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Lady Tigers wear down Chamberlain for 3-1 win


After dropping the first set, the Lady Tigers fought for three straight wins to beat Chamberlain 3-1 in the Region 6A semifinals in Chamberlain on Thursday.
Coach Rose Henderson said the win was all about the Lady Tigers and their will to win.
“They just never gave up,” said Henderson, “and that’s what we’ve been working for.”
Nothing came easy for either team. Chamberlain jumped out to a 16-8 lead in set one only to have the Lady Tigers fight all the way back before the Cubs held on for a 25-22 win. Set two was tied at 22-22 before the Lady Tigers scored three straight points for a 25-22 win and a 1-1 tie.
Set three was the turning point of the night. Chamberlain came out firing and had an 11-5 lead when Henderson called her second and final timeout. At first the team huddle did not change anything as the Cubs pulled ahead by nine points at 17-8. The Lady Tiger rally started innocuously with a Chamberlain service error. Then Megan Zahn had a block and a kill as the Lady Tigers drew to within 17-13. A Zahn ace cut the Chamberlain lead to 18-15. The Cubs righted the ship and pushed their lead to 21-17 before Channing Wientjes hit a kill followed by an Emma Keller attack and a Haley Brockel serve that were both too tough for Chamberlain to handle. Trailing 22-21, Landyn Henderson and Keller had back-to-back kills and Zahn had another block as the Lady Tigers suddenly had a 24-22 lead. Chamberlain tied the match on two straight Mya Knippling kills before Zahn ripped a kill and Keller laced an ace to give the Lady Tigers the set at 26-24 and a 2-1 lead.
“That showed a lot of heart,” said Henderson. “It showed them what they can do. I think they believe in themselves even more now.”
Early in set four it looked like momentum was never leaving the Lady Tigers’ side again. An early five-point run gave the Lady Tigers a 9-2 lead. After a seven-point run the lead was 16-6. But, momentum did indeed try to make its way to the home team. Chamberlain responded to the 10-point deficit to go on a 12-5 run that drew the set to three points at 21-18. The lead was down to 23-21 and Chamberlain was on a two-point run when Henderson put the win away, first with a kill for point 24 and then a block for the final point in a Lady Tiger win.
Henderson said that while it wasn’t always pretty, the Lady Tigers stuck to the game plan and wore the bigger Cubs down. This was a win that was about the team effort with aggressive serving that forced the Cubs to hit shots that were out of where they wanted to be on the floor, blocking and defense taking control and doing their parts, and different players taking turns stepping up at different times throughout the match.
With the team communicating and acting as one, “the long rallies went our way,” said Henderson.
The stats show how balanced the Lady Tigers were. Henderson and Channing Wientjes had 10 kills each, while Zahn had eight and Ellie Fried chipped in three. Keller led the Lady Tigers with assists on 26 of the team’s 34 kills, while she and Zahn had three aces each. Brockel added two aces on a night were her serves consistently kept the Cubs off balance. Emily Wientjes covered the back end with 18 digs. Callie Weisbeck had five digs, while Brockel, Keller and Regan Stoick had four each.
Knippling led three Chamberlain hitters in double figures with 15 kills. Caycee Guinn had 13 and Hannah Anderson had 11. Anderson led the Cubs from around the court, adding 18 digs and two aces.
The Lady Tigers advance to take on 27-3 Dakota Valley in the SoDak 16 in Madison. The Lady Tigers are playing in the SoDak 16 for the second time in the new-designed regional formats four years. The Lady Tigers beat Pine Ridge in the inaugural SoDak 16 in 2016.
The Lady Tigers and Dakota Valley are playing for the third time, but the first time outside a state tournament. The Lady Tigers beat the Panthers 3-0 in the 2005 state tournament. The Panthers turned that around with a 3-0 win in the 2015 state tourney.

Mobridge-Pollock (17-15) 22 25 26 25
Chamberlain (17-16) 25 22 24 21
Mobridge-Pollock: Serving 89-97, 9 aces (Emma Keller 15-16-3, Megan Zahn 14-16-3, Haley Brockel 15-18-2, Ava Stoick 8-8-1); Setting 108-110, 26 assists (Keller 103-105-26, Regan Stoick 5-5-1); Hitting 106-126, 34 kills (Landyn Henderson 37-41-10, Channing Wientjes 34-38-10, Zahn 12-16-8, Ellie Fried 15-20-3, Keller 2-2-2, R. Stoick 5-6-1); Blocks 4 (Zahn 2, Henderson 1.5, R. Stoick .5); Digs 42 (Emily Wientjes 18, Callie Weisbeck 5, Haley Brockel 4, Keller 4, R. Stoick 4, A. Stoick 2, Zahn 2, Henderson 1, Fried 1, Leah Overland 1).
Chamberlain: Serving 79-93, 5 aces (Hannah Anderson 2); Setting 37 assists (MaKenzy Mutziger 29); Hitting 107-138, 40 kills (Mya Knippling 15, Caycee Guinn 13, Anderson 11); Blocks 8 (Knippling 4, Anderson 3); Digs 78 (Anderson 18, Emma Powers 14).

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