MELLETTE – After falling one match short of the state tourney last year, Hitchcock-Tulare was not going to be denied Tuesday night.

The Patriots punched their ticket to this year’s State B Volleyball Tournament with a 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 sweep over Herreid-Selby Area SoDak 16 action at the Northwestern Gym.

“A lot of credit to this team, first of all. After we lost last year, we had a little chip on our shoulder this year, and we didn’t want to be denied this year,” said Hitchcock-Tulare coach Jordan Opp. “They took it upon themselves to go to camps this summer, play club volleyball. They’re the ones that get all the credit. They worked their tails off, they deserve every bit of this.”

Although the match was held at a neutral site, it seemed as if both teams had a home crowd in attendance. Both squads could feel the energy brought by their fans.

“It’s crazy. You know, we’re doing warmups and we look in the crowd and everyone’s here and the support’s crazy,” said Hitchcock-Tulare senior captain Katelyn Schroeder.

The Wolverines felt the same way.

“It was awesome. We are so far from home and the fact that they made the trip, we know we’re supported,” said Herreid-Selby Area middle hitter Jordyn Rossow.

The night started off with back-to-back kills from Schroeder, which set the tone for the night for the Patriots.

“We tell them ‘Get the ball to Kate.’ Let’s get the hammer down right away,” Opp said. “That hopefully opens up some of our other hitters, which it did later in the match.”

Schroeder was happy to help get her team off to a fast start.

“I like to bring momentum to our team and just put the ball down,” Schroeder said. “I feel like those nice shots, when it hits the ground, gets our team going.”

The Wolverines knew the task ahead of them with Schroeder, as well as some other solid hitters on the other side the net.

Herreid-Selby Area coach Maria Sandmeier helped prepare her players for Schroeder by attacking them in practice.

“She was swinging at us, and if we didn’t get the block, she said ‘You gotta get it,’ ” Rossow said. “We did it over, and over.”

Schroeder had six kills in the opening set and added eight more in the second. Her 14 kills opened the floor for other hitters in the third set with Isabel Gilbert, Cora Hofer, and Lila Jo Johnson each having three kills, Rebecca Huizenga two, and Ella Johnson one.

“I thought in set three, we got our middles involved a little more,” Opp said. “Rebecca, Isabel got a few kills, and our right side got a little bit involved, so it was nice to see that.”

The third set was close early before Hitchcock-Tulare began to obtain separation, leading 9-7 and eventually 12-7. The Patriots continued to pull away, opening a nine-point-lead at 23-14 before Herreid-Area scored four unanswered points prompting a timeout from Opp.

“Just hey, finish it off here. We got two points you know, do what we do all year long and finish the game,” Opp said he told his players. “I didn’t want to go four or five sets with these guys. Finish and go home.”

Following the timeout, a kill from Hofer gave the Patriots match point. However the Wolverines scored three straight points before Lila Jo Johnson produced the match-winning kill.

The SoDak 16 setback is something the Wolverines have experienced more than once lately, falling in this round for the past three seasons.

“I couldn’t say anything, but that I was proud of them at the end. Ultimately, yeah, looking back we made our mistakes and there was some balls that we knew were coming that we should’ve picked up,” Sandmeier said. “But I’m so proud of this group of kids. Two seniors to lead them to the SoDak three years in a row. … I couldn’t be more proud of this group of girls.”

Throughout the game, both teams made stellar defensive plays to keep points alive in three competitive sets. However, a lack of block presence gave the Patriots the edge they needed.

“We couldn’t get our blocks back over. We were getting good touches, but our distance on the net was a little too tight, so our weights on our heels. Ultimately, their offense was more powerful than ours is what it came down to,” Sandmeier said. “I think both teams defensively worked their tails off in the back row. It was just they had a better block presence, and we couldn’t answer back.”

Hitchcock-Tulare will advance to the state tournament next week in Sioux Falls for the second time in school history. In the meantime, the Patriots have some things they will work on in preparation for the state tourney.

“Well, we’re going to take off (Wednesday). We’ve had a long couple of weeks here. We gotta get back in the gym, we gotta prep,” Opp said. “But we have to go back to the gym and get ready. We’re not going to be satisfied going ‘Okay, we qualified for state’. We’re gonna go down, we’re going to try to make some noise. … We can definitely make some noise, I think, and compete for a state title.”

Sandmeier has a lot of optimism for next year, despite losing two key senior starters in Stephanie Albee and Pausha Medinger.

“We have two seniors that have been starters for three and a half seasons since freshman year. So, we’re going to have some big shoes to fill, I guess. But next year, we have some kids with different size shoes, is the problem. So, we’re going to have to adjust our team,” Sandmeier said. “Those two seniors, I’ve enjoyed coaching them. This is my sixth season, and I’ve had them since they were little junior highers, and I’m so proud of Steph and Pausha both for everything they’ve done for this program. Next year, I hope we’re back. Just losing two, I think we can work out the kinks and still come out a fairly aggressive team.”

Hitchcock-Tulare will be the third seed in the state tournament and face Gayville-Volin in the opening round at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21 at the Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

Serving: Herreid-Selby Area 59-63 8 aces (Breanna Jochim 9-10 2 aces, Jessie Johnson 13-13 2 aces, Stephanis Albee 11-12 2 aces); Hitchcock-Tulare 63-74 8 aces (Gilbert 16-18 3 aces, Ella Johnson 14-16 2 aces, Katelyn Schroeder 12-12 2 aces).

Attacking: Herreid-Selby Area 99-123 24 kills (Jordyn Rossow 35-39 10 kills, Jochim 24-25 5 kills); Hitchcock-Tulare 105-115 42 kills (Schroeder 42-48 21 kills, Cora Hofer 18-19 5 kills, Rebecca Huizenga 14-15 6 kills);

Setting: Herreid-Selby Area 23 assists (Katie Albee 19 assists, Pausha Medinger 4 assists); Hitchcock-Tulare 114-115 40 assists (Lila Johnson 55-56 23 assists, Gracyn Bixler 39-39 15 assists).

Digs: Herreid-Selby Area 86 (S. Albee 20, Jochim 19, K. Albee 13); Hitchcock-Tularer 71 (Cambree Hoekman 21, Schroeder 17, L. Johnson 11)

Blocks: Herreid-Selby Area 2 (Rossow 1, Jochim 1); Hitchcock-Tulare 2 assists (Gilbert, L. Johnson 1).

Records: Herreid-Selby Area 18-12; Hitchcock-Tulare 31-2.