Cavs beat ’Cats in playoff match

The Custer girls volleyball team closed out its season Thursday with a 10-10 win-loss record after being defeated by St. Thomas More (STM) in first round Region 7A/8A play at Rapid City. The Cavaliers beat the Wildcats in three sets, but only after a valiant comeback by the ‛Cats in set two. 

Having faced the No. 4 seeded Cavs on two previous occasions this season, the Wildcats spent time in practice working to match STM’s strengths. 

“We knew STM has great hitters, particularly Timmer and Reese,” said co-head coach Jill Hohn, “and we worked on how to match up blocks against them and how to transition our defense if our blocks were successful and they started tipping. STM also has great blockers. We worked a lot on our hitting coverage and options for hitters if they were consistently getting blocked. We also spent quite a bit of time working on our serve receive, as that was one of our weaknesses throughout the year.”

The two teams were tied at 5-5 in the first set, but then STM began to run up the score, finally winning the game 25-10. 

Then, as has so often been the case in this up and down season, the Custer team came roaring back in set two, taking an early 7-1 lead aided by two kills in a row by Anna Lewis and another by fellow senior Laney Carlin. Custer also had some solid serving in the second set that contributed to their competitiveness. 

“After set one, we laid it all on the line for the girls,” said Hohn, “and I think it helped them realize there were no second chances and this was their season on the line. They came out playing more aggressively and dominated in blocks and kills. Our hitting coverage looked great as well. I really thought we were going to take that set, but STM is a team that never gives up and they proved it.”

As the two teams battled on, the Cavs slimmed the ‛Cats’ lead to 11-9, but Custer went on a an 8-1 scoring run helped by two kills and a block by Ally Cass. That commanding 19-10 lead began to erode, however, and STM fought back to tie it up at 21 and then went on to win the set 25-22. 

With 12 seniors on this year’s team, the season started out optimistically, however, with some weaker competitors dropping out of the season due to COVID and losses to conference powerhouses like STM and Hill City, much of that early season promise was not realized.

“We knew it was going to be a tough, unusual season from the beginning with such high numbers of players, limited coaching staff and COVID,” said Hohn. “Those factors did end up having an impact on the overall season as well as multiple other distractions that took the team’s focus off of the game.”

Another blow near the end of the season was the loss of senior Heidi Moore to an ankle injury. 

“Heidi has consistently been one of top hitters and blockers for some time,” said Hohn. “She was also very familiar with that middle hitting position and transitioning to blocks. We definitely missed her on the court the last part of the season.”

Hohn said Moore remained an integral part of the team on the bench, however, the coaches referring to her as their “assistant coach.”

“She showed her strong character by staying so positive and supportive in the midst of a season-ending injury her senior year,” said Hohn.

“At the end of the season,” said Hohn, “it is easy to be disappointed and to have regrets, but we are tremendously proud of our team. As coaches, we spend more time with our athletes than we do with our own families and we have always thought of our team as a family. We are happy we have the opportunity to share our love of volleyball with girls and see them enjoy the sport.”

Hohn said as she and fellow head coach Miranda Jaure size up the prospects for next year they are sad about the loss of so many experienced seniors, but are looking forward to good things from the underclassmen coming up.

“There is no doubt that our seniors played a crucial role in our program and will be incredibly missed,” said Hohn, “however, we do have players we are looking forward to stepping up into leadership roles. Allie Cass, Kellyn Kortemeyer, Bailey Cass and Josie Wahlstrom are a few athletes who are very talented we are excited to see grow into their roles on the team. We also have some other strong athletes who will be vying for various positions.”