The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals and Arlington Cardinals did battle on the volleyball court on Thursday, September 25th, in Arlington.  The two teams played an exciting five-set match with Arlington emerging victorious.

The home-team Arlington Cardinals took the opening set of the match with a five-point 25-20 victory.  St Mary battled back to win the next two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-14.  Arlington would force the final and decisive fifth set by winning the fourth 25-14.  In a very close fifth set, Arlington survived 15-12 to take the match.

Courtney Brown led St Mary with 19 kills.  Ella Heinitz had 11 kills, and Ella Griffin, Maya Heinitz, and Jacey Tebay all added five kills each.  E. Heinitz also finished with 19 set assists, 15 digs, and two blocks.  Brown also had 13 digs on the night.  Griffin tallied 17 set assists and 10 digs.  M. Heinitz led the team with three ace serves and had 14 digs.  Macie Brown finished with 11 digs and an ace serve.

St Mary (5-2) will host the Dell Rapids Quarriers on Monday, September 28th.  That match can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal volleyball team earned a road win after not having to travel for nearly a month.  The Cardinals defeated the Howard Tigers in straight sets by scores of 25-18, 25-13, and 25-16 on Tuesday, September 22nd.

The Cardinals got out to a 7-0 lead to open the match and were never really threatened in the first set.  Howard pulled within four points early, but St Mary kept a nearly 10-point lead most of the set for the 25-18 win.

Howard stayed within three points early in the second set, but with the scored 9-6 in favor of the Cardinals, St Mary slowly started building a bigger lead.  The Cardinals led 18-12 before finishing the set on a 7-1 run for a 25-13 win.

St Mary kept the momentum going in the third set.  The Cardinals started with eight straight points and cruised from there.   St Mary extended the lead to 14-2 and won the third set 25-16 for the match win.

Courtney Brown led the team with 18 kills, eight digs, three blocks and two ace serves.  Ella Heinitz had 18 set assists with 11 digs, six kills, and three blocks.  Ella Griffin had 15 set assists and eight digs.  Maya Heinitz finished with 12 digs and five kills.  Macie Brown had 10 digs.

The Cardinals (5-1) will travel to Arlington on Thursday, September 24th.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley, Dells City Journal

Playing for the first time in two weeks, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal volleyball team hosted the Deubrook Area Dolphins on Thursday, September 17th in a battle of unbeaten teams.  The Dolphins gave the Cardinals their first loss of the season winning the match in four sets by scores of 14-25, 25-13, 25-9, and 25-22.

Deubrook opened the match with four straight points for a 4-0 lead.  The Cardinals were able to stop the run at four points, and then went on a run of their own.  St Mary scored seven straight points for a 7-4 lead.  The Cardinals continued to maintain a two-to-three point lead and led 12-9 before going on a 9-2 run take control of the first set at 21-12.  The Cardinals won the first set 25-14.

The second remained close early with St Mary holding a two-to-three point lead.  The Cardinals led 10-7, but the Dolphins scored 12 straight points to build a 19-10 lead.  They cruised from there for a 25-13 win.  The Dolphins continued to have the momentum in the third set.  Deubrook started the set on a 14-2 run and took the third set 25-9.

The Dolphins started the fourth set on an 8-3 run for an early lead.  St Mary went on a 6-1 run to tie the set at 9-9.  Deubrook responded with an 8-0 run to lead 17-9.  The Cardinals battled back to pull within two points at 20-18 and then again at 21-19, but the Dolphins survived the rally to win the set 25-22 and win the match.

St Mary (4-1) will travel to Howard on Tuesday, September 22nd.  That match can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley, Dells City Journal

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal volleyball team won their fourth straight match to start the season.  The latest win came against the Mitchell Christian Golden Eagles on Thursday, September 3rd at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.

The Cardinals won the match in straight sets by scores of 25-16, 26-24, and 25-9.

The first two sets of the match were close, back-and-forth games.  In the opening set, both teams made runs.  After a 7-7 tie score, the Cardinals scored the next four points to take an 11-7 lead.  Mitchell Christian responded by scoring the next five for a 12-11 advantage.  St Mary then took control of the first set with an 11-2 run to lead 22-13.  They went on to take the first set 25-16.  The second set was never more than a three-point difference.  St Mary’s largest lead was three points at 16-13.  The Golden Eagles led by as many as two points at 22-20.  The Cardinals ended the set on a 6-2 run to win 26-24 for the two set advantage.  St Mary took the momentum from the first two sets and went on a big run midway through the third set to get the match win.

Ella Heinitz finished the night with 10 kills, nine digs, seven set assists, and two ace serves.  Courtney Brown had eight kills and 13 digs.  Ella Griffin finished with 15 set assists, six kills, four digs, two blocks, and two ace serves.  Maya Heinitz finished with 10 digs and three kills.  Macie Brown had seven digs and two ace serves.  Lauren Rasmussen had four digs and two kills, and Teri Schoeberl had three digs.

The seniors were also recognized prior to the match.  The seniors are Ella Heinitz, Macie Brown, Lauren Rasmussen, and Teri Schoeberl.

