Estelline-Hendricks and Clark-Willow Lake each collect five-set victories

WATERTOWN — A little bit of a slow start didn't stop Watertown's fourth-rated high school volleyball team on Thursday.

The Arrows trailed most of the first set before winning 25-19 and followed with quick 25-11 and 25-14 wins over Mitchell to sweep the Eastern South Dakota Conference match in the Civic Arena.

The Kernels didn't have the same amount of offensive weapons and had no answer for a dominant serving performance by Watertown that included seven aces alone by Addi Johnston.

"It was a total team effort tonight," said Watertown head coach Rosemary Bellum. "The Arrows again served well with Addi leading the way. We kept Mitchell out of its system most of the night and they struggled to put the ball back over to attack us."

Mitchell jumped to an 8-3 in the opening set and Watertown didn't grab its first lead until 19-18. The Arrows took the set by scoring seven of the final eight points. The Arrows raced to 20-6 and 15-7 leads and dominated the final two sets.

Emery Thury led Watertown's offensive attack with 23 spikes, 12 of them that resulted in kills. Emily Tisher added 16 spikes and eight six and Carter Jurrens 12 and six.

Johnston made 15 good serves and also tallied 10 digs. Paige McAreavey had 10 good serves and Hannah Herzog seven. Miranda Falconer recorded 31 assists and Natalie Pearson and Thury each 12 digs. Eve Hauger had one solo and two block assists and Herzog two block assists.

"We again challenged the girls to be a better blocking team. We had five blocks on the night with a few good push backs," said Bellum.

"Miranda did a nice job of distributing the ball to our attacked and I really feel by the end of the night, Mitchell struggled to figure out which hitter was going to attack the ball."

The Arrows have two more home matches next week, hosting Brookings on Tuesday and Pierre in a rescheduled match on Thursday. Both matches are set for 7 p.m.

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Great Plains Lutheran 3, Waverly-South Shore 0

WAVERLY — The Panthers improved to 10-7 with a 25-11, 25-13 and 25-10 win over the fellow Eastern Coteau Conference foe Coyotes.

Kaitlyn Rawerts converted 15 of 16 serves with three aces and 14 assists and Esta Cameron 14-14 with three aces an five kills for GPL. Madeline Prahl contributed 16 assists, Olivia Holmen eight kills, Abby Kjenstad five kills and five digs, Grace Powers 12 digs and Emma Dornbusch two block assists. Holmen also had two solo blocks and one block assist.

Milbank 3, Redfield 0

MILBANK — Rachel Schulte went 12-12 serving with three aces, 11 kills, 14 assists, eight digs and two block assists for the Bulldogs in the 25-23, 26-24 and 25-23 Northeast Conference win.

Shaylee Schuchard was 9-10 serving with seven kills and Siera Wenzl 7-9. Skyler Skoog added 10 kills and 10 digs, Addisyn Krause 14 assists, Ella Sandvig 22 digs, Isabella Anderson two solo blocks and Claire Snaza three block assist for the Bulldogs, now 10-3 overall and 4-1 in the NEC.

Redfield (5-9 overall) was led by Katie Rozell, who was 10-10 serving with nine kills, 10 digs and one solo and one block assist. Charli Jungwirth went 10-13 serving with two aces and Hayden Gall 8-8 serving with 16 assists. Chloe Zens notched 19 digs and Kinley Smith one solo and one block assist.

Estelline-Hendricks 3, Deubrook Area 2

WHITE — Kenzy Beare hammered 37 kills and also had 28 digs and two blocks to help the 16-2 Redhawks rally for the 13-25, 19-25, 25-14, 25-12 and 25-12 Dakota Valley Conference win.

Claire Dagel had five kills and four blocks, Rachel Hexem four kills, Sadie Johnson 38 assists and 42 digs, Brooke Johnson 23 digs and Presly Bury five kills, nine assists and 23 digs for E-H.

Leaders for the Dolphins (4-8) included Kyrra Blum, nine kills and four blocks; Zoey Molengraaf, seven kills and seven blocks; Hanna Kjelden, seven kills; Matte Bauman, seven kills, 15 assists and four blocks; Madalyn Bauman, 18 assists; Carly Engelstad, 13 digs; Delaney Pedersen, 12 digs; and Mataya Gouws, four blocks.

Clark-Willow Lake 3, Deuel 2

CLEAR LAKE — The Cyclones prevailed in the Lake Central and Northeast Conference match 26-24, 21-25, 25-19, 18-25 and 15-11.

Shay Michalski notched 13 kills and eight blocks, Zoe Nichols 35 assists and four blocks, Hannah Heiman 13 kills and two aces, Teyha Vig 12 digs and Avery Lee 10 digs for the Cyclones.

The host Cardinals received 10 kills, 19 assists and 16 digs from Josie Andersen; two aces and 14 digs from Annika Kriz; 10 kills from Emma Sattler and nine from Kaitlyn Gubrud; 13 assists from Sara Jo Kreger; six assists and two block assists from Kayden Russell; 18 digs from Ella Kerkvliet; two aces from Alexis Schilling; and one solo and two block assists from Alayna Carlson and Hope Bjerke.

Hamlin 3, Webster Area 0

HAMLIN EDUCATION CENTER — Addie Neuendorf's 17 kills and nine assists sparked the Chargers to the 25-13, 25-18 and 25-22 Northeast Conference win.

Other key contributors for the Chargers (8-5) were Cadence Moeller, two aces; Marissa Bawdon, four aces and 20 assists; Tiahna Lea, five kills; Grace Opdahl, 11 digs; and Emily Everson, seven digs.

