The Langford Area volleyball season came to a close with a three-set loss to Hitchcock-Tulare 25-12, 25-12, 25-22 in the Region 1B quarterfinals last week Tuesday.
Coach Susan Larson’s squad ended up with a 1220 season mark. Hitchcock-Tulare, now 24-7, upended second seed Northwestern 3-1 in semifinal play on Thursday and met Faulkton Area (239) last night Tuesday in the SoDak 16 round to determine a berth in the state tournament that will be held in Sioux Falls Nov. 16-18.
“It was a hard loss to a good team,” said Larson. “H-T had some really big hitters that we adjusted to as the match went on, and we played each set a little better than the one before. I was proud of the girls for making adjustments. Despite our loss we played really good defense and defensively probably had one of our best seasons.”
The Lady Lions will graduate some talented seniors from this year’s club, including Bryanna Peterson, Cali Vander Vorst, Bayleann Moen, Megan Gustafson, and Tawnee Nelson.
“It’s always tough to have a fun season end and to coach your seniors for the last time, but I was proud of the team’s effort and drive this season,” concluded Larson. “They never quit and they never gave up.”
All of those seniors were key contributors against Hitchcock-Tulare. Gustafson, Moen, and Peterson all had three kills, and Vander Vorst added two. Junior Eliana Darling led the way at the net with four kills on 21-22 spike attempts. Moen, Vander Vorst and Gustafson were also in double digits with digs, Moen had a pair of blocks, and Nelson was 98-99 in set with 13 assists.
SERVING: LA, 36-40, 3 aces (Cali Vander Vorst 10-10; Tawnee Nelson 5-6, 1 ace; Bayleann Moen 5-7, 1 ace; Alex Darling 5-5; Eliana Darling 4-4)
HITTING: LA, 73-85, 16 kills (E. Darling 21-22, 4 kills; Megan Gustafson 20-21, 3 kills; Moen 12-17, 3 kills; Bryanna Peterson 9-10, 3 kills; Vander Vorst 7-11, 2 kills; Nelson 4-4, 1 kill)
SETTING: LA, 112-113, 14 assists (Nelson 98-99, 13 assists)
DIGS : LA, 65 (Moen 18, E. Darling 13, Vander Vorst 11, Gustafson 10)
BLOCKS: LA, 4 (Moen 2, Vander Vorst 1, E. Darling 1)
