Andes Central falls to Arlington in first round

After dropping its opening match 3-1 to fifth-seeded Arlington, fourth-seeded Andes Central’s dreams of winning the Class B title are over.

“Well, we have two more matches to play,” said Andes Central head coach Rocky Brinkman, whose team lost by set scores of 19-25, 25-12, 25-22, 25-15. “We don’t have a chance at making the state championship, but we are going to do our best to win the consolation championship.”

The Eagles looked like they would get a win right away in the first set in the first round of the Class B state high school volleyball tournament Thursday at the Corn Palace, grinding their way to a 25-19 victory in the opening set.

But things quickly changed in the second set, when Arlington middle hitter Samantha Boeck began to take over the game with a string of kills to help give her team the set win and knot things up at 1 set apiece.

“We came out strong like we normally do, but in the second set they started moving their back more into the middle, and when we tried to cover it the setter would tip the ball on us a little bit and find the holes,” Brinkman said. “We were trying to cover Boeck on the outside, but she was hitting the angles on us, and we weren’t getting on those angles and that’s where (Boeck) scored most of her points.”

Boeck finished the night with 23 kills and eight digs to lead the Cardinals.

“We just had to settle in and start doing things right,” Arlington head coach Anita Boeck said. “Andes Central is a great team, so we knew they were going to get us down. We knew they were going to block us and hit on us.”

Andes Central perhaps had its best opportunity to gain momentum and put Arlington away in the third set with a 22-21 lead and just three points away from winning the set. But an errant serve that sailed out of bounds changed the momentum of the match. From there, the wind came out of the Eagles’ sails, going on to lose that set 25-22 and then the match in the next set 25-15.

“We had the momentum right there,” Brinkman said. “If we would have gotten that one right there, I think it would have made a difference.”

Arlington takes on top-seeded Parker at 6 p.m. today. Andes Central plays Lyman at noon today in a consolation semifinal match.

Andes Central was led by Kellie Winckler’s 13 kills, 14 digs and two blocks. Krista Winckler had 11 kills, 13 digs and two blocks, Sierra Svatos had 26 assists and 11 digs and Latasha Dion had 11 digs.

“Parker is a great team and a strong force, but we are not going to change one thing,” Boeck said. “We are just going to play and do the best we can and see what happens.”

Tags: sports, updates, andes, central, arlington