Webster Area leaders were Gracie Cadwell, 11-11 serving with two aces and 10 kills; Payton Snell, 8-8 serving; Katie Braun, 12-14 serving with two aces, 10 assists and three kills; Baylie Somsen, six assists, three kills and 12 digs; Jersey Johnson, 14 digs; Kara Kwasniewski, 12 digs; and Erin Sannes and Mallory Steiner, each one solo and two block assists.

Northwestern 3, Waubay-Summit 0

SUMMIT — The third-rated Class B Wildcats (14-5) rolled 25-3, 25-7 and 25-11 by getting five aces, 12 kills, seven digs and two block assists from Ashley Haven and 23 assists and five digs from Ella Boekelheide.

Tara Blachford went 21-22 serving with three aces and Payton Grandpre 9-9 with two aces, four kills and 10 digs. Ana Ratigan added nine kills.

Florence-Henry 3, Britton-Hecla 0

BRITTON — Caylin Kelly's 14 kills, 21 digs and three blocks powered the Falcons to the 25-14, 25-19 and 25-23 Eastern Coteau Conference win.

Taylor Watson chipped in with eight kills, Kaija Gusso 25 assists and 16 digs and Kate Hulscher two kills, one block assist and three solo blocks. Mashia McQuinn was 12-12 serving and Kaylee Vavruska and Gusso each 10-for-10 for the Falcons (8-4).

Kaegan Fredrickson (five kills and 12 digs), Tiyanna Schott (seven kills), Sterling Brassfield (five kills), Heather Storbakken (13 assists and eight digs) and Jayden Bender (10 assists) paced the Braves.

Wilmot 3, Tri-State 0

ROSHOLT — Addison Heinje tallied 13 kills, four blocks and three assists to spark Wilmot to the 25-18, 25-18 and 25-23 Eastern Coteau Conference victory.

Other leaders were Paige Johnson with eight kills and two aces; Jada Cameron four kills, six blocks and two aces; Julia Anderson three kills; Mya Heinje 17 assists; and Stacia Redday four aces and three assists.

Sully Buttes 3, Sunshine Bible Academy 0

MILLER — Sully Buttes posted a 25-20, 25-13 and 25-21 victory.

Leaders for Sunshine Bible included Sadie Konechne, 17 good serves; Kennedy Keck, 12 good serves and six digs; Abby Hinman, 36 sets and three digs; Betra Amare, 23 sets; Annalise VanZee, five kills and five blocks; and Natasha Appel, three kills.

Sioux Falls Lutheran 3, Oldham-Ramona-Rutland 0

OLDHAM — Tatum Beckham made 13 assists, 11 kills and two aces for Sioux Falls Lutheran in the 25-22, 25-18 and 25-19 win.

Madilyn Dinges had six aces and 10 kills, Sophie Stubkjaer 12 assists and Isabelle Stubkjaer 13 digs for the Eagles.

Julia Trygstad produced 10 kills and 15 digs, Alivia Bickett 10 digs and Emily Matson nine assists, five digs and two aces for ORR.

Aberdeen Roncalli 3, Sisseton 0

ABERDEEN — Jaidyn Feickert went 15-15 serving with three aces and 12 kills and Maddie Huber 19-21 serving with seven aces and 14 assists to lead Roncalli (9-1) to the 25-16, 25-19 and 25-18 Northeast Conference win over Sisseton (4-7).

Ava Hanson contributed nine kills, Faith Danielson 10 assists, McKenna O'Keefe 13 digs and Camryn Bain 12 digs.

Aberdeen Christian 3, North Central 0

BOWDLE — The Knights (5-11) earned a 25-20, 25-21 and 25-18 victory in the match.

Leaders for Aberdeen Christian were Chloe Bosma, six kills and 12 digs; Payton Skarin, 13-14 serving with two aces, six kills and 12 digs; Jolie Fogarty, 11-12 serving with three aces, 10 assists and 12 digs; Sawyer Schwan, 18-19 serving with two aces and 13 assists, Alexis Isakson, 31 digs; and Ari Johnson two blocks.

Groton 3, Tiopsa Zina 3

AGENCY VILLAGE — Liz Fliehs sparked Groton Area to a 25-7, 25-11 and 25-18 Northeast Conference win by going 19-19 serving with four aces, 37 assists and nine digs.

Chesney Weber (12-12 serving with two aces), Jerica Locke (11-11 serving), Sydney Leicht (11 kills and nine digs), Anna Fjeldheim (10 kills), Rylee Dunke (nine kills) and Carly Guthmiller (nine kills) also contributed for the 8-4 Tigers.

Gayville-Volin 3, Colman-Egan 1

COLMAN — Gayville-Volin knocked off No. 5 Class B Colman-Egan (9-3) 25-21, 25-18, 19-25 and 25-23.

Maria Achen made 21 kills, 14 digs and three solo and three block assists, Keely Larson 36 assists and 10 digs and Taylor Hoxeng 27 digs for G-V.

Daniela Lee produced 19 kills and 24 digs, Lanie Mousel 31 assists, Presley Luze 29 digs, Kaylee Voelker 24 assists and 13 digs and Karissa Williams 13 digs.

Other Thursday Matches

Arlington def. Dell Rapids St. Mary, 25-21, 26-16, 25-14

Iroquois-Lake Preston def. Highmore-Harrold 25-15, 25-22, 12-25, 25-22

Linton/Hazelton-Moffit-Bradduck (N.D.) def. Herreid-Selby Area, 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-16

Langford Area def. Ipswich, 25-22, 25-15, 25-20

Leola-Frederick Area def. Ellendale (N.D.), 25-18, 25-23, 25-16

Stanley County def. Potter County, 25-22, 9-25, 25-20, 26-24

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Highlights from area high school volleyball matches on Thursday