BROOKINGS – The Bobcats won the opening set for just the third time this season, but couldn’t hold on as Sioux Falls Lincoln rallied to a 3-2 nonconference volleyball win on Saturday at the BHS Auxiliary Gymnasium.
Brookings took Set 1, 26-24, before dropping the next two – 25-19 and 25-17. The ‘Cats won Set 4, 25-18, to force a fifth set but came up short, 15-9, to fall to 3-12 on the season.
In the first set, Annika Johnson’s kill gave Brookings its first lead at 18-17 before Kylie Tucker’s ace serve made it 20-18.
But Lincoln scored four straight points to go up 22-20 before the Bobcats were able to get a sideout.
Trailing 22-21, Emma Hardin tied the score with an ace and then, the ‘Cats took the lead, 23-22, after another strong serve that didn’t allow the Patriots to get into their offense.
Lincoln tied it at 23-all on a Bobcat hitting error and then regained the lead, 24-23, on Shannon Nelson’s kill from the right side, which prompted a BHS timeout.
Facing set point, Kailee Bartels ran a slide and tipped over the double-block attempt for a kill that made it 24-24.
Annika Johnson served up an ace to give Brookings set point, and then, Grace Eggebrecht hammered a kill down the front of a block attempt to give the Bobcats the first set at 26-24.
Tied at 9-9 in the second set, Lincoln made a big run to take a 19-12 lead.
Brookings got back within three points at 20-17 before the Patriots tied the match with a 5-2 finish to take Set 2, 25-19.
In the third set, Lincoln led 8-7 before going on a 12-5 run to go up by eight points at 20-12, which proved to be enough of an edge as the Bobcats couldn’t get closer than five points the rest of the way as the Patriots took a 2-1 set lead.
In Set 4, it was a 5-0 Bobcats run that broke a 12-12 tie to give the home team the momentum and a 17-12 advantage.
A double block by Tucker and Johanna Miller gave Brookings set point and Johnson’s kill closed the set at 25-18 and sent the match to the deciding fifth stanza.
Tied at 5-5 in the fifth, a Bobcat hitting error started a three-point run for Lincoln.
Brookings managed to get back within two points several times – the last at 11-9 following a Johnson kill – but that was the last point for the ‘Cats as the Patriots scored the final four points for a 15-9 set win for a 3-2 match win.
Eggebrecht and Johnson led the Bobcat attack with 12 and 10 kills, respectively, as Michaela Jewett notched 43 set assists, to go along with eight kills, five blocks and 14 digs.
Tucker finished with five blocks and Bartels four; Miranda Ysbrand collected 20 digs and Megan Gilk had 11; while Johnson tallied three aces and Hardin added two.
Brookings, which dropped to 3-16 on the season, travels to Aberdeen on Friday to face the Golden Eagles in an Eastern South Dakota Conference match.
SUBVARSITY RESULTS
Junior Varsity – Brookings won 25-20, 25-23
Sophomore – Brookings won 25-22, 25-13
Freshman A – Brookings won 25-23, 17-25, 15-11
Freshman B – Brookings won 25-9, 25-20
