SIOUX FALLS – The Miller Rustlers found their path to the state championship contest blocked in a major way Friday night.

Elkton-Lake Benton was rock solid at the net and grabbed a 25-22, 25-9, 25-21 semifinal victory over Miller during the Class A State Volleyball Tournament at the Premier Center.

“Exceptional blocking team. They read everything we had to throw at them with all of our hitters,” said Miller coach Linda DeBoer. “We just couldn’t find a way around it.”

The Elks have featured a potent block all season, but Friday’s performance was special even by their standards.

“It was definitely exceptional tonight,” said ELB coach Melissa Erickson. “They are really good blockers and I’ve told them before that this is the best blocking team that I’ve ever had and they take a lot of pride in that.”

The Rustlers, who have multiple hitting options, tried to find a crack or a crevice in the Elkton-Lake Benton defense, but those opportunities were few and far between.

“They run a faster pace on the net, I felt, with their offense and their defense,” said Miller’s Abigail Blake. “They always had four hands up in our face and it was really hard to find a way to get that ball through.”

That created plenty of frustration for the Rustlers as the match wore on.

“Especially when they could pick up the balls, the ones we could get over and even get a good hit on, they were able to pick them up,” Blake said. “They’re a really good team.”

The Elks scored the first six points of the match before Miller responded with the next nine points thanks in part to the serving of Ruby Carder, who finished with the team’s lone ace in the contest.

“Ruby went in in that first set. She struggled serving (Thursday) night and I’m so proud of the way she served tonight, because she did get us back in that first set and kind of got us going with the rally,” DeBoer said. “But we couldn’t string points together. Their side-out game was better than ours tonight. That’s what we like to do is get that first-ball kill and tonight we just couldn’t effectively put the ball down against that defense.”

Elkton-Lake Benton’s blocking was a constant throughout the match as the squad finished with four solo and 14 assisted blocks. The Elks were able to provide a solid line of resistance from pin to pin.

“I’ve got a group of athletic girls all the way across the net,” Erickson said. “They read really well and know where to put themselves at the right time.”

That in turn assisted the backrow where ELB was able to piece together 75 digs and make points difficult to come by.

“I thought our girls did a really good job of slowing down their offense,” Erickson said, “and allowing our backrow to pick up balls and put us into a position where we could get our offense going.”

The Elks, 32-3, meet defending State A champion Sioux Falls Christian in the title match at 6:45 tonight.

Ally Mullaney had a dozen kills to lead Miller.

The Rustlers had a difficult time following their first five-set match of the season during the opening round on Thursday night.

“The energy from the moment we stepped on the court was just different. It felt a little off,” Blake said. “There was a lot of soreness, a lot of injuries that came with (Friday) morning. We’ve never seen a five-set match before and I think it really took it out of us.”

That will likely not be the case this evening when Miller, 33-3 on the season, faces Elk Point-Jefferson in the third place match at 5 when Blake said the team will show up with “a lot of heart and a lot of grit, and really finish this thing strong.”

DeBoer believes that her seniors will set the tone for the final match of the year with their leadership.

She told her players of a way to provide the proper perspective on the weekend.

“I told the kids today, just end everything with ‘at state.’ We’re playing at state, we’re eating at state,” DeBoer said. “If you just finish every sentence with ‘at state’ at the end of it, it makes everything sound a whole lot better.”

Serving: Elkton-Lake Benton 4 aces (Tevan Erickson 2, Kylie Ramlo 1, Andrea Renkly 1); Miller 1 ace (Rudy Carder 1).

Hitting: Elkton-Lake Benton 35 kills (Rachel Krog 11, Kailyn Drietz 10); Miller 33 kills (Ally Mullaney 12, Jaden Werdel 6, Tricia Lammers 5).

Setting: Elkton-Lake Benton 31 assists (Erickson 29); Miller 32 (Tyra Gates 25).

Digs: Elkton-Lake Benton 75 (Krog 17, Erickson 14, Kayla Goetz 14, Ramlo 10); Miller 64 (Jolie Palmer 21, Werdel 11, Gates 10).

Blocks: Elkton-Lake Benton 4 solo 14 assists (Erickson 1 solo 5 assists, Ramlo 1 solo 4 assists, Aubree Bales 1 solo 3 assists); Miller 6 assists (Gates 2 assists, Abigail Blake 2 assists).

Records: Elkton-Lake Benton 32-3; Miller 33-3.