The Sioux County Warriors took third place at the Panhandle Conference Volleyball Tournament in Edgemont Saturday, going 2-1 on the day.
The Warriors earned the third-place medal with a 25-16, 16-25, 25-19 win over Hemingford. Momentum in the first two sets split between the teams as each posted a 25-16 victory to tie the match at 1-1 and force a third set. Sioux County controlled the first, while Hemingford breezed to the win in the second.
The final set was more closely contested with seven ties. Sioux County won the early game, with Hemingford taking its first lead at 8-7. The Bobcats controlled the middle of the set, and the Warriors retook the lead 18-17 and went on a 7-2 run, closing out the set for the win with two kills and a block by Tamika Eastman.
Sioux County posted 25 kills in the match, led by Tamika Eastman with 12 and Sierra Eastman with seven. Both Eastman sisters, along with Becca Reece, landed two ace serves apiece, part of the Warriors combined seven aces.
The Warriors dropped to the consolation bracket after suffering a loss to Edgemont in the semi-finals.
The Moguls picked up the three-set 25-14, 23-25, 25-17 win to advance to the title game. After an early 3-1 lead behind consecutive Tamika Eastman and Kaylee Juhnke kills, the Warriors allowed Edgemont to take a 5-3 lead, which they maintained the rest of the set.
In the second set, Sioux County trailed 2-3 but took a 5-3 lead on Sierra Eastman and Ella Hyer kills. Edgemont tied the score at 14 on three Warrior errors and went ahead 17-14. Another Hyer kill and two aces by Juhnke knotted the game again at 17, and a big Sioux County block turned the momentum back to the Warriors for a 19-18 edge. They used it to assemble a 6-5 run to stave off the Moguls and force a third set.
Edgemont controlled the tempo from the outset in the third game, opening up a 7-2 lead with four kills. The Warriors closed to within two at 13-11 in a run that included two aces and two kills, but the Moguls answered with two aces and a kill to provide a 19-12 cushion. Four consecutive kills by Edgemont’s Peyton Ostenson put the Moguls up 23-14 as they rolled to the win.
Sioux County had 17 kills in the match, with the Eastman sisters and Hyer combining for 15 of them. The Warriors landed six aces, led by Juhnke with two.
The number-four Warriors opened the tournament with a round one victory over Morrill 25-20, 25-8. The teams battled it out early in the first set, with Sioux County seeing an early advantage before Morrill took a 6-4 lead on back-to-back blocks and an ace serve. Sioux County answered with three consecutive kills, two by Sierra Eastman and one by Britney Klein to go up 11-8. The Warriors maintained the lead the remainder of the set and controlled the second set from the outset. Sioux County opened up a 7-1 lead in a run that included two ace serves by Klein and Tamika Eastman enroute to the win.
Sioux County had 18 kills in the match, led by Kaylee Juhnke and Sierra Eastman with six apiece, and dropped in eight ace serves, led by Tamika Eastman with three.