The Britton-Hecla volleyball squad put an end to a five-match losing streak by sweeping Wilmot last week Tuesday in its final regular season action and opened Region 1A tournament play at Webster Area last night Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Lady Braves took a 14-11 mark into regional quarterfinal play against four-seeded Webster Area (12-11). The winner will meet top-seeded Groton Area (18-6) on Thursday for a SoDak 16 spot. Aberdeen Roncalli met Redfield and Sisseton tangled with Milbank in the other quarterfinal matchups on Tuesday with the winners playing on Thursday for the other SoDak16 spot from Region 1A.
SoDak 16 teams will be re-seeded and play on Tuesday for the eight Class A tournament slots. The state event will be played Nov. 21-23 in Sioux Falls.
Britton-Hecla dominated Wilmot in the regular season finale, taking the opening set 25-10, and following that up with 25-18, 25-14 wins to boost its season mark to 14-11.
After Wilmot erased a 4-1 deficit to lead 6-5 early in the opening set, the Lady Braves took charge, going on a 14-3 run to lead 19-9 and closing out the set with five straight service points from Heather Storbakken. Abby Lee pounded down three kills and had a pair of blocks to help fuel the run.
B-H started fast in set two behind six service points from Storbakken, two of them aces. Lee added two kills and Maddi Micko another at the net. Wilmot hung tough, trailing just 16-14, but the Lady Braves outscored the visitors 9-4 the rest of the way with kills from McKenna Heer and Micko, a block from Lee, and Jaelee Grupe ace.
The final set was tied at 11-all but Karlie Zuehlke got on a roll from the service line, serving six straight with an ace, and Micko recorded two kills to go up 18-11. Micko added two more kills at the net and Lee another to complete the sweep.
B-H had a good night at the service line, missing just two attempts in the match and recording 17 aces. Lee had a big night at the net with 11 kills, two blocked shots, and three block assists as the Lady Braves put down 33 kills in the contest.
SERVING: BH, 71-73, 17 aces (Heather Storbakken 21-21, 5 aces; Jaelee Grupe 11-12, 4 aces; McKenna Heer 7-8, 4 aces; Karlie Zuehlke 13-13, 3 aces; Maddi MIcko 11-11, 1 ace; Daynika Zuehlke 8-8)
HITTING: BH, 77-93, 33 kills (Abby Lee 16-18, 11 kills; Micko 15-19, 6 kills; J. Grupe 13-15, 5 kills; Heer 14-18, 5 kills; K. Zuehlke 13-15, 4 kills; Mallory Grupe 6-8, 2 kills)
SETTING: BH, 89-89, 32 assists (Storbakken 39-39, 17 assists; J. Grupe 37-37, 13 assists; M. Grupe 5-5, 1 assist)
DIGS: BH, 47 (D. Zuehlke 13, Micko 10, Storbakken 7, Heer 6, J. Grupe 4)
BLOCKS: BH, 4 blocks, 8 assists (Lee 2 blocks, 3 assists; J. Grupe 1 block, 3 assists; Heer 1 block)
