Lady Bulldogs Bumped Off By Undefeated Hamlin

The Milbank varsity volleyball team took a 3-0 loss to Hamlin on their home court on Thursday, September 10. Set scores were 25-15, 25-13, and 25-11. “Hamlin is a very talented and well-rounded team, and you have to give them a lot of credit for the way they played,” stated Milbank’s head coach Mandy Snaza. 

“We didn’t bring the energy we wanted, but there were still some positives to build on,” Snaza said. “I was happy to see our freshman middle Haydyn Dunnihoo get a couple of kills in her first varsity start, and Zora Henrich continued to be aggressive offensively against a big block.” 

Avigail Howard led the Lady Bulldogs at 11 of 12 serving with two aces. Henrich was 5 of 6 with one ace. Henrich also led the Lady Bulldogs with four kills. Dunnihoo, Bree Townsend, and  Bailey Koepke each counted two.

Violet Johnson put up 11 assists and seven digs. Lorn Harstad had six digs. Howard had four. Henrich made three. Koepke recorded a solo block and an assisted block. Townsend and Adison Pauli each collected two assisted blocks.

For Hamlin, Addie Jensen led the Lady Chargers with five aces and 12 kills. Issie Steffensen had 25 assists and a solo block. Paxton Neuendorf and Jayci Trowbridge each recorded nine digs. Hamlin remains undefeated this season.

We’ll take what we learned from this match and keep working to get better, Snaza vowed. 

The Lady Bulldogs fell to 2-3 overall this season and 1-1 in the conference. They headed to Minnesota to face Border West on Monday, September 14. Border West is  coming off a 3-0 loss to Hancock on September 10.

JV and C Team
The Milbank JV girls took a 2-0 loss to the JV Lady Chargers. Set scores were 25-9 and 25-18. Hailee Lester was perfect at 1 of 1 serving. Keira Untulan went 5 of 6 with one ace. Paisley Ericcson went 3 of 5 with an ace.  Ericsson was also 48 of 48 setting with three assists.  Untalan had three kills and Dunnihoo made one. Untalan also led in digs. She had three. Bella Hicks and Lester each made two. 

Coach Kelli Pillatzki commented that the girls did a good job serving and connecting. They will continue to work on playing with energy and moving the ball.

The C team also suffered a 2-0 loss to Hamlin. Set scores were 25-9 and 25-14. 

8th Grade Team
The Lady Bulldogs eighth-grade volleyball team fell to Hamlin 2-1. They won the second set and kept the scores close at 21-25, 25-21, 12-15. Coach Nancy Hoeke commented, “We had competitive points and did a good job scrambling to keep the ball alive.” 

As a team, Milbank accrued eight aces. Hannah Pauli led with five and Nadia Howard had two. Tatum Brehmer and Hannah Kirchberg each put up five kills. Brehmer also  made eight assists. Alix Rademacher got five.

Individual Efforts
Serving
Trinity Brehmer 2-4
Alix Rademacher 1-2  1 ace
Brytten Schmieg 3-5
Nadia Howard 7-8  2 aces
Isabelle Karels 2-3
Tatum Brehmer  7-7 
Hannah Pauli  17-19  5 aces
Stella Pulling  5-9  1 ace

Kills
Tatum Brehmer  5
Hannah Kirchberg 5
Trinity Brehmer 1
Alix Rademacher 2
Hannah Pauli 2
Nadia Howard 2
Stella Pulling  3

Assists
Tatum Brehmer  8
Alix Rademacher 5
Nadia Howard 2
Brytten Schmieg 1
Stella Pulling 1
Trinity Brehmer 1

What’s next? Milbank faced Border West today, Monday, September 14. They host Waubay-Summit on Tuesday, September 15, and Florence-Henry on Thursday, September 17.