The Tri-Valley Mustang volleyball team hosted one of their final home matches of the season on Tuesday, October 20th.  The Mustangs entertained Mt. Vernon/Plankinton and lost a five-set match to the Titans.

The first set was back-and-forth early.  Tri-Valley held a slim 7-6 lead before extending the lead to 11-7.  The Titans were able to eventually tie the set at 16-16.  Mt. Vernon/Plankinton then went on a 6-2 run for a 22-16 lead.  The Titans took the first set 25-18.

The Mustangs held an early lead in the second set at 6-3.  The Titans went on a 7-1 run to take a 10-7 lead.  Tri-Valley rebounded and tied the set at 11-11 and then take a 16-13 lead.  The set was tied again at 20-20.  The Mustangs finished the set on a 5-1 run to win 25-21 and tie the match at one set apiece.

The third set started the same as the first with neither team getting much of an advantage.  The Mustangs started to make a run midway through the set.  With the score tied 11-11, Tri-Valley scored four in a row for a 15-11 lead.  The Mustangs extended the lead to 19-13 and went on to take the third set by a score of 25-17.

Trailing two sets to one, the Titans came out on fire in the fourth set.  Mt. Vernon/Plankinton jumped out to an 9-2 lead.  The Titans were able to maintain a sizeable lead throughout most of the set and led 23-13.  The Mustangs scored six in a row and pulled within four points at 23-19.  The Titans, however, ended the rally and won 25-19 to force a fifth and final set.

The fifth set was once again close to start.  The two teams were tied 4-4 when the Titans made a run for an 8-5 lead.  The lead extended to 11-6 for Mt. Vernon/Plankinton.   Tri-Valley pulled within three at 11-8, but the Titans closed out the match on a 4-0 run to win the set 15-8 and take the match.

Tri-Valley (8-9) will travel to Tea on Friday, October 23rd and then host the West Central Trojans on Monday, October 26th to finish the regular season.

The Tri-Valley Mustangs won their second match in a row and evened their record with a straight set win in Lennox on Monday, October 12th.

The Mustangs got rolling early and never looked back.  Tri-Valley won the first set by double digits at 25-15.  They continued to roll in the second and third sets and won them by the same score of 25-21 for the match victory.

Kaitlyn Mohnen finished with a team-high seven kills.  Tabor Teel had five kills.  Grace Schildhauer and Blayne Gacke both finished with nine digs each.  Jessica Masgai and Teel finished with three blocks apiece.  Gacke and Mohnen both had three ace serves.  Schildhauer also led the team with 22 set assists.

Tri-Valley (7-7) will travel to Sioux Falls Christian on Tuesday, October 13th.

The Tri-Valley Mustang volleyball team was able to end a five-match losing streak on Thursday, October 8th.  Tri-Valley traveled to Elk Point to play the Elk Point-Jefferson Huskies.  The Mustangs came home with a 3-1 match victory.

The entire match was close between the two teams.  The Huskies took the first set by a score of 27-25.  Tri-Valley then took the next three sets of the match.  The Mustangs won the second set 25-17 and then won sets three and four by the same score of 25-22.

Jessica Masgai had a team-high 13 kills.  Blayne Gacke finished with 10 kills.  Gacke also led the team in digs with 20.  Hannah West finished with 11 digs.  Abbie Weinacht had three blocks, while Tabor Teel had two.  Grace Schildhauer finished with 12 set assists.  Teel also finished with two ace serves.

Tri-Valley (6-7) will travel to Lennox on Monday, October 12th, and then to Sioux Falls Christian on Tuesday, October 13th.

The Tri-Valley Mustangs lost to a tough Chester Flyers team on Tuesday, October 6th at home.  The Flyers took the match in straight sets.

Chester got on a roll in the first set of the match and took the win 25-11.  The second set was much closer, but the Flyers took a 2-0 lead with a 25-22 win in the second set.  The Flyers continued the momentum and won the third set 25-14.

Kaitlyn Mohnen finished the night with eight digs and one ace serve.  Hannah West had five digs.  Abbie Weinacht had four solo and seven assisted blocks, four kills, and three ace serves.  Blayne Gacke had a team-high six kills.  Jessica Masgai had 10 assisted blocks and two solo blocks.  Grace Schildhauer finished with 12 set assists, and Brookelyn Stieben added six set assists.

Tri-Valley (5-7) will look to get back into the win column when they travel to Elk Point to play the Elk Point-Jefferson Huskies on Thursday, October 8th.

The Tri-Valley Mustangs fell at home to the McCook Central/Montrose Cougars on Thursday, October 1st.  The Cougars took the match in four sets.

