VOLGA Sioux Valley advanced in the Region 2A Playoffs on Tuesday night as the Cossacks beat Florence/Henry in four sets at the Cossack Center.
The No. 3 seeded Cossacks won sets one and two comfortably and the No. 6 seeded Falcons kept their season alive with a win in set three. Sioux Valley then put the match away with a win in set four.
Sioux Valley head coach Jill Vincent, who picked up her 300th career victory a week ago, had a message for her team before the postseason started.
Anything can happen. Thats why you have to play these games in the regionals, so you can get to the next step. We start with 55 teams going into tonight and then there will be about 32 left. We want to make sure that were playing our best at all times, but then allow yourself to make mistakes and come back from stuff that didnt go your way and be ready to play the next ball, Vincent said.
The Cossacks jumped out to an 8-3 lead in set one. Florence/Henry cut the lead to 10-8 but Sioux Valley went on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 16-8. The Cossacks then scored nine of the next 16 points and came away with a 25-15 victory.
Sioux Valley held a 7-6 lead in the second set and went on a 13-1 run to go up 20-8. The Cossacks then won the set 25-14.
We had good serving [in the first and second set], and then we were playing good defense around it, Vincent said. I thought we were getting our blocks closed at the net.
It was Florence/Henry who got off to a fast start in set three as the Falcons led 4-0. Sioux Valley came back and went up 9-6 but the Falcons responded and tied things up at 13-13. The two teams traded points until the Cossacks went up 19-17. The Falcons then scored three-straight points to go up 22-21 and then won the set 25-23.
Sioux Valley got off to a nice start in set four as the Cossacks led 8-3. They extended the lead to 19-10 and eventually won the set 25-19.
I think we kind of came back to life a bit [in the fourth set], Vincent said. We need to play with a little bit more confidence. We can play in a close set, but we have to play with confidence. Even when something goes wrong, we have to forget it and move on to the next ball. At times we do that really well, but tonight, we did a lot of second guessing.
Sioux Valley had 49 kills and 95 digs as a team. Lacey Langland led the Cossacks with 14 kills. Vincent said the senior outside hitter did a good job of creating momentum with some of her kills on Tuesday night.
Weve been waiting for someone [to make some big plays]. We were kind of in a slump and then she would get a kill. She kind of put us on her back and carried us with some momentum, Vincent said.
Maci Licht had 11 kills and 10 digs. Abygale Degen and Emma Gorvin each had eight kills. Talya Vincent had 20 digs and Caitlin Russell had 16 digs. Macheala Gerash had 27 assists and McKinley Schwab had 14 assists and 15 digs.
Sioux Valley has nine seniors on its team in Russell, Vincent, Gerasch, Gorvin, Langland, Elise Lemme, Sienna Weiss, Cameron Uecker and Cheyenne Vander Wal. Jill Vincent said all nine players have meant a lot to the program.
Weve been together since they were in fifth grade and started playing volleyball, and actually third grade when they came to camp and kindergarten if you count basketball. So, theyve been around for a long time and they think like coaches and they know whats going on and know whats good for the team. They have each others back and they communicate so well and have chemistry. I think theyve set a good example for the younger classes, Vincent said.
Sioux Valley will travel to Hayti to take on No. 2 seeded Hamlin on Thursday. The winner will head to the Class A SoDak 16. The Cossacks were swept by the Chargers in the regular season and Vincent said
[Hamlin] is fundamental. They have 19 wins. We have 17 wins and can be comparable that way. We need to play fearlessly. We need to get kills of our own. We know theyre going to be fundamental and hit the ball hard, but those are fun to block too. Hopefully we bring our A-game that night, Vincent said.
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