Twelve area Class A and B teams advance with victories on Thursday
Twelve teams posted semifinal victories Thursday night in area Class B and A region volleyball tournaments.
The winners advanced to SoDak 16 state-qualifying matches on Tuesday.
Here are highlights from Thursday's matches:
Region 1B
Top-rated and top-seeded Warner (36-0) and third-seeded Hitchcock-Tulare (24-7) advanced with wins.
At Warner, the Monarchs rolled 25-9, 25-10 and 25-5 over fourth-seeded Leola-Frederick Area (15-13).
Kyra Marcuson went 21-21 serving with six aces and 11 kills, Haleigh Holt 17-18 serving with two aces and Ava Nilsson 9-10 with three aces, 36 assists and five block assists for Warner. Kyleigh Schopp added 14 kills and five block assists, Lauren Marcuson 11 kills and eight digs and Courtney Bjorgaard eight digs.
Sofia Losure tallied six kills and eight digs, Jocelynn Ellwein 11 assists and Laura Sumption eight digs for LFA.
At Mellette, Hitchcock-Tulare knocked off second-seeded and third-rated Northwestern 3-1 (27-25, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-18.
Gracyn Bixler was 30-30 serving with three aces and nine assists, Isabel Gilbert 21-21 serving and Katelyn Schroeder 17-18 serving with 31 kills and 30 digs for the Patriots. Ella Johnson chipped in with 16 kills, Rebecca Huizenga seven kills and one solo and two block assists, Cambree Hoekman 16 digs and Lila Johnson 46 assists, 16 digs and two block assists.
Leaders for Northwestern (27-8) were Tara Blachord, 21-21 serving with three aces; Ashley Haven, 10-12 serving with three aces and 11 kills; Payton Grandpre, 12-12 serving with two aces; Layla Ortmeier, 11-11 serving with two aces and 14 assists; Taylor Vetter, 14 kills and 15 digs; Ella Boekelheide, 24 assists and 14 digs; Mikaela Schmitt, seven digs; and Ana Ratigan, one solo and two block assists.
Region 2B
HURON — Top-seeded Wolsey-Wessington and second-seeded Castlewood each advanced.
The Warbirds (28-4) outlasted Arlington 3-2 (29-17, 19-25, 18-25, 25-21 and 15-7. Kendal Uttecht went 20-21 serving with two aces and 30 assists; Lainey Uttecht 20-20 serving with 21 digs; and Shae Uttecht 19-19 serving with 32 digs. Kailynn Dorris contributed 20 kills, Samara Clemente 19 and Tatum Luce 12. Payton Kemnitz had 23 assists, Clemente six blocks and Dorris four blocks.
Addie Steffensen produced five aces, 18 kills and 28 digs for Arlington (13-21), which also got 20 kills from Harley Johnson, two blocks from Jaelyn Huntimer and 23 digs from Jo Steffensen.
The Warriors (19-8) moved on by posting a 3-0 (25-11, 25-17 and 25-22) win over sixth-seeded Iroquois-Lake Preston (13-16).
Gracie Haug (15-15 serving with 40 assists and 13 digs), Kylie Wittnebel (24-25 serving), Presley Knecht (16 kills and 10 digs), Emerson Carter (14 kills and one solo and three block assists), Kelly Goens (five kills) and Ella Hunter (two block assists) paced Castlewood.
Faith Steffensen and Adison Moore notched eight kills apiece for the Sharks. Elena Campagnola added 19 digs and Moore 18 and Rebecca Bich was 11-11 serving with two aces and 23 assists.
Region 6B
Top-seeded Faulkton Area (22-9) and second-seeded Herreid-Selby Area 21-6) each recorded home-court victories. Faulkton Area beat Highmore-Harrold 3-0 (25-18, 25-12 and 25-20) and HSA swept Sully Buttes 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-21).
Addison Melius tallied two aces, 17 kills and 27 digs and Carley Cotton went 18-19 serving with 14 kills and 21 digs to lead Faulkton Area. Micah Martinmaas chipped in with 16 assists, Tegan Baloun 15 assists and Anna Aesoph 21 digs.
Kendall Cermak made five kills, Jada Baloun four kills, Brooklyn Baloun two assists, Kenidey Effling 27 digs and Reghan Westcott 14 digs for Highmore-Harrold (13-17).
In the other match at Selby, HSA leaders were Sophia Ritter, 16-17 serving with four aces and 28 assists; Mya Ebel, 15-16 serving with seven kills and 12 digs; Stephanie Allbee, two aces and 23 digs; Pausha Meidinger, 10 kills and 14 digs; Jada Rossow, nine kills; Jordyn Rossow, eight kills; and Brenna Jochim, 15 digs.
