RAPID CITY – They have been rated number one all season, so it’s easy to see why the Sioux Falls Christian Chargers are favored to defend their Class A state championship at the combined state volleyball tournament at The Monument this weekend.

The top-seeded Chargers have not lost to a team from South Dakota this season.

“Sioux Falls Christian is probably the heavy favorite,” said Hamlin coach Ashley Heinrich.

Garretson, coached by former Aberdeen Central coach Dennis Northrup, owns the best record of any team in Class A at 27-1 and is the second seed.

Today’s opening-round matchups have Sioux Falls Christian vs. Parkston at Noon, Wagner vs. Hill City at 1:45 p.m., Garretson vs. Elkton-Lake Benton at 6 p.m., and Dakota Valley vs. Hamlin at 7:45 p.m.

Heinrich said her girls are looking forward to the long road trip after last year’s State A tourney was just up the road in Watertown.

“Every state tournament is fun,” Heinrich said. “This year we get to travel all the way to Rapid instead of it being in Watertown. I still feel like it’s almost my first time. It’s exciting. The girls are super excited. I’m excited to watch some good volleyball.”

HAMLIN CHARGERS (26-6)

The Chargers are coming into the state tourney on a 13-match winning streak. The squad appears to be peaking at the right time of the season.

“I definitely think we are for sure,” Heinrich said. “Obviously, we’ve had a pretty good season overall, but I definitely feel like we are hitting our peak and playing some of our best volleyball we’ve played all season right at the best time.”

This year’s team features some stellar players from last year’s squad combined with some younger players who have filled new roles. The blend has worked well.

“Obviously, we have some good leadership from our seniors and our juniors, girls that returned from the state tournament team that we had last year,” Heinrich said, “girls that were stepping up into big roles this year. I do think that they all just kind of bought into this idea of being a good volleyball team, kind of the culture that we have.”

That culture permeates through a variety of athletic programs at the school. The Chargers were runner-up at last year’s State A basketball tournament, and also have some standout track and field athletes.

Many of those athletes also compete in volleyball.

“We have a lot of good athletes that play multiple sports,” Heinrich said. “They obviously probably all have a sport that they enjoy the most, but they’ve really bought into that idea of being multi-sport athletes and being good at all of them.”

Ally Abraham leads the team with 433 kills, while Grace Everson tops the Chargers in serving with 63 aces.

Hamlin will take on perennial power Dakota Valley in the opening round. While the Panthers have lost eight matches this season, they also play a demanding schedule.

“I think their record is very deceiving,” Heinrich said.

Hamlin has a roster that has plenty of state tourney experience, which should help this weekend.

“We’ve kind of been here before. Most of the girls, even if they weren’t necessarily filling playing roles for us last year, were there with us,” Heinrich said. “We have a tough matchup against Dakota Valley, but we shouldn’t be starry-eyed.”

Heinrich said the keys to every match remain the same, whether it’s a regular-season contest or a state tourney match against a team like Dakota Valley.

“The serve and serve receive battle, to me that’s the key in every single game. If we can serve aggressive and keep them out of system and then on the flip side of that, if we limit the amount of aces that we give to them and we keep ourselves in system as much as possible, I think we give ourselves a really good chance to win,” Heinrich. “Obviously, hitting and some of those other things are a big part too, but if we keep them out of system and serve aggressively, it just gives our defense a much better chance to put ourselves in a position to terminate the ball.”