Langland had five kills.
Daynica Witzel led the Bulldogs with 15 kills and 18 digs. Tenley Witzel had 16 digs and eight kills. Maiya Fredrickson had 10 kills and seven digs. Ava Tiahart had 20 digs and Issie Clark had seven digs. Sophie Even had 41 assists.
The Cossacks will play in the Milbank Tournament on Saturday. The tournament begins at 9 a.m. and the teams include Sioux Valley, Beresford, Great Plains Lutheran, Milbank, Mobridge-Pollock, Ortonville (Minn.), Sisseton and Wilmot.
After that, Sioux Valley will travel to Chester on Tuesday to take on the No. 1 ranked team in Class B before closing the regular season with a match at Garretson and hosting Elkton-Lake Benton. Vincent said her team needs to stay confident as it heads into the final stretch of the season.
We just have to keep our confidence. You cant worry about a ball that just hit the floor because you have to play the next point. So, we have to keep our confidence and make sure that we keep hitting at the net, Vincent said.
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