BELLE FOURCHE, SD – The Belle Fourche Broncs defeated the Sturgis Scooper volleyball squad in three sets, 25-22, 25-5 and 25-23 at Ed Petranek Auditorium on Tuesday night.
It was the season opener for both teams and the debut of new Scooper head coach Timmi Lewis, who coached the junior varsity the past two seasons.
The Broncs jumped out to a 10–4 lead early in set one, but Sturgis roared back to take a 17–15 lead midway through the set.
Both teams battled until the finish, but Belle Fourche came out on the winning end, 25–22 to take set one.
The Broncs only made two unforced errors in set two and routed the Scoopers, 25–5 to lead two sets to none.
Sturgis led Belle Fourche 4–0 early in set three until the Broncs tied things up at eight apiece behind kills from Mataya Ward and Sloan Young. The Scoopers took advantage of more Belle Fourche errors to take an 18-12 lead, triggering a time out by Bronc head coach Lorrie Schlichtemeier. Following the pause the Broncs scored five straight to cut into the Sturgis lead. The teams traded points late in set three and Belle Fourche came out on top, 25-23 to win set three and the match, three games to none.
Larson led Belle Fourche (1-0) with 28 assists and two aces. Ward finished with 15 kills, two aces and one block, with Young adding 14 kills and two aces.
Norah Iverson had six kills and two aces for Sturgis, who falls to 0-1 on the season. Tori Williams chipped in five assists and two kills for the Scoopers, with Avery Fogelman contributing one ace, one kill and four assists.
Sturgis travels out east this weekend to take on the Mitchell Kernels on Friday, then to play in the Huron Invitational tournament on Saturday.
