Lady Bulldogs Defeat Roncalli for the First Time Since 2016

The Milbank girls’ volleyball team defeated Roncalli for the first time since 2016 on Tuesday, October 18, in Aberdeen. They raked in the victory at 3-2. Set scores were 14-25, 25-19, 25-18, 19-25, and 15-10.

According to Nancy Hoeke, head coach for the Lady Bulldogs, 2016 was the last time Milbank beat the Aberdeen school.  That year, Milbank rolled over them 3-2 at Regions in Sisseton to advance to the SoDak16. Hoeke also noted Tuesday’s match was a great end to another drought.

To claim their victory, Milbank did a lot of things right, including posting a 90 percent serving average. “In the second and third sets, the girls really came around,” Hoeke  observed. “They stepped up their effort and desire to compete. Claire Snaza earned seven points with six kills and a block in the second. She played with confidence and determination.”

In the third set, Hoeke noted how “Rachel Schulte found openings on the court for six kills. Addisyn Krause served nine of 10 with four aces. We got out to a 6-0 lead behind her tough serve.”

As a team, the Lady Bulldogs went 88 of 98 serving with seven aces. Hallie Schulte led the way at 10 of 10 with one ace. Krause followed at 27 of 28 with six aces. Emily Wollschlager went 11 of 12.  Abby Pillatzki, six of seven; R. Schulte, 13 of 15; Rylie Overby, seven of nine; and Averie Engebretson, 14 of 17 with one ace.

On the attack, R. Schulte had 19 kills on 55 of 64 hitting. Snaza was 25 of 28 with 11 kills. Skyler Skoog made nine kills on 37 of 42 hitting; Overby, seven kills on 22 of 26 hitting; and Casside Seezs two kills on seven of nine.

Engebretson led the team in setting, She went 130 of 131 and recorded 37 assists. Krause went 18 of 19 and had six assists.Krause was the team leader in digs with 32. H. Schulte made 27. Engebretson had 26. R. Schulte and Emily Wollschlager each counted 25.

Snaza recorded the most blocks against the Lady Cavaliers. She had a solo block and three assisted blocks.  Engebretson made two assisted blocks. Seezs had one solo. Skoog, Overby, and Isabella Anderson contributed one assisted block apiece.

Hoeke conceded the fourth and fifth sets were battles. “The girls figured out how they could compete and played hard to get it done. In the fifth set, we earned 11 of our 15 points. That is really good,” she added.”

Milbank JV – 2 vs. Roncalli JV – 1 Milbank’s JV volleyball team also defeated Roncalli on Tuesday, October 18, in Aberdeen. Set scores were 25-23, 18-25, and 19-17. MHS Coach Kelli Pillatzki said, “The girls did a good job of fighting through things and they did a good job serving.”

Siera Wenzl and Kaitlyn Huber each recorded eight of eight serving with two aces apiece. Isabella Anderson was close behind at seven of seven with two aces.

Abby Pillatzki led the team in setting. She went 27 of 30 with five assists. Rylie Scoular was five of five with one assist.

Ella Sandvig and Claire Snaza each contributed four kills on 11 of 13 hitting. Shaylee Schuchard and Isabella Anderson also had four kills apiece. Schuchard on 16 of 17 hitting and Anderson on 19 of 22.

Sandvig and A. Pillatzki each made 10 digs. Hailey Zinter added eight. Huber and Snaza each recorded a block for the Lady Bulldogs.
Coach Pillatzki commented the team will continue to work on their communication. She said she also hopes to see them energized at game time.