Unbeaten Governors down Arrows

Watertown’s Kali Gottsleben bump sets to a teammate during Saturday’s Eastern South Dakota Conference volleyball match against Pierre in the Civic Arena. Looking on for Pierre is Megan Sarvis. The Governors stayed unbeaten with a 3-1 win over the Arrows. (Photo by Rich Remmers)

By Rich Remmers, Sports Writer

Published: Monday, October 15, 2007 9:33 AM CDT

Pierre denied Watertown any chance of scoring an upset victory Saturday night in the Arrows’ final regular-season home volleyball match with a 3-1 win in the Civic Arena.

The Governors, who entered the match with a 15-0 record on the season, posted a 25-21 win in the opening game before the Arrows took the second game 25-18. Pierre wrapped up the match by winning the next two games 25-17 and 25-13.

With the loss, the Arrows fell to 7-9 overall. Watertown ended 6-3 at home for the regular season.

“Pierre is a really solid team. They just don’t make mistakes and they stay aggressive all the time,” said Watertown coach Tiffany Beste. “They work well together as a team and do things the way you are supposed to do them.”

It didn’t take Pierre long to show why it is considered the team to beat this year in Class AA. The Governors pulled away late in the first game with a strong flurry of kills and blocks at the net — led by Polly Gill and Stephanie Paluch.

After gaining a 21-17 lead, the Governors traded points with the Arrows until Pierre went ahead 24-20. A Pierre hitting error gave the Arrows life at 24-21 but a Watertown hitting error on the next point ended the game.

Pierre again came out strong in the second game and took a 14-10 advantage before the Arrows turned things around. Watertown tied the game at 14-14 on a kill by Kalie Cox and went back-and-forth with Pierre until the score was knotted at 18-18. From that point on, the Arrows scored seven straight points to end the game and tie the match at 1-1.

“The girls came out and played a pretty nice match tonight. That first game they came out and played hard and I thought we kind of let up a little bit in the second game before turning it on in the final two games,” said Pierre coach Kacy Kineholz. “We have a lot of determination and we know when to play hard and get it done.”

The Governors certainly turned things up a notch in the final two games — coasting to the victory in both games. Pierre led 19-11 in the third game before breezing the rest of the way. The Governors raced to an 18-8 advantage in the fourth game and were never threatened.

“I thought we played pretty well with them in the first two games but in Games 3 and 4 it looked like we kind of gave up after we got down and that is not something I have seen this group do this year,” said Beste. “Pierre has a lot of weapons and can hurt you in a lot of different ways. They have six good players on the court at all times, and we do too, but they just have great team chemistry and play so well together.”

Cox and Tresa Moeller each smacked 12 kills to lead the Arrows. Cox finished 21-26 hitting and also went 10-11 serving with an ace and made 13 digs. Moeller ended 30-32 hitting and went 19-20 serving with two blocks and 13 digs.

Marcelina Glab added eight kills on 13-15 hitting and had four blocks and Megan Ebbers recorded seven kills on 15-16 hitting. Kali Gottleben and Jackie Comes handled the setting duties with Gottsleben leading the way with 22 assists on 58-60 setting. Gottsleben also notched 11 digs and went 15-15 serving. Comes finished with 15 assists on 36-37 setting.

The Arrows are scheduled to visit Brandon on Friday before wrapping up the regular season the following Monday at Huron.

“They are the No. 1 team in the state and we knew they were going to be good. We played right with them for the first two games so we know we can be there with a team like that if we play up to our potential,” said Beste. “We have the ability but have to stay focused and want it. Pierre really wanted it tonight and you could tell that.”

Arrow Leaders

Pierre 25 18 25 25

Watertown 21 25 17 13

Serving — Tresa Moeller 19-20; Kali Gottsleben 15-15; Abby Winkels 11-13, 1 ace; Kalie Cox 10-11, 1 ace.

Hitting — Cox 21-26, 12 kills; Moeller 30-32, 12 kills; Marcelina Glab 13-15, 8 kills; Megan Ebbers 15-16, 7 kills.

Setting — Gottsleben 58-60, 22 assists; Jackie Comes 36-37, 15 assists.

Blocking — Glab 4 assisted; Moeller 2 assisted.

Digs — Moeller 13; Cox 13; Gottsleben 11.

Pierre Leaders

Hitting - Gill 16 Kills; Paluch 13 Kills; Goeden- 9 Kills; Flynn- 5 Kills

Digs- Geffre- 20; Gill- 8; Fredrich- 7

Setting- Stout- 37 assists