Stevens claims one doubles title, falls twice to O’Gorman

Doubles play often hinges on how a tandem does at the net. Returning volleys alone isn’t enough. The key lies in just how forceful the players are at attacking the net. Rapid City Stevens got both a win and two championship losses in the Rapid City Invite Friday, and saw just how important doubles play is.

The Flight 2 team of Lindsey Tibbles and Lexie Hammerquist gave the Raiders the lone championship victory for a Rapid City team on Day 1. After dispatching Denali Raforth and Leslie Cope of St. Thomas More/Rapid City Christian 10-4 in the semifinals, they won 10-5 in the finals, breezing through Sioux Falls O’Gorman’s Samantha Czarnecki and Mary Billion.

“We had played so well last weekend together, and we just weren’t feeling it this morning,” Hammerquist said. “Then to have everything click and play how we did last year at the state tournament just really felt good.”

A lackluster quarterfinal match against the second Flight 2 team for Sioux Falls O’Gorman, Abi Kosiak and Rachel Townsend from junior varsity had the two on the ropes down 7-9. But they rallied to win the final four games, sparking play that saw a renewed sense of aggressiveness in their net play over the final two matches.

“I’m proud of them because they played their next two matches the way I expect them to play,” Raider head coach Jason Olson said. “They’re good and they should play that way every day.”

On the flip side, in Flight 1 Jenna Czarnecki and Morgan Brower of O’Gorman attacked the net and controlled their finals match with Stevens’ Sydney Moyle and Taylor Messinger from the start, keeping the Raiders on their heels with superb volleys to win 10-6.

“A lot of people talk about Jenna Czarnecki being our number five player last year. But she was just on a strong team,” O’Gorman head coach Don Barnes said. “She’s really stepped up her game, worked hard and its paid off. I consider her a first flight type player anyway. With the addition of Morgan they make a hell of a team.”

The Knights were also victorious in the Flight 3 championship match, with Alexis Kosiak and Sydney Brower beating Kristina Hammerquist and Kate Salkowski from Stevens 10-4.

All three St. Thomas More teams ended up in the third place matches, with Catherine Gibbens and Alexis Haakedahl winning third place in Flight 1 10-5 over Brandon Valley’s Erin Buse and Hayley Naasz.