Sully Buttes ended its season with a 13-8 record.
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Region 1A
GROTON — Top-seeded Groton Area improved to 20-4 with a 3-0 (20-28, 25-14 and 25-14) win over fourth-seeded Sisseton (12-15) and second-seeded Aberdeen Roncalli upped its record to 20-5 with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14 and 25-19) win over third-seeded Milbank.
Groton Area leaders included Jaedyn Penning (13-15 serving with four aces), Chesney Weber (20-20 with two aces and 10 kills), Rylee Dunker (12 kills), Sydney Leicht (nine kills), Liz Fliehs (38 assists and two block assists), Anna Fjeldheim (15 digs), Carly Guthmiller (13 digs), Laila Roberts (12 digs) and Emma Kutter (one solo and two block assists).
McKenna O'Keefe went 12-13 serving with 11 kills and 15 digs and Faith Danielson 10-10 serving with 20 assists for Ronclali. Ava Hanson made nine kills, Camryn Bain 18 digs and Maddie Huber eight kills, 17 assists and 16 digs.
Rachel Schulte tallied eight assists, eight kills and eight digs for Milbank, which ended its season with a 20-12 record. Addisyn Krause added 12 assists and nine digs, Skyler Skoog six kills and 13 digs, Shaylee Schuchard six kills, Ella Sandvig 13 digs and Siera Wenzl five digs.
Region 2A
Third-seeded Elkton-Lake Benton and fourth-seeded Flandreau each produced victories on the road. ELB (21-11) earned a 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-20 and 25-10) victory over second-seeded Estelline-Hendricks in match at Estelline and Flandreau (18-9) swept top-seeded Hamlin 3-0 (25-18, 25-18 and 25-20) in a match at the Hamlin Education Center.
Elkton-Lake Benton got three aces, 40 assists and 26 digs from Tevan Erickson; 11 kills from Andrea Renkly; nine kills from Charlie Thooft; two blocks from Aubree Bales; 25 digs from Ella Crofutt and 10 kills and 20 digs from Kylie Ramo.
Estelline-Hendricks (25-7) received 23 assists and 38 digs from Sadie Johnson, 12 kills and four blocks from Kenzy Beare, four blocks from Rachel Hexem, 11 kills and 20 digs from Brooke Johnson, four kills from Allie Duenwald; and two aces, four assists and 30 digs from Presly Bury.
Claire Sheppard's two aces, 16 kills and three blocks sparked Flandreau. Sadie Iott added two aces, Abby Schoeberl 30 assists and 16 digs, Lizzie Pavlis 10 kills and Addy Hammer 19 digs.
The Chargers (20-7) were led by Addie Neuendorf with three aces, 10 assists and nine digs; Grace Opdahl, four aces and four digs; Emily Everson, two aces; Marissa Bawdon, 10 assists and 10 kills; Maddie Bos, three blocks; and Jayci Trowbridge, six digs.
SoDak 16 Class A-B Pairings: Top two teams in each region advanced to the state-qualifying matches
Region 6A
Thursday's winners on their home courts included top-seeded Miller, which downed fifth-seeded North Central 3-0 (25-21, 25-14 and 25-12) and second-seeded Mobridge-Pollock, which also won 3-0 (25-13, 25-14 and 25-11) over third-seeded Stanley County.
Leading the way for Miller (27-6) were Heather Resel, 17-17 serving with 28 assists and nine digs; Aleah Schlechter, 14-15 serving with three aces, 10 kills and 13 digs; Jolie Palmer, 11-11 serving with three aces and 19 digs; Gracen Werdel, seven kills; Shaylee Anderberg, 11 kills and 13 digs; and Paige Werdel, six kills.
Billie Jo Hoffman finished 10-11 serving with five kills and eight digs for North Central (12-18). Amree VanderVorst added seven kills, Ella Batie three kills and Jenisa Jacobs 13 digs. Sydney Malsam went 7-8 serving and Sydney Bertsch 8-9 with 14 assists and six digs.
Mobridge-Pollock (26-7) rolled by getting 14 kills from Charley Henderson, 15 assists and seven aces from Katy Kemnitz, 13 assists ferom Sophia Overland, 11 kills and three aces from Ryli Thompson, five kills and two aces from Raelyn Aberle and four kills from Grace Overland.
Stanley County ended its season with an 18-9 record.
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 Thursday's Class A and B region volleyball
