The Mitchell High School volleyball team couldn’t maintain a 2-0 lead on Thursday.
The Kernels were edged by Sioux Falls Lincoln 3-2 in a non-conference volleyball match at MHS gym. The set scores were 13-25, 25-27, 25-18, 25-17 and 15-10.
After winning the first two sets, the Kernels couldn’t close out the Patriots as they fell to 1-4 on the season.
“Lincoln started playing a lot better and we started making some errors,” Mitchell coach Deb Thill said. “They picked up their defense and I think our kids were getting a little frustrated with not being able to be as successful as they were in the first set.”
Mitchell cruised in the first set, jumping out to a 14-5 advantage and it continued to pile on the points. The Kernels took a seesaw second set, which featured eight ties and four lead changes.
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Mitchell fell behind 7-1 and rallied back to tie the score at 23-23. The teams then traded points, with Mitchell recorded an ace to take the 2-0 lead.
The Kernels weren’t able to build off the momentum and as Lincoln (3-5) evened the match at 2-2 to force a fifth set.
“I felt that we should have made a few more plays,” Thill said. “Some balls hit the floor that shouldn’t have and usually our team is the scrappy one and I thought tonight Lincoln was a little bit more scrappy. They out-hustled us a little bit.”
In the final set, the match was tied at 8-8 and Lincoln closed on a 7-2 surge to complete the comeback.
“These kids just have to be committed to knowing they are a good team and worthy of wins,” Thill said. “We’ve had a couple matches now where I felt we were worthy of the win and we didn’t quite get it. We have to step up and make plays when we need to, but we are going to get better. We just have to be able to put the wins up as well.”
Cameryn Logan recorded a team-high 11 kills and 14 digs, while Lizzie Tyler added 10 kills and nine digs. Kaspen Alm put down eight kills. Sarah Sebert and Katy Sebert had 15 and 14 kills, respectively. Katy Sebert dished out 32 assists. The Kernels finished with 12 aces. Sarah Sebert and Tyler both recorded five aces.
The Kernels play at Spearfish on Saturday.
“We’ve got to refocus and it’s a long trip out there to play one match,” Thill said. “We haven’t had a chance to do a lot of team bonding and we will hopefully get that done, too.”
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JV: Lincoln won 25-22, 26-24
Mitchell leaders: Taylor Giblin 9 digs, 3 kills, 1 ace; Jurzee Gregg 10 assists, 9 digs, 2 aces
Sophomore: Lincoln won 21-25, 26-24, 18-16.
Mitchell leaders: Bre Reindl 8 kills, 12 digs; Sawyer Stoebner 6 kills, 13 digs.
Freshman A: Lincoln won 17-25, 25-16, 15-12.
Freshman B: Mitchell won 25-15, 17-25, 15-7.
