CHAMBERLAIN The Colman-Egan Hawks are heading back to the Class B State Tournament as they swept the Edgemont Moguls in three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-21 at Chamberlian High School in a SoDak 16 matchup on Tuesday night.
The win secured the Hawks fifth straight trip to the State Tournament and comes of the heels of finishing in fifth place last season. While C-E has become a frequent visitor to the state tournament, Hawks coach Abigail Hemmer says the trip is still special for the team.
Every year we know that its not a given and its usually been kind of a blood battle to get there, Hemmer said. You have to work really hard. The girls have to learn how to play in stressful moments during an intense game and the one thing we never take it for granted or just assume that were going to be there. You still have to work harder than everybody else and make sure you make it there.
To punch their ticket, the Hawks utilized a mindset they established at the beginning of the Regional Tournament. Colman-Egan entered the SoDak 16 with a 21-5 record but Hemmer believed her teams made some of their games closer than they needed to be, emphasizing a need to lock in and play their best volleyball during the tournament.
Weve kind of had some big battles that probably shouldnt have been battles, Hemmer admitted. We really emphasized this playoff season for everyone to show up and do their role and theyve been doing that in both of our regional games. It wasnt just one or two people pulling us together. It was pretty much a team effort where we could send the ball anywhere and they all stepped up and did their job.
It began with a back-and-forth first set in with the Moguls, which saw both teams enter the midway point tied at 16-16. With an opportunity for some early momentum, Hemmer pulled her team aside with a simple message: Its now or never.
I told them you have got to get it figured out and youve got to start playing up to the level you can, Hemmer explained. Theyve been in these big games before and they know what it takes, so we kept emphasizing that its going to be a battle no matter what. Everybody wants it just as bad as you do, but you have to show up and execute.
With the opportunity in front of them, C-E grabbed it by going on a 9-2 run to win the first set 25-18. The momentum carried into the second set when the Hawks took a 10-6 lead early and expanded it to 17-11 before winning 25-16 to extend their match lead to 2-0.
With the State Tournament within reach, the Hawks fell behind 9-5 in the first set but scored four straight points coming out of a timeout. A 10-3 run helped the Hawks jump ahead 15-12 and Edgemont never reclaimed the lead as C-E won 25-21 and booked a trip to next weeks tournament in Sioux Falls.
I think we just found our rhythm, Hemmer said of the comeback in the final set. We had quite a few girls struggling early that dont struggle for us. But once we found our groove and had some girls kind of step up and start figuring themselves out and limiting their errors, we started doing a lot better as a team.
Brynlee Landis led the Hawks with 16 kills and was a presence on defense with 15 digs. Presley Luze led the Hawks with 19 digs and a pair of aces.
Finley Luze had 19 assists to go with five kills and a block. Kaylee Voelker had 18 assists and two total blocks.
Elaina Rhode had 10 kills and four aces. Michoen Williamson had three total blocks.
The win gives C-E the seventh seed in the Class B Tournament as the Hawks will open against second-seeded Warner at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center at 5 p.m. on Nov. 21. It will be a scene that many of the players on this years team has seen before but one that has not lost its importance to the community as it heads to Sioux Falls.
We have a small community that supports us in more ways than we could imagine, Hemmer said. Its really those moments that make it that much sweeter to have everybody in the community coming together for us.
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