Volleyball takes step forward

Last week, the Hill City Rangers volleyball team finished eighth at the state Class A tournament in Watertown. While they weren’t able to get any wins, the Rangers were competitive in their matches, going to either four or five sets in each of them.

While, ultimately, the team didn’t get what they were looking for in Watertown, coach Lindsy Wathen said the team was able to get their goals of being the first seed in regions, Black Hills Conference champions, making it to the SoDak 16 and qualifying for states.

“This group will always have the title of being the first volleyball state qualifiers from Hill City,” Wathen said. “That will be a special memory for them.”

Developing a successful program takes time, patience, hard work and sacrifice from each of the players, she added, and this group has gone further each year and has always taken a step forward.

Year one under Wathen, the season ended at the first round of regions, year two ended at the second round of regions, year three ended at the SoDak 16 and this year ended finishing eighth at states.

“Although we had hoped to skip a few steps this season at the state tourney, we are still happy to be moving in the right direction and keep passing the torch to the next group,” Wathen said. “Each season is a learning experience full of ups and downs and better prepares us for the next and life in general.”

2020 has brought extra challenges with the pandemic, and the risk of the season not happening or being cut short always loomed overhead, Wathen said. The whole team, she said, challenged each other in practices to make each girl better.

The competition East River, too, is “intense,” she added, so having a squad to make scrimmages challenging is important.

“The girls battled through the big games by not giving up and pushing through multiple sets,” Wathen said.

Several girls on the team picked up honors, as well.

For Black Hills-All conference picks, Dale Schrier, Hailey Wathen, Abby Siemonsma and Macey Wathen were honored. Addisen Barber and Whitney Edwards were named honorable mention Black Hills Conference picks.

Hailey Wathen was named to all state second team while Dale Schrier was named all state honorable mention. Hailey Wathen, too, was named to the Class A All Tournament Team. She will continue her volleyball career at Minot State University, signing her National Letter of Intent on Nov. 11.