SPEARFISH, S.D. — The Spearfish Spartans showed some fight Tuesday night at Spearfish High School, but a third-set response was not enough to overcome Rapid City Christian.
The Comets defeated the Spartans in four sets, 25-19, 25-11, 22-25, 25-11, on Sept. 8. The loss moved Spearfish to 6-7 on the season.
Rapid City Christian took control early, winning each of the first two sets to put Spearfish in a 2-0 hole. The Spartans’ offense was at its best in the opening set, recording 14 kills while hitting .200. Spearfish struggled to maintain that efficiency in the second, finishing with seven kills and 10 attack errors.
Facing a potential sweep, the Spartans responded.
Spearfish battled its way to a 25-22 victory in the third set to extend the match. The Spartans recorded nine kills on 39 attacks in the set, giving them an opportunity to force a decisive fifth.
Rapid City Christian answered in the fourth. The Comets closed out the match with a 25-11 victory, while Spearfish finished the set with seven kills and nine attack errors.
Billington Leads Spearfish Attack
Julia Billington delivered one of Spearfish’s strongest individual performances of the night.
Billington led the Spartans with 12 kills on 23 attacks, committing just three attack errors for a team-best .391 hitting percentage. She also recorded three service aces and 10 digs, finishing with a team-high 15 points.
Layla Meredith added eight kills and 12 digs while contributing 13 assists and an ace. Addie Keller finished with seven kills and nine digs.
Piper Jacobs led Spearfish with 19 assists and added five digs, while Taylor Burry contributed three kills, three assists and seven digs.
As a team, Spearfish finished with 37 kills, 37 assists, four service aces and 51 digs. The Spartans hit .024 across 125 attacks and were credited with seven total team blocks.
Spearfish will look to bounce back after falling to 6-7 on the season as they will play Aberdeen Central at home on Friday, September 11. You can watch the match here.