STURGIS, S.D. — The Spearfish Spartans battled through three tightly contested sets Tuesday night, but Sturgis ultimately protected its home court.
Spearfish fell to the Sturgis Scoopers in four sets, 18-25, 26-24, 26-28, 21-25, on Sept. 22 at Sturgis Brown High School. The loss dropped the Spartans to 7-10 on the season.
After struggling to find an offensive rhythm in the opening set, Spearfish responded in the second.
The Spartans hit just -.037 in the first set with six kills and seven attack errors as Sturgis opened the match with a 25-18 victory. Spearfish turned those numbers around in the second, recording 12 kills with five errors on 29 attempts for a .241 hitting percentage. That improvement helped the Spartans edge the Scoopers 26-24 and even the match at one set apiece.
The third set proved to be the pivotal one.
Neither side was able to create enough separation to close it out in regulation before Sturgis eventually escaped with a 28-26 win. Spearfish recorded a match-high 13 kills in the set, but 10 attack errors prevented the Spartans from capitalizing on their opportunities.
Facing a 2-1 deficit, Spearfish produced its most efficient offensive set of the night in the fourth. The Spartans finished with nine kills and just two errors on 19 attacks, good for a .368 hitting percentage, but Sturgis closed out the match with a 25-21 victory.
Addie Keller and Julia Billington led the Spearfish attack with 10 kills apiece.
Keller turned in one of the Spartans’ most complete performances, hitting .280 with four service aces, nine digs and a solo block. Her four aces were tied for the team lead, and she finished with a team-high 15 points.
Finley Bouman was efficient in the middle, finishing with nine kills and just one error on 23 attempts for a team-best .348 hitting percentage among players with multiple attacks. Bouman also recorded two solo blocks, two block assists and nine digs.
Billington added seven digs and three total blocks to her 10 kills, while Layla Meredith contributed five kills, 12 assists, nine digs and four service aces. Piper Jacobs led Spearfish with 18 assists and added six digs and two aces.
Serving provided Spearfish with another source of offense throughout the match. The Spartans finished with 13 aces, led by four each from Keller and Meredith. Jacobs added two, while Bouman, Billington and Taylor Burry each recorded one. Spearfish also totaled 40 kills, 35 assists and 54 digs.
The Spartans finished the night hitting .140 as a team with 40 kills and 24 attack errors on 114 attempts. The box score also credited Spearfish with eight total team blocks.
The four-set match lasted one hour, 47 minutes.
Spearfish statistical leaders: Keller, 10 kills, four aces, nine digs; Billington, 10 kills, seven digs; Bouman, nine kills, .348 hitting percentage, nine digs; Jacobs, 18 assists; Meredith, 12 assists, four aces, nine digs.