Winckler sisters lead Eagles to fifth place

After cruising to a straight-set victory over Herried/Selby Area Saturday at the Corn Palace, the Andes Central Eagles took fifth place in the Class B state volleyball tournament in Mitchell.

“Getting any place in the state tournament is an accomplishment, because everybody worked hard to get here,” said Andes Central head coach Rocky Brinkman, whose team won by set scores of 25-15, 25-21, 25-18.

The Eagles (31-4) used a diverse offensive attack to quickly dispatch the Wolverines (29-4).

Andes Central’s arsenal of middle and outside hitters pounded out 45 kills and was led by the front row trio of Krista Winckler, Kellie Winckler and Dennisha Johanneson, who finished with 17, 13 and eight kills, respectively.

“They were keying on Kellie and Krista again, and once we started mixing up our offense, we had some open shots that they just couldn’t cover,” Brinkman said. “That sparked the team and got things rolling for us.”

Krista and Kellie were each named to the all-tournament teams for their efforts.

The Wolverines kept things close in the first part of each of the three sets, but each time the Eagles started big runs, space built between the two teams.

“That happens when you get in a certain rotation,” Herreid/Selby Area head coach Jody Schmidt said. “Each coach has a favorite rotation where they score a lot of points, and when you go out of that rotation, the points are a little bit harder to come by.”

The Wolverines were led by Shauni Schwartz, who recorded 10 kills, and McKenzie Frank, who finished with 14 assist and nine digs.

While the Wolverines took a tough loss on the chin, they still finished sixth in the state.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Schmidt said. “It’s tough when you’re not sleeping in your own beds and you’re eating schedule is messed up. It really is a grueling weekend.”

Tags: lake andes, sports, updates, herreid, selby, volleyball