The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals earned an opening-round win of the Region 4B Tournament on Monday, October 30th, at Dell Rapids St Mary High School. The #8 seeded Cardinals defeated the #9 seed Mitchell Christian Golden Eagles in straight sets by scores of 27-25, 25-23, 25-23.
The entire match was back and forth. In the opening set, neither team had a lead of more than two or three points. The Golden Eagles rallied after trailing 23-21 late in the set to take a 24-23 lead. The Cardinals scored the next two points to regain the lead at 25-24. After Mitchell Christian tied the set at 25-25, St Mary scored the next two points for the win.
Mitchell Christian seemed to be in position to win the second set after getting out to a five-point late in the second set. The Golden Eagles lead 19-13. St Mary scored three in a row to cut the lead to 19-16. After a Golden Eagle point to push their lead to 20-16, the Cardinals went on a 7-2 run to take a 23-22 lead. St Mary closed out the set scoring two of the final three points to get the come-from-behind win.
The first part of the third set played out much like the first set. Neither team was able to build a lead of more than a point or two until the Golden Eagles rallied to take a 15-11 lead. The Cardinals rallied once again to tie the set at 17-17. The two teams went back and forth again with the score getting tied at 18-18, 19-19, 20-20, and 21-21. The Cardinals rallied for the next three points to get to match point at 24-21. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 24-23, but a kill by Cassy Geraets ended the match.
St Mary will now play the #1 seed Chester Flyers on Tuesday, October 31st, in the next round of the Region 4B Tournament. The match will be held in Madison at 5:00 p.m.