Short-handed Warriors Sweep Lusk

With no subs on the bench due to illness, the Sioux County Warriors earned a sweep over Lusk Thursday at home 25-21, 25-19, 25-23.

The Warriors maintained large advantages in each set until late, when the Tigers clawed their way back into contention, but Sioux County held them off each time for the win.

In set one, the Warriors inched ahead by two early, but back-to-back kills by Kaylee Juhnke and Sierra Eastman made it 8-4, and the duo repeated the show moments later to make it 11-4. Sioux County went up by 10 before Lusk began creeping back into the game when the Tigers won a battle at the net that led to several unforced errors by the Warriors. Kills by Eastman, Britney Klein and Ella Hyer kept the Warriors in front at 21-15. Klein added one more kill before Lusk went on another run to get within three points. With the score 24-21, an Eastman kill closed it out for Sioux County.

The Warriors raced to a 5-0 start in the second set with Klein at the serving line. She served up one ace, and the run also included two kills by Eastman and one by Victoria Turbiville. Another Eastman kill and an ace by Becca Reece made it 10-4, and Juhnke and Eastman nailed consecutive kills once again to extend the lead 13-6. Rotation errors by the Tigers kept Hyer at the serving line for another ace, and two more kills by Eastman, one immediately followed again by a Juhnke kill put the Warriors firmly in control at 19-6. Before the set was out, Eastman added three more kills, and Klein contributed an ace serve, but the teams traded the rest of the points on errors.

Sioux County used a kill and an ace by Reece and aces by Klein and Eastman to go up 7-2 in the final set. A series of errors by the Warriors allowed Lusk to make it 8-7 before Hyer and Eastman landed kills to put the Warriors up 12-8. On three consecutive plays, Juhnke had two kills and Eastman one to extend Sioux County’s lead to seven before Lusk fought back to within three. An ace serve by Juhnke and kills by Eastman and Reece gave the Warriors a 19-15 advantage. Lusk found momentum on several errors by the Warriors and capped them with a kill to tie the set at 20. The Tigers took a 23-21 lead with another kill and an ace before Turbiville was able to close out the set with two ace serves.

Eastman had a monster night with 16 kills and one ace; nine of her kills came in the second set. Juhnke added six kills and an ace, while Hyer had three kills and Reece two. Hyer also knocked in one ace, while Reece had two. Klein had two kills and three aces, and Turbiville had two aces and a kill.