In their final home and regular season match of the 2018 season, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals fell to the Colman-Egan Hawks on senior night at Dell Rapids St Mary High School on Monday, October 22nd. The Hawks won by set scores of 25-20, 25-12, 25-18.
The first set of the match was back and forth throughout much of the set. There were nine ties and seven lead changes in the first half of the set before Colman-Egan was able to break away for a 20-14 lead. The Cardinals got back within a point at 21-20, but the Hawks closed out the set with four straight points for the win.
St Mary got behind early at 8-3. The Cardinals closed the lead to three points at 8-5, but Colman-Egan found momentum and went on a 10-3 run to go ahead 18-8. The Hawks were able to take the second set at 25-12.
The Cardinals jumped out early on Colman-Egan 3-0 in the third set. The Hawks answered with a three-point run of their own to tie the set at 3-3. St Mary then went ahead 5-3 only to see Colman-Egan again tie the set at 5-5. Again the Hawks got on a run. This time it was a 9-1 run to go ahead 14-6. St Mary couldn’t get the momentum to get the come-from-behind win and lost the set 25-18.
Veronica Beck finished the night with eight kills. Maddie Schwebach had four kills, and Cassie Mullaney had three kills. Macie Brown had 11 digs on the defensive side for St Mary. Carly Maxwell finished with 10 digs. Paige Bunkers had six digs along with two ace serves. Beck also had two ace serves. Ella Heinitz had 12 set assists. Mullaney, Schwebach, and Heinitz all had a block in the match.
Mackenzie Hemmer finished with nine kills for Colman-Egan. Braiden Westley had eight kills, and Olivia Baumberger had four kills. Westley also had five blocks, and Baumberger had three blocks. Elizabenth Moore had seven digs and seven ace serves. Westley had a team-high eight digs.
This year’s Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal seniors are Carly Maxwell, Cassie Mullaney, Veronia Beck, and Maddie Schwebach.
St Mary ends the regular season with a 9-16 record. The Cardinals will now play in the opening round of the Region 4B tournament starting on Monday, October 29th. Their opponent and location of the match are yet to be determined. Big Sioux Media will follow the Cardinals throughout the Region 4B tournament.