Mitchell High School’s volleyball team buckled down in the third and fourth sets Friday night to pick up a home victory over Rapid City Central.
The Kernels claimed the match 25-14, 21-25, 25-22 and 25-15. It marks Mitchell’s third win in four matches and was a worthy bounceback from a four-set home loss to two-win Yankton on Tuesday.
After a close third set throughout, MHS broke free from a 10-all tie in the fourth set with a 6-0 run. Moments later, when Rapid City Central cut the Kernel lead to 18-15, Mitchell scored the next seven, capitalizing on a couple of kills from Cameryn Logan and three RCC hitting errors to close out the match.
Logan had a team-high 21 kills in the victory, her second-most of the season, only behind 24 in a five-set loss to Brandon Valley on Sept. 8. She also added 10 digs and two blocks in the victory.
For Kernel coach Deb Thill, cutting down on unforced errors made the difference.
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“That second set, between missed serves and hitting errors, we scored 17 of their 25 points,” she said. “Of course, they’re going to make plays and score their points, but we still had our chances in that set. So we really talked about cutting down on missed serves and controlling our passing, and making the plays that we know we can make.”
Kaspen Alm had 11 kills for Mitchell, while Katy Sebert posted seven kills. Kaitlyn Christensen and Kazlyn Shulz each had two total blocks. Sarah Sebert led Mitchell with 22 digs in a well-rounded effort. Mitchell also scored from the serving line, with eight aces in the match. Logan, Katy Sebert and Sarah Sebert each had two. Katy Sebert had 21 set assists, while Jurzee Gregg added 14.
“I thought we serve-received really well tonight,” Thill said. “That’s going to give you chances to win, no matter who you’re playing. I also thought cutting down on our hitting errors was one of our goals and after that second set.”
The Kernels were without regular starter Lizzie Tyler on Friday, and Thill commended the efforts of Paige Guthmiller, Taylor Giblin and Taylor Haring in the victory.
Mitchell improved to 5-8 and picked up their fourth non-conference win of the season. The Kernels’ Saturday afternoon matinee against Rapid City Stevens has been postponed to Oct. 31 due to COVID-19 for the Raiders, so MHS’ next action is at Harrisburg on Tuesday.
Rapid City Central (2-19) plays at Huron on Saturday, trying to snap a skid of seven losses in their last eight matches.
Subvarsity scores
JV: Mitchell won 25-12 and 27-25. Alyssa Magee had five aces and seven digs, while Gaylor Giblin had five kills and three aces.
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Sophomores: Mitchell won 25-18 and 25-19. Sawyer Stoebner had seven kills and Claire Hegg added two aces.
Freshmen A: Mitchell won 25-19 and 25-22.
Freshmen B: Mitchell won 16-25, 25-20 and 15-6.
