The Patriots magical post season run came to an end on Tuesday night in Mellette at the hands of the Faulkton Trojans in the SoDak 16 match.
As the match started, the Patriots jumped out to an 18-11 leave, behind some aggressive serving and hitting, which kept the Trojans out of system. Faulkton would then start chipping away behind some great defense and powerful hits that kept the Patriots out of system. The Trojans came from behind and took set one by a score of 25-22.
In set two, the Patriots found themselves down as the Trojans kept playing outstanding defense and picking up a lot of hits that the Patriots threw at them. Faulkton took full control of set two by winning it 25-16.
Set three proved to be the same story as set two as the Trojans jumped out to a lead the Patriots could not recover to keep the match going. The Patriots dropped set three by a score of 25-20 and losing the match 0-3.
It was a tough nigh offensively as the Patriot hitters had a hard time finding the floor for a kill. Katelyn Schroeder led the team with 15 kills. Rebecca Huizenga followed with 6 kills and Ella Johnson chipped in 5 kills.
Lila Johnson tallied 22 assists on the night and Gracyn Bixler followed with 6 assists.
The Patriots had a tough time at the serving line as the team missed six serves in the match, but recorded five aces. Bixler would record two aces to lead the team.
The Patriots ended up playing a lot of defense during the match. Gilbert and Lila Johnson each recorded two block assists. Huizenga also had a solo block and a block assist.
Cambree Hoekman would lead the team in digs with 19, Schroeder followed with 16, Ella and Lila Johnson both tallied 12, and Bixler would come up with 11 digs.
The Patriots still lose two very valuable seniors from this team. Each played a huge role that is going to be hard to fill. Thank you goes out to Brooklyn Frankenstein and Rachel Huizenga on being great teammates, role models, and excellent student athletes. You two will be missed!
Thank you to the fans who showed up all year long to cheer on the ladies! It's always fun to play in front of nice crowd. Thank you also goes out to all the parents that prepared meals for the road trips. The team appreciated very much.
Looking back as at the season, the team has a lot to be proud of as the Patriots broke the school record by finishing the season with the most wins by going 24-8 on the season and having a lot of signature wins. This was a big turn around from the previous season when they went 14-17. They also finished as runners-up in the 281 Conference and the 281 Conference tournament. The Patriots captured the championship at the Clark-Willow Lake Tournament and made their second appearance in school history in a SoDak 16 match. They also broke the most consecutive win streak by having a win streak of 10 during the season. There were also plenty of other individual and team records that were broke throughout the season. Even though this team fell short of making the state tournament, there is a lot of optimism and excitement for next season. I know the girls are already looking forward to next season as they will have something to prove.