McCook Central/Montrose started out fast and beat the Mustangs 25-11 to open up the match.  The Mustangs regrouped and took the second set by a score of 25-15.  The Cougars then took the next two sets by the same 25-19 score.

Abbie Weinacht had 11 kills and two ace serves in the match.  Blayne Gacke had five kills, two ace serves, and a block.  Hannah West and Grace Schildhauer both had 10 digs each.  Schildhauer also had 10 set assists.  Jessica Masgai had four solo blocks and six assisted blocks.  Brooklyn Stieben had a team-high 11 set assists.

Tri-Valley (5-6) will host Chester on Tuesday, October 6th.

The Tri-Valley Mustangs hosted the Baltic Bulldogs in a big Region 3A matchup on Monday, September 29th.  The Bulldogs were able to get the victory over the Mustangs in five sets.

Baltic took the first two sets by close scores.  The Bulldogs won the first set 25-21 and then won the second set 25-23.  Tri-Valley was able to win the next two sets to force the fifth and final set.  The Mustangs won the third and fourth sets by the same 25-15 score.  Baltic, however, prevailed in the fifth set and won by a score of 15-8 to win the match.

Blayne Gacke had a match-high 17 kills.  Jessica Masgai finished with 11 kills.  Brookelyn Stieben had 16 set assists, and Grace Schildhauer had 14 set assists.  Tabor Teel led the back-row defense with 17 digs.  Gacke added 13 digs.  Masgai and Abbie Weinacht both had two blocks each.  Gacke and Schildhauer each had three ace serves.

Tri-Valley (5-4) will host the McCook Central/Montrose Cougars on Thursday, October 1st.

The Tri-Valley Mustang volleyball team extended their winning streak to five after a four-set match win over the Canton C-Hawks in Canton on Tuesday, September 22nd.

After dropping the first set by a score of 25-19, the Mustangs rallied to win the next three by scores of 25-17, 25-13, and 25-22 to earn the match win.

Jessica Masgai had a team-high nine kills, along with four ace serves, and two blocks.  Blayne Gacke finished with seven kills, five ace serves, and 10 digs.  Abbie Weinacht had three blocks.  Grace Schildhauer also had 10 digs on the night.

Tri-Valley (5-2) will look to keep the winning streak going against the Madison Bulldogs in Madison on Thursday, September 24th.

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

The Tri-Valley Mustangs won their fourth straight volleyball match after a straight set win in Dell Rapids against the Quarriers on Thursday, September 17th.  The Mustangs won by scores of 25-21, 25-16, and 25-22.

The Mustangs and Quarriers stayed within two or three points most of the first set.  Both teams had small leads through the early and middle portions of the set.  The two teams were tied at 13-13, 17-17 and 19-19 before Tri-Valley closed out the set on a 6-2 run for the win.

The second started the same as the first one.  The score was tied at 5-5 before Tri-Valley went on a four-point run to take a 9-5 lead.  Dell Rapids responded with five straight points of their own for a 10-9 lead.  Tri-Valley broke a 13-13 tie and went on a 12-3 run to take a two set advantage over the Quarriers.

Set three was also close at the start.  The score was tied 5-5, but this time the Mustangs made a big run early.  Tri-Valley went on a 14-3 run to take a 19-8 lead.  Dell Rapids made a late run and pulled within three points at 23-20, but the Mustangs were able to hold off the Quarrier rally and take the set 25-21 to win the match.

Jessica Masgai had six kills to lead the team.  Blayne Gacke had five kills and Abbie Weinacht finished with four kills.  Masgai also led the team with a block and six ace serves.  Kaitlyn Mohnen had seven digs, while Gacke had six digs.  Abbie Weinacht added five ace serves.  Grace Schildhauer had 10 set assists.

Tri-Valley (4-2) will travel to Canton on Tuesday, September 22nd.

Playing in their first road match of the young season, the Tri-Valley Mustangs evened their season record after a four-set victory over the Vermillion Tanagers on Thursday, September 10th.  The Mustangs won by scores of 25-19, 15-25, 25-21, and 25-19.

Jessica Masgai finished the night with six kills and six blocks.  Blayne Gacke had two kills and five ace serves.  Kaitlyn Mohnen had three blocks, two ace serves, and a kill.  Tabor Teel finished with three kills.  Grace Schildhauer tallied 13 set assists, and Brookelyn Stieben added three set assists.

This was the third straight Dak-12 Conference opponent for the Mustangs and second win in a row.  Tri-Valley (2-2) will be back at home on Tuesday, September 15th for a match against the Beresford Watchdogs.