The “Sweet 16” match turned bittersweet for the Dell Rapids Quarrier volleyball team as they fell to the #4 seeded Madison Bulldogs at Brandon Valley High School on Tuesday, November 7th. After the Quarriers were one point away from a trip to the State A tournament, the Madison Bulldogs found a way to rally and come back to win 3-2 by set scores of 19-25, 29-31, 26-24, 25-20, 15-3 to advance to the state tournament.
Madison started the match with an early 5-2 lead in the first set. Dell Rapids went on a 10-2 run to take a 12-7 lead midway through the set. Madison chipped away to tie the set at 18-18, but the Quarriers closed out the set on a 7-1 run to take the first set.
The Bulldogs seemed to regroup in the second set and led 11-6 early. Dell Rapids closed the gap to 16-14, but Madison went on an 8-1 run to lead 24-15 and had the serve. Dell Rapids forced the side out to get the serve and make the score 24-16. Mackenzie Grisham then served nine straight points to give Dell Rapids a 25-24 lead. The Quarriers were able to maintain the advantage and eventually won the second set 31-29 to give them a 2-0 set lead.
The third set started with runs by both teams. Madison scored the first four points to take a 4-0 lead. Dell Rapids answered with four in a row to tie the set at 4-4. The Bulldogs then put up five in a row to go ahead 9-4. Dell Rapids worked to tie the set at 12-12 and found momentum to go ahead 19-15. Dell Rapids held on to the lead at 22-19. Madison scored the next three points to tie at 22-22. The two teams traded points to remained tied at 23-23. After a net violation on a block attempted was called against Madison, the Quarriers found themselves at match point with a score of 24-23. After a rally, Dell Rapids was called for a net violation to tie things at 24-24. The Bulldogs rallied for the final two points to steal the third set at 26-24 and keep the match alive.
Set four started back and forth and was tied at 4-4. Madison went on a 5-0 run to take a 9-4 lead. Madison maintained about a four-to-six point lead through the middle of the set and then pushed their lead to 17-9. Dell Rapids rallied to cut the lead to 20-16 and 24-20, but Madison closed out the set at 25-20 to force the fifth and final set.
The Bulldogs seemed to gain momentum throughout the fourth set and jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the fifth set. Dell Rapids could not get any momentum going of their own, and the Bulldogs took the final set 15-3.
The Dell Rapids Quarrier season comes to an end with an overall record of 19-10.