Taking stock of area volleyball region tournaments as postseason play begins

Landon Dierks, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·6 min read

Oct. 31—MITCHELL — Postseason volleyball is here.

Starting Monday evening with a handful of first-round matches (and a couple of early quarterfinals) and continuing with Tuesday quarterfinals and Thursday semifinals, region tournaments begin the process of elimination. By the end of the week, each of the 16 regions between Class A and B will have two representatives to send to next week's SoDak 16 state tournament qualification round, set for Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Here's a look at the regions with area teams and where they stand ahead of the action:

Area team: McCook Central/Montrose

MCM (18-7) claimed the third seed in Region 3A, finishing just eight-thousandths of a seed point back of Baltic (19-5) in the standings. The Fighting Cougars host sixth-seeded Madison (12-15) in the quarterfinals, and if MCM advances, it'll likely face Baltic (which plays 5-19 Tri-Valley in the quarters) with the winner qualifying for the SoDak 16. Baltic and MCM rank 12th and 13th, respectively, in the overall Class A seed-point standings.

On the upper half of the bracket, powerhouse Sioux Falls Christian (27-5) is the No. 1 seed in the region and No. 5 overall in Class A. The Chargers are the heavy favorite to occupy the other SoDak 16 position, with the other three programs on their side of the bracket being No. 4 Dell Rapids (19-9), No. 5 Garretson (18-7) and No. 8 West Central (5-16).

Area teams: Wagner, Platte-Geddes, Kimball/White Lake, Mount Vernon/Plankinton, Parkston, Bon Homme, Hanson, Sanborn Central/Woonsocket and Chamberlain

At the top of Region 5A, Wagner (28-3) secured the top seed in not only the region but also in all of Class A if the Red Raiders continue to roll through to the SoDak 16. The Red Raiders await the winner of an opening-round contest between eighth-seeded SCW (9-18) and ninth-seeded Chamberlain (4-20).

Behind Wagner, last season's Class B third-place finisher Platte-Geddes (24-7) is the No. 2 seed in the region and No. 9 overall, putting the Black Panthers in position to make a run at the state tournament in their first season back in Class A. P-G hosts No. 7 Hanson (10-16) in the quarterfinals. No. 3-seed Kimball/White Lake (19-9) is also in Class A's top 20 and plays sixth-seeded Bon Homme (15-13) for a place in the region semifinals. If the Wildkats and Black Panthers both win, it'll set up a rematch of an Oct. 18 match in Kimball where KWL pushed P-G to a fifth set after failing behind 2-0.

Fouth-seeded Mount Vernon/Plankinton (17-11) and fifth-seeded Parkston (16-14), which surged all the way to the Class A tournament from a similar position last season, will face off in the last quarterfinal, presumably for a shot at Wagner in the semifinals.

Area team: Winner

With a 10-19 record, Winner is the No. 3 seed in the region and has not faced any of the other three teams — second-seeded Pine Ridge (17-12), sixth-seeded Red Cloud (8-16) and seventh-seeded Bennett County (3-23) — in its side of the bracket. The Warriors play Red Cloud in the quarterfinals and, if they win, would likely face Pine Ridge for a SoDak 16 spot. In the Class A standings, Pine Ridge is 34th, while Winner is 44th.

On the other side of the bracket No. 1-seed Lakota Tech (21-9) meets No. 8 Todd County (0-29), with No. 4 Little Wound (11-12) playing No. 5 St. Francis (8-17).

Top two seeds from the other Class A regions

Region 1A: Aberdeen Roncalli (14-9), Redfield (17-12)

Region 2A: Elkton-Lake Benton (27-3), Hamlin (24-4)

Region 4A: Dakota Valley (23-7), Canton (21-4)

Region 6A: Miller (29-2), Mobridge-Pollock (24-6)

Region 8A: Rapid City Christian (28-6), Belle Fourche (29-6)

Area teams: Howard, Ethan, Canistota and Bridgewater-Emery

Two of the top six teams in all of Class B call Region 3B home, with top-seeded Chester Area (23-5, No. 3 overall) and second-seeded Colman-Egan (20-9, No. 6 overall) looking to make repeat trips to the Class B state tournament. Taking on those programs in the quarterfinals are No. 7 Canistota (8-18) and No. 8 Bridgewater-Emery (7-17).

Elsewhere, No. 3 Howard (17-9), which ranks in the Class B top 20, squares off with No. 6 Ethan (12-16). The Tigers own a 5-0 set record against the Rustlers this season, owning a two-set tournament win in September and a three-set road sweep on Oct. 11.

Area teams: Freeman, Scotland, Menno and Freeman Academy/Marion

Freeman (18-9) owns the region's No. 1 seed and inside track to the SoDak 16 round, facing the winner of the first-round match between No. 8 Irene-Wakonda (4-22) and No. 9 Freeman Academy/Marion (2-23). If the Flyers make the semifinals, the opponent will be either No. 4 Scotland (11-13) and No. 5 Alcester-Hudson (10-20).

In the bottom half of the bracket, No. 2 Gayville-Volin (19-10) hosts No. 7 Menno (6-19), as No. 3 Viborg-Hurley (17-12) plays No. 6 Centerville (11-18).

Area teams: Burke, Tripp-Delmont/Armour, Wessington Springs, Gregory, Andes Central/Dakota Christian, Avon, Colome and Corsica-Stickney

At the top of Region 5B, top-seeded Burke (28-4) has separated itself and ranks as the No. 2 team in all of Class B. The Cougars will play the winner of the first-round match between eighth-seeded Corsica-Stickney (7-18) and ninth-seeded Marty (5-23).

The biggest question will be if No. 2 TDA (23-4) can maintain the edge over No. 3 Wessington Springs (23-8). No. 6 Avon (9-17) and No. 7 Colome (8-21) stand in the way of a potential third meeting between the Nighthawks and Spartans, this time with a SoDak 16 place on the line. TDA won both prior meetings, taking a 3-1 win in Armour on Sept. 19 and a 2-1 win at the Thunder Nation Tournament on Oct. 15, but both programs rank in the top 16 in Class B (TDA ninth; Springs 16th).

Area team: Lyman

At 8-16, Lyman is seeded sixth and will be on the road at No. 3 Ipswich in the quarterfinals, but the pair have not played this season.

The two top seeds in the region are Herreid/Selby Area (19-8) and Faulkton Area (18-11). The former is the No. 10 team in the Class B standings and the latter was a state tournament team last season and is back in the top 20 again this season.

No. 8 Highmore-Harrold (9-18) and No. 9 Sunshine Bible Academy (2-23) get the tournament started in a first-round match with the winner to play HSA, while Faulkton Area hosts No. 7 Lower Brule (11-13). The fourth quarterfinal pits No. 4 Potter County (12-18) and No. 5 Sully Buttes (13-16).

Top two seeds from the other Class B regions

Region 1B: Warner (31-2), Northwestern (24-8)

Region 2B: Wolsey-Wessington (25-4), Castlewood (19-7)

Region 7B: Jones County (28-1), Philip (18-11)

Region 8B: Timber Lake (20-8), Newell (23-9)