The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals held their last home match of the regular season on Tuesday, October 19th against the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks. Prior to the match, the Cardinals recognized their two seniors, Courtney Brown and Addyson Gilbert.
The first set started close at 6-4 in favor of the Elks. Elkton-Lake Benton slowly worked their lead to nine points at 18-9. The Elks went on to win the first set 25-11. St Mary opened the second set on with a 8-3 lead. The Elks then went on a 10-2 run for a 13-10 lead. That lead grew to 23-13 before winning the second set 25-17. The Cardinals again got out to an early 5-2 lead in the third set. St Mary held a lead for most of the match until the Elks went ahead for the first time at 18-17. Elkton-Lake Benton led 23-20, but the Cardinals tied the set 23-23. But the Elks scored the final two points for a 25-23 win for a 3-0 match victory.
Brown had 10 kills and 10 digs. Gilbert, Ella Griffin, and Brianna Griffin all had three kills each. Maya Heinitz had two. Gilbert also had three blocks and two digs. Heinitz finished with 10 digs. E. Griffin added five digs, three set assists, an ace serve, and a block. Brianna Lindeman had 11 set assists and four digs. Madala Hanson finished with eight digs and four set assists. Josie Baumberger had a team-high 11 digs, and Jaycee Tebay had two ace serves.
The Cardinals will travel to Colman to play the Colman-Egan Hawks on Monday, October 25th to finish the regular season.