For the fourth straight year, the Class AA state championship volleyball match is an all-Sioux Falls final.
Friday, No. 1 Sioux Falls O’Gorman (20-0) and No. 2 Sioux Falls Roosevelt (25-8) defeated Eastern South Dakota Conference teams in straight sets.The Knights topped No. 5 Aberdeen Central 25-22, 25-23, 25-21, while the Rough Riders beat No. 3 Huron 25-20, 26-24, 25-18.
Roosevelt has made a state championship appearance for four consecutive, winning last year in three sets over Sioux Falls Washington.
Roosevelt was runner-up to Sioux Falls Lincoln, which didn’t qualify for this year’s tournament, in 2010 and 2011.
The Knights haven’t won a championship since 2002, when the volleyball season was in the winter. Since the season switch, O’Gorman got its best finish in 2004, when it took third.
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The Knights look to complete an undefeated season and knock off defending champion Roosevelt in the Class AA title match at 7:45 p.m. today at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.
O’Gorman’s Kloth leads field in kills
Sioux Falls O’Gorman’s Taryn Kloth leads the field offensively after the first two days of the Class AA tournament with 35 kills. Sioux Falls Roosevelt’s Maggie DeJong is a close second with 34 kills in two matches.
Both teams have played six sets and face each other in the championship today.
Kloth recorded a team-high 307 kills during the regular season, while DeJong had 478. Mitchell’s Taylin Alm finished the regular season behind DeJong in kills with 425. Alm and DeJong will both play Division I volleyball next season as Alm joins Pepperdine University and DeJong heads to Louisville University.
O’Gorman’s Dalee Stene leads the field in assists with 84, while Sioux Falls Washington’s Peyton VandeBrake leads with 12 aces.
Aberdeen Central’s Bridget White and Megan Kingsriter are tied with a tournament-high eight kills, and Washington’s Ellie Benson leads in digs with 45.
Numbers at the Palace
The attendance at the Class AA state tournament increased from the first day of action.
In Thursday’s opening day of play, there were 1,550 people at the two sessions. On the second day of the tournament, 1,750 people attended the matches.
During Friday’s afternoon session, there were 400 spectators, and 1,300 strolled the Corn Palace during Friday’s night session, which featured two semifinal matches.
