Raiders 3, Golden Eagles 2

Kacey Herrmann had 19 kills helping the Raiders comeback from two sets down against Aberdeen Saturday.

For two-and-a-half sets, the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles played like they were the best team in the state.  Their passes were crisp, their sets on target, and their spikes sent shockwaves throughout the gym.  For two-and-a-half sets, the Golden Eagles dominated the top-ranked Rapid City Stevens Raiders.

And then something clicked on the Raider sideline.  After losing 16-25, 19-25, and facing a 16-9 deficit in the third set, Rapid City stormed back to win the next three 25-23, 25-21, and 15-13.

“We were not picking their serves up at all in the first two sets,” said Stevens head coach Jonel Geske.  “We just had to make that little adjustment in the third set and once we got some momentum, we were able to get our passes up to our setters and we could run some offense.”

Through the first two games, Aberdeen Central jumped out to early leads using an aggressive attack from their front line of Samantha Knecht, Caitlin Rasmusson, and Lauren McCafferty.  The offensive barrage put the Raiders back on their heels as the Golden Eagles coasted to two early victories.

The third set looked to be more of the same as Aberdeen jumped out to another big lead, only to see their seven-point margin slowly disappear.  Rapid City tied the score at seventeen-all and even pulled ahead 21-20 before the Eagles seemingly put the game on ice, scoring three straight points behind Knecht.  Again the Raiders fought back, this time finishing the game off with four straight points to take the third set.

After winning the fourth game to force a decisive fifth set, the Eagles and Raiders put together an incredible back-and-forth battle.  Both teams traded points throughout the final as Rapid City snuck out to a 12-8 lead that they would not relinquish.

Stevens’ Kacey Hermann quietly hammered out an impressive 19 kills to lead the Raiders.  “You see just the 19 kills but she was blocking, she’s digging, she’s getting her serves in.  She’s all over the court so it wasn’t just the kills, it was all the other parts that she helped us in,” said Coach Geske after the game.

Rapid City (11-1) will host Huron on Friday at Carold Heier Gymnasium, starting at 5:15 p.m MDT.