Tied 13-all in the fifth set with a perfect league record on the line, Aberdeen Central found a way to win, beating Brookings in Eastern South Dakota Conference volleyball action Monday night.
The Golden Eagles took advantage of a Bobcat attack error before Maggie Hepper ended it with a service ace, as Central improved to 13-0 with a wild 25-16, 20-25, 19-25, 25-17, 15-13 victory.
"We weren't our best tonight (Monday) but we kind of hung on and hung around," said Aberdeen Central head coach Dennis Northrup. "We had so many errors; just when we'd get a little momentum, we'd just serve it right into the net and give it all right back. Give Brookings credit, they came out ready to play. They played hard tonight against us."
Aberdeen Central had not dropped a set to an ESD opponent all season before Monday night. But the Golden Eagles were able to win a second straight match without one of their offensive leaders, senior Amanda Tobin, who is out with an injury.
The first set looked reminiscent of the first meeting - a 25-17, 25-18, 25-23 home win for Central on Oct. 2 - when the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 13-3 lead and never looked back.
In set 2, Brookings broke things open with a 5-0 run to take a 21-16 lead; and set 3 was much the same with the Bobcats using a 5-1 spurt to go up 20-15 en route to taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
But the Golden Eagles didn't go away, cruising through the fourth to force a decisive fifth set. Central carried the momentum into the fifth by taking a 7-3 lead. Brookings bounced back when Kenzie Thuringer and Amelia Miller both had a kill, and then teamed up for a block to make it 7-6.
A Bobcat attack error and a Samantha Knecht kill put the Golden Eagles back on top by three - 9-6 - but consecutive errors, one on the serve and another on the attack, made it 9-8.
Brianna Kusler had a kill and Meggie Hanson added a service ace to make it 11-8, before Miller and Mack Rief sandwiched kills around a Central attack error gave Brookings its final lead of the night at 12-11. Bridget White ended Brookings' small run with a kill, and a Bobcat ball-handling error made it 13-12 in favor of the visitors. Alyssa Tvedt had the final answer for the Bobcats, tying the score at 13-13 with a kill.
"We have a lot of confidence in ourselves and our team," Northrup said of his team's ability to overcome the 2-1 deficit in sets. "And when we do things aggressively, like we can, we're pretty good; when we're pretty relaxed, then we're not so good. I'll never fault my girls' effort, they give everything they've got. Volleyball is a crazy sport, you just get a little momentum and you feel good about yourself and you can do a lot of amazing things."
Lauren McCafferty led Aberdeen Central with 13 kills, three total blocks and three service aces. Caitlin Rasmusson added 12 kills and 5 blocks; and Knecht had nine kills and 2 blocks. Hepper added three aces and Kelsey Hannigan notched 24 digs.
Both teams finished with 46 kills, but Central had five solo blocks and 16 block assists, compared to one solo and four assists by the Bobcats.
"The (Bobcat) girls came out with a lot of enthusiasm and I loved their willingness to fight for every ball," said Brookings head coach and Northwestern graduate Jodi (Fischbach) Melius. "They were playing intense defense, which is something that we've really practiced and worked on for the last few weeks. I was really proud to see them implement it for five sets."
Both teams wrap up the regular season on Thursday, as Aberdeen Central plays at Pierre. Brookings (12-7, 9-4 ESD) heads to Mitchell (12-7, 8-5) with second place in the conference standings on the line.
Hitting: Central 46 (Lauren McCafferty 13, Caitlin Rasmusson 12, Samantha Knecht 9); Brookings 46 (Mack Rief 15, Amelia Miller 12, Kenzie Thuringer 8, Alyssa Tvedt 7).
Blocks: Central 5 solo, 16 assists (Caitlin Rasmusson 3 solo, 5 assists; Lauren McCafferty 1 solo, 4 assists; Samantha Knecht 5 assists); Brookings 1 solo, 4 assists (Alyssa Tvedt 1 solo, 1 assist).
Service aces: AC (Maggie Hepper 3, Lauren McCafferty 3); Brookings 5 (Marisa Milton 2, Mack Rief 2).
Setting: Central (Maddie Goetz 19 assists, Kelsey Hannigan 8 assists); Brookings 41 (Marisa Milton 40 assists).
Digs: Central (Kelsey Hannigan 24, Meggie Hanson 20); Brookings 86 (Emily Johnson 34, Amelia Miller 16, Hannah Stuart 15, Mack Rief 10).