Setters lead Andes Central to consolation crown

HURON — The Andes Central High School volleyball team has gone with a two-setter approach all season long.

And it showed its worth again Saturday afternoon.

Behind senior setters Araya Cournoyer and Christin Pavel, the Eagles downed Highmore-Harrold 25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-12 to win the consolation champi-onship at the Class B state tour-nament at the Huron Arena.

“It’s like they’ve got a calcula-tor in their head because all our hitters seem to get the same amount of chances,” AC coach Rocky Brinkman said. “Having those two makes it a lot easier for everyone else.”

Pavel had a team-high 28 as-sists and Cournoyer had 17 to help the Eagles better their sev-enth-place finish from last year’s state tournament.

The two spread the ball around to five hitters in the game, led by senior Brieanne Johnson’s 13 kills. Johnson was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts.

Senior Jenna Winckler and sophomores Kellie and Krista Winckler each had 12 kills and freshman Dennisha Johanneson added eight for AC, which ended its season 27-5.

The Eagles controlled action at the net and recorded 61 kills in the match.

Holly Hamlin had 18 kills to lead Highmore-Harrold, which also got 31 assists from Kara Baloun. The Pirates finished the season 26-6.

It was the final match in an Eagles’ uniform for Cournoyer, Pavel, Johnson, Jenna Winckler and Darci Johnson, who had a kill, two aces and 13 digs in the match.

“It’s always nice to finish the season with a win,” Brinkman said. “The girls were disap-pointed early in the week that we lost our chance to win the big championship, but we set our sights on the consolation and got it done.”

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