Playing in the final regular season match of the 2022 season, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals nearly upset the Colman-Egan Hawks at home on Tuesday, October 25th. While the Hawks won the match in four sets, St Mary certainly had chances to win the match themselves.
The opening set was played close throughout the entire set. The largest lead for either team was three points, which the Hawks had multiple times, until late in the set. Colman-Egan led by just two points, 19-17, late, but the Cardinals went on a 7-1 run to take a 24-20 lead. The Hawks pulled within a point, 24-23, but St Mary shut the rally down and won the opening set 25-23.
After a 6-6 tie early in the second set, Colman-Egan went on a 4-0 run for a 10-6 advantage. The Hawks maintained a two-to-three point lead before extending it to five points at 15-10. Colman-Egan continued to lead by five points 23-18, but that’s when St Mary made a run. The Cardinals scored six in a row for a 24-23 lead, but the Hawks finished the set with three straight points to win 26-24.
The momentum from winning the second set seemed to carry over into the third set for the Hawks. They built a 10-point lead at 19-9 and won the third set 25-16. Colman-Egan continued that momentum into the fourth set and took a 11-3 early in the game. St Mary cut the lead to four points, 14-10, but the Hawks pushed the lead to 17-10. That’s when all the momentum shifted to St Mary. The Cardinals went on a big 13-1 run for a 23-18 lead. Colman-Egan then scored four in a row to cut the lead to 23-22. St Mary won the next point to put them one point away from forcing a fifth set, but the Hawks scored four in a row to get the 26-24 win.
Ella Griffin finished with 17 kills and two blocks. Brianna Griffin had 13 kills, three blocks, and five ace serves. Maya Heinitz had 26 digs, eight kills, and five ace serves. Jaycee Tebay also had eight kills along with a block and a set assist. Megan Geraets had four kills and three blocks. Brianna Lindeman had an impressive 47 set assists as well as 14 digs and three blocks. Josie Baumberger and Whitney Warwick both also had 14 digs. Madala Hanson added 12 digs.
