BROOKINGS – The Bobcats got their sixth win of the season, but it wasn’t as easy as it probably should have been.

Coming off a three-set sweep of fourth-seeded Mitchell, Brookings’ match with one-win Yankton on Saturday at the BHS Auxiliary Gymnasium should have been a walk in the park.

But the Gazelles tested the ‘Cats, especially in the first set where the home team finally prevailed, 30-28, and then, closed out the match by set scores of 25-18 and 25-16.

“We showed the same resiliency today as we did against Mitchell on Tuesday, but it was a different style of play,” said BHS head coach Jodi Melius. “We had to be resilient because we recognized we weren’t playing our best volleyball.

“We weren’t playing as sharp as we are capable of, but we still showed the mental toughness necessary to fight through the adversity.”

In the first set, Brookings led 11-8 before the Gazelles put together a 5-0 run to take their first lead since a 2-1 early advantage, and then, pushed their lead to 19-13 before a Clarissa Miller kill earned the Bobcats a point and the serve.

A defensive error by the ‘Cats gave the visitors a 22-18 edge, but Kylie Tucker’s kill started a 6-0 rally that gave Brookings set point at 24-22.

But a Yankton kill and a Bobcat hitting error allowed Yankton to tie the set at 24-24.

From there, it went back-and-forth to 28-28 before Kailee Bartels’ kill gave the ‘Cats a one-point edge, and then, Michaela Jewett put up a big block for the final set point.

The Gazelles jumped out to a 10-4 lead in Set 2, but the ‘Cats clawed back to knot the score at 12-12 on the way to a 14-12 lead.

Trailing 15-14, back-to-back kills by Miller and Tucker started a six-point BHS run en route to a 20-15 advantage. Tucker and Miller added a double block during the run while Johanna Miller chipped in with a kill.

A Bobcat hitting error allowed Yankton to close to within 22-18, however, kills by Bartels and Jewett were followed with an ace serve by Kennedi Schafer to close out the set for a 2-0 lead.

Yankton led 5-1 early in Set 3 before the ‘Cats rallied to knot the score at 7-7 and then, they played evenly until 15-15.

Another double block by Tucker and Clarissa Miller ignited a 7-0 run as Johanna Miller came up with a pair of kills and teamed with Bartels for a block.

After a Yankton kill made it 22-16, Clarissa Miller and Bartels both had a kill and Schafer another strong serve that the Gazelles couldn’t handle for the set win and match sweep.

Johanna Miller the balanced Bobcat offense with eight kills while Clarissa Miller added seven, to go along with three block assists. Bartels and Tucker had six kills apiece as Tucker chipped in with six block assists and one solo. Jewett finished with four kills, two solo blocks, a block assist, 30 set assists and 16 digs while Miranda Ysbrand collected 19 digs.

Brookings, 6-10 on the season, plays host to a 6-11 Brandon Valley squad on Tuesday at the BHS Auxiliary Gymnasium.