Rapid City Stevens def. Sturgis 25-7, 25-15, 25-8

Rapid City Stevens is everything that a No.1-ranked volleyball team should look like.

The Raiders have a handful of setters, and defensive specialists that are stout as returners. Tessa Loberg, Anna Sykora and Karlee Huber can all wind up an ace with a forceful serve.

The next level for Stevens is probably the most imposing in the state. Outside hitters Keri Godbe and Huber flank the equally dominant middle hitter combo of Margaret McCloud and Kacey Herrmann.

In basketball a thunderous dunk can be worth more than just the two points. It can be a psychological edge. The same goes for Herrmann or McCloud’s booming spikes.

They each unleash a handful every match, causing the unfortunate opponent to bow their collective heads and circle up, only this time taking an extra pause as they are reminded they have no defense whatsoever for that.

That was Sturgis on Thursday night, as the Raiders play was summed up best by McCloud.

“Everything was perfect,” the senior said. “Our passes were perfect, sets perfect, hits perfect.”

Stevens swept through Sturgis 25-7, 25-15 and 25-8 in their match at Carold Heier Gymnasium.

McCloud finished with nine kills to lead the Raiders. Herrmann would add seven and Godbe added six kills and two blocks. Huber smashed four aces and three Raiders – Herrmann, Tessa Loberg and Tayler VanderPol – had two aces.

It was the girls in the back line though that Herrmann heaped the praise on after the match.

“The most important thing I think is serve-receive and defense,” the senior said. “So we rely a lot on our back row and our setters. Without them we wouldn’t get kills and we wouldn’t be able to score. We appreciate when they really come to play.”

From the beginning it was clear the Scoopers would have trouble keeping up with the machine-like Raiders. Stevens turned an 11-5 lead in the first set into a 21-5 suffocation. Sykora had an ace and a kill and Godbe spiked her second kill of the 10-0 run on the tenth point.

The Raiders coasted into the second game and met their most trying set. A back-and-forth second had the Scoopers down just 18-15, but behind two Huber aces and two McCloud kills, Stevens reeled off the last seven points.

The third set played out much like the first, with Stevens leaping out to a 9-2 lead before salting away a 25-8 win.

McCloud alone had four kills in the final set, and said Stevens’ great rhythm and flow comes from their closeness as a group.

“Before the game we were sitting in the locker room and just singing, having fun. We have such good team chemistry off the court, and when you’re on the court it just makes it ten times better.”

It also makes for a pretty fun, top-ranked team to watch.

Stevens (7-1) is next in action Tuesday when they host Spearfish at 7 p.m..