A late rally by the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals fell short against the Castlewood Warriors on Thursday, October 11th. Trailing two sets to none, St Mary rallied to win the third set and came storming back after being down five points late in the fourth set, but the rally fell short as Castlewood won the match 3-1. The set scores were 25-21, 25-12, 23-25, 25-23.
St Mary held a slim lead through much of the first half of the first set. They were able to keep ahead of Castlewood by one to two points. The Warriors, however, were finally able to tie the set at 15-15. Castlewood then went on a 10-6 run to close out the first set for the victory. The Warriors were able to carry that momentum into the second set jumping out to a 9-1 lead. They kept rolling through the second set for the 25-12 win.
Castlewood looked to keep the momentum going into the third set as they got out to a 13-7 lead halfway through the set. The Cardinals were able to chip away at the lead to pull within a point at 15-14. St Mary was able to tie the set at 18-18. Castlewood was able to retake the lead at 22-20, but St Mary closed out the set on a 5-1 run to force a fourth set. The Warriors again got out to a sizeable lead at 16-8 in the fourth set. St Mary once again made a run and tied the game at 20-20. The Cardinals also had to tie the set at 22-22 and 23-23, but Castlewood scored the final two points to take the match.
Veronica Beck tallied 10 kills in the match. Maddie Schwebach had nine kills, and Cassie Mullaney added five kills. Ella Heinitz had 20 set assists. Carly Maxwell finished with 26 digs. Macie Brown finished with 16 digs, and Courtney Brown had nine digs. Mullaney had three blocks, and Heinitz had two blocks. Paige Bunkers led the team with two ace serves.
St Mary (7-12) will travel to Castlewood for the Dakota Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday, October 13th.