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MITCHELL — The Mitchell High School volleyball team could do little to slow red-hot Sioux Falls Lincoln on Tuesday night.
Having won each of their last three matches in 3-0 fashion — the most recent coming against then-second-ranked Harrisburg last week — the Patriots extended their sweep streak to four matches in a straight-set win over the Kernels at the MHS Gym. Set scores were 25-14, 25-22 and 25-10.
“We were playing a really good team. They’re bigger than we are and rely a lot on their blocking and heavy hitting,” said Mitchell coach Deb Thill. “We thought our defense would be ready, and at times we battled even with them. I thought there were times when you couldn’t tell which was the better team out there. But Lincoln was obviously better tonight and made some impressive plays at the net.”
Even with the Patriots’ recent form, it was the Kernels who started fast, going up 5-1 in the first set. However, Lincoln recovered quickly, winning the next six points and 11 of 13 to prompt a timeout. The pause did little to slow the Patriots, who outscored the Kernels 13-7 to close the first set.
The second set was the most competitive of the match, with the Kernels keeping it close early before winning seven straight points to go ahead 16-14. Mitchell was still in the lead late at 22-21, but Lincoln won the final four points to take a 2-0 lead.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
“Paige [Guthmiller] was serving well during a big stretch of that [run] and we were passing the ball well. When you do that, you’re going to give yourself a chance to win,” Thill said.
“But we had back-to-back errors, and after point No. 20, you can’t do that if you’re going to have a chance to win,” Thill continued. “We’ll just break that down and keep working with our kids individually because they work hard and their mindset is to get better.”
Lincoln controlled the third set, winning nine of the first 11 points. Four of the next five went to Mitchell, but it wasn’t enough to put the set or match outcome in doubt, as the Patriots closed on a 15-5 run to improve to 10-4 on the season.
Despite Lincoln’s best efforts to serve Lizzie Tyler and limit her offensive impact, Tyler still led the Kernels with nine kills and 11 digs to go with one service ace. Tianna Meadows was second on the team with four kills, while Addie Siemsen, Lauren Van Overschelde and Taylor Giblin each had two. Jurzee Gregg put up 11 assists and five digs, with Guthmiller recording seven digs and two aces.
Tuesday was the second of five consecutive matches against teams with winning records for the Kernels (5-9), as Mitchell hosts Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Thursday ahead of road matches at top-ranked Sioux Falls Washington and Rapid City Stevens.
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