Mitchell takes care of Pierre

It was exactly five years ago Tuesday that the Mitchell volleyball team last won a playoff match.

On Nov. 9, 2005, the Kernels defeated Pierre in three sets at the Mitchell High School gymnasium.

Against the exact same team, at the exact same place and in the exact same fashion, the Kernels are postseason winners again.

Set scores of the District 3AA playoff match that kept the Kernels’ hopes for a state tournament berth alive and ended the Governors’ season were 25-13, 25-16 and 25-15.

“It just feels good to win,” said Mitchell coach Deb Thill, whose team is 13-9. “I don’t really think about the last time we’ve won a playoff match. It just felt good to get that win.

“We don’t worry about what we did last week or the week before or anything in the past.”

After Mitchell defeated Pierre in 2005, it lost to Rapid City Central in a region state play-in game. Coincidentally, the Kernels host Central Friday with the winner getting a ticket to play in the state tournament. The match time is yet to be determined.

Tuesday was the third time the Governors fell to Mitchell this season. Pierre — which finished the season 4-18 — was led by Amber Olson with 10 kills and Kaitlin Severyn had seven.

Pierre was the first team from District 3AA to be knocked from the playoffs. The district that holds Aberdeen, Huron, Mitchell and Pierre could be argued as the top district in the state this season and historically.

“Between Aberdeen, Huron and Mitchell it could have been anyone’s district this year,” Pierre coach Kacy Kienholz said. “Mitchell has been a team that’s been in the rebuilding process for the past few seasons. They got to that point where it wasn’t surprising they were competing with the top teams in the district.”

The way middle hitters Kerri Young and Dana Misiaszek were playing, Mitchell could have competed with anyone in the state Tuesday.

Young had a match-high 14 kills and Misiaszek had 13 for the Kernels. They each had three blocks, too.

The two helped the Kernels rally after trailing in all three sets.

Pierre got a 5-1 lead in both the first and second set, but couldn’t capitalize on the advantages.

Thanks largely in part from Young and Misiaszek — who got sets from Charlee Nelson — the Kernels dug themselves out of holes with long offensive runs.

After trailing 5-1 in the first set, Mitchell went on a 10-0 run. Pierre got four of the next five points, but Ashley Weber, Lexie Weier, Young and Misiaszek fueled Mitchell’s offense to close out the set.

Tied at 12 in the second set, Mitchell took the next six points to build a comfortable lead and then used aggressive serving to go two-up in the match.

“We only missed three serves all night and had 11 aces,” Thill said. “That’s a very good ratio.”

Young had seven of her 13 kills in the third set, which Pierre led 10-6 until Mitchell’s offense caught fire again.

Taylin Alm had five kills and Weier and Weber each had four for Mitchell, while Nelson had 29 assists, four aces, six digs and two blocks. Morgan Overweg had six digs and Weier added four aces.

Tags: high school volleyball, sports, kernels