Lady O’s dominate quarterfinal match, finish season 24–8 after falling to Sioux Falls Christian in semifinals

Lady O’s celebrate after a point against the Chargers. 

The Lennox High School volleyball team came out the regular season being ranked third in Region 4A, behind Dakota Valley and Sioux Falls Christian. 

In the quarterfinals of Region 4A playoffs, Lennox was pitted against sixth ranked, Beresford, at Lennox on Tuesday night, Nov. 4. Dakota Valley had a bye and Sioux Falls Christian played seventh ranked, Vermillion.

The first set started with a little back and forth for the Orioles until right side hitter, Jersie Hostetler put away a set from Catie Sherard for a kill. Rylee Hedin went back to serve, got an ace and the Lady O’s were off to the races. 

Addison Martz had a couple of kills in a row on the right side and it didn’t take long before the Orioles had a lead of seven. Sydney Johnson went back to serve at game point with an ace, putting away the set 25-18.

Set two started with a long rally that was concluded with a solo block by Hostetler. Libby Kranz followed suit with a kill and then a solo block to get the set rolling in Lennox’s favor.

The set was put away when Kranz got another solo block for a 25-13 win.

Set three ended up being a lot closer all the way to the end. The set started with a serve by Sherard and the play went back and forth across the net eight times before Hedin finished it off with a kill from the outside. The set was still close at the end, 24-23, when the seniors took over.  Andie Peters put up a great serve receive to Hannah Adney who set to Martz, who put the match away with a kill from the right side, winning 25-23. 

Kranz finished with ten kills, 11 digs, three blocks, and three aces against Beresford. 

Hostetler had ten kills and four blocks. Johnson finished with three aces, Sherard had 18 assists and 13 digs, and Peters finished with 15 digs.

With the win, Lennox was set to Sioux Falls Christian on Thursday, Nov. 6 on the Chargers’ home court after they defeated Vermillion in the quarterfinals. 

This was the third match-up between the two programs in the last few week. Sioux Falls Christian taking all three previous matches. 

Lennox had the first serve but the Chargers put away the first set with a kill. The Orioles quickly reciprocated with a great serve receive from Kranz, set from Sherard and a powerful kill from the middle by Mallorie Bittner. 

“This is how a lot of the first set went, both teams taking turns putting away sets for points,” said LHS head coach Vanessa Gabel. “Hostetler got a couple of nice blocks right away in the match, which set a tone for the squad. Our blockers forces SFC to start placing shots instead of just powering them over the net which allowed us some nice digs from our defense.” 

Peters did a great job in the back court, either digging up hits or out-of-system setting, Gabel noted. 

“The girls just kept fighting, both defensively and offensively through set one,” said Gabel. “We had some really aggressive and smart attacks out hitters. Libby really took care of business in the front row, putting away some fantastic swings.” 

The Lady O’s ended up losing set one 22-25. 

Set two was more of the same. A lot of back and forth from the first serve. Kranz started the team off with the first kill of the set, hitting high hands, resulting in a kill. As the set progressed, the girls played stronger and stronger. 

“I thought we were going to take set two from SFC. Everything was coming together and we were playing really aggressive,” said Gabel.

The Orioles were in the lead at 21-20, when Hostetler put away a kill from the right side. The set was tied up at 22-22 when Bittner got a quick out of the middle. Tied up again at 23-23, SFC put away a couple of sets and took the set 25-23.

“After fighting hard in the first two sets but still coming out with losses, it’s always hard for a team to come back and fight in the third, which is what happened to us,” said Gabel. “The nerves from the lose and go home situation, seniors knowing this is likely their last match of their careers and not wanting to make crucial mistakes got us on our heels.” 

SFC easily took the third set, 25-15. Hostetler finished with  nine kills, five blocks; Bittner had six kills, four blocks; Hedin had two aces; Sherard had 15 assists; and Peters finished with 13 digs.

“I was so proud of this squad this year. I asked a lot of quite a few young players this year. We were starting three sophomores, three juniors and one senior at the end of the season. They were really stepping up, unafraid. A coach can’t ask for more,” said Gabel.   

Lennox finished the season with a record of 24-8.