St Mary (4-0) will host Canistota on Thursday, September 10th.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley, Dells City Journal

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal volleyball team remained unbeaten on the year after an exciting match win over the Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders at home on Tuesday, September 1st.  The Cardinals won by set scores of 25-23, 25-13, 20-25, and 25-14.

The first set saw both teams go on scoring spurts.  The Cardinals trailed by four points early before going on a four-point run to take an 8-7 lead.  The Raiders responded by scoring the next eight points for a 15-8 advantage.  St Mary came storming back and tied the set at 16-16.  Oldham-Ramona/Rutland then went on a four-point run of their own to regain the lead at 20-16.  The Cardinals tied the set at 20-20.  The the two teams were then tied at 21-21, 22-22, and 23-23 before St Mary won the first set 25-23.

The late momentum seemed to stay with the Cardinals in the second set.  They jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and never trailed as they easily took the second set 25-13.  St Mary appeared to be headed towards a straight set victory as they led by six points early in the third set at 8-2.  The Raiders found a spark and tied the set at 13-13.  They continued their run and took a 21-16 lead.  St Mary scored the next four points to pull within one at 21-20, but Oldham-Ramona/Rutland closed out the third set on a four-point run to win 25-20. 

The Cardinals would not let the Raiders take advantage of any momentum from the third set.  St Mary once again got out to an 8-2 lead, but this time, they were able to keep the pressure on Oldham-Ramona/Rutland.  They pushed the lead to 18-9 and cruised from there to win 25-14 and take the match.

Courtney Brown finished the night with 13 kills and two blocks.  Ella Heinitz had nine kills, 16 set assists, eight digs, two blocks, and two ace serves.  Ella Griffin had six set assists, five blocks, four kills, and three ace serves.   Maya Heinitz added seven digs.  Macie Brown had six digs and an ace.  Jaycee Tebay finished with nine kills on the night.

St Mary (3-0) will host Mitchell Christian on Thursday, September 3rd.  There will only be one match, a varsity match, which will start at 6:00 p.m.  The seniors will also be recognized.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal volleyball team had little issue with the Great Plains Lutheran Panthers on Saturday, August 29th.  The Cardinals, playing in their first of six straight home matches, won in straight sets by scores of 25-13, 25-15, 25-19.

With the first set tied 2-2, the Cardinals went on an 8-2 run and didn’t slow down from there.  They pushed the lead to 17-7 and took the first set with ease.  St Mary jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the second set.  The Panthers pulled within two points at 11-9.  Great Plains Lutheran continued to be within three-to-four points, but with the Cardinals leading 18-15, St Mary scored the final seven points for the win.  St Mary again got out to a lead midway through the third set at 13-8, but the Panthers fought back to tie the set at 16-16.  The Cardinals then closed out the set and match on a 9-3 run to earn the victory.

St Mary (2-0) will host the Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders on Tuesday, September 1st.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal volleyball team opened the 2020 season with a road victory on Thursday, August 27th.  The Cardinals defeated the Alcester-Hudson Cubs in four sets by scores of 25-22, 25-17, 24-26, 25-21.

The entire match was very close in all four sets.  The first set was back and forth all set long.  The Cubs led 20-18, but the Cardinals were able to tie the set at 22-22 and then get the next three points for the 25-22 win.  St Mary was able to keep that momentum going in the second set as they led most of the way.  They took the second set 25-17.  In another close battle in the third set, the Cubs were able to extend the match with an extra-point victory of 26-24.  The Cardinals were able to bounce back in the fourth set and win yet another close battle.  St Mary took the set 25-21 to win the match.

St Mary (1-0) will have six straight matches at home starting on Saturday, August 29th against Great Plains Lutheran.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley, Dells City Journal

The Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders rallied late in the first set and then had a big rally in the second set on their way to a straight-set match win over the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals on Monday, November 4th in the opening round of the Region 4B tournament.  The Raiders won by set scores of 25-21, 25-11, and 25-18.

After an early 6-6 tie in the first set, the Raiders went on an 8-2 run for a 14-8 lead.  The Cardinals eventually tied the game at 17-17 and then took the lead at 18-17, but the Raiders closed out the first set on an 8-3 run for the win.

The second set went back and forth early.  The two teams were tied at 6-6.  Then the momentum from the late rally in the first set found the Raiders.  Oldham-Ramona/Rutland went on an 11-1 run for a 17-7 lead.  The Raiders cruised to the second set win at 25-11.

St Mary looked to keep the mach alive in the third set and got out to an early 8-5 lead.  The Raiders took a small lead at 12-10.  The Cardinals battled back to tie the game at 14-14 and then again at 16-16.  The Raiders, however, rallied for a four-point lead at 22-18, and then finished the match with three straight points after a timeout for the win.

The Cardinals finish their season with an overall record of 10-16. 

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal volleyball team ended their 2019 regular season at Colman-Egan on Monday, October 28th.  The Hawks defeated St Mary in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-14, and 25-12.

Courtney Brown and Ella Heinitz both had eight kills.  Ella Griffin finished with five kills, and Jaycee Tebay had four kills.  Heinitz also had 10 set assists and five digs.  Griffin finished with nine set assists and four digs.  Brown and Maya Heinitz each had five digs.

The Cardinals end the regular season with a 10-15 record.  St Mary will begin the Region 4B tournament on Monday, November 4th.