SIOUX FALLS – Top-seeded Rapid City Stevens swept No. 9 Brookings in the quarterfinals of the Class AA State Volleyball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the PREMIER Center.

“We came out with a lot of energy and a lot of excitement, but Rapid City Stevens is a good team,” said BHS coach Jodi Melius. “I feel we made them earn the win, so our players should be proud of how they played.”

The Raiders won by the set scores of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-20.

“It was a good match,” said RCS coach Kylie Voorhees. “I knew it was going to be a good match and, again, both teams are just trying to get used to the environment, get used to the court, get used to being here – the hype – so it was a very well-played match on both sides.”

It marked the Bobcats’ first state tourney match since Nov. 19, 2005.

“For having never played at a state tournament, these girls handled the atmosphere tremendously well,” added Melius. “They really stepped up to it and played as if they had been here many times.”

The match came down to a trio of big runs by Stevens.

Tied at 17-all in the first set, the Raiders scored eight consecutive points to grab a 1-0 advantage in the match.

The Bobcats came out strong in Set 2, building a 10-1 lead. They were ahead 20-12, when Stevens made its move with a 13-3 closing run.

Trailing 23-21, the Raiders took advantage of a Bobcat error and then used back-to-back blocks followed by an Emily Sobczak ace to win the set.

Stevens led 13-12 in Set 3 and took control with a 7-0 spurt – making it 20-12. Carly Buehner completed the sweep with a kill later on.

“The runs came after we just finally found our comfort zone,” noted Voorhees. “We came in here and I kept telling the girls, ‘just breathe,’ I mean, they weren’t even breathing it seemed like and they couldn’t find their groove. Once they found it, then big runs happened.”

Added Melius on the Raiders’ runs: “Stevens has really phenomenal blockers. I think they do a nice job of penetrating and they really took our hitters out of our element of what we wanted to do, especially at the end of Set 1. We didn’t have a point of offense after Point 17 in Set 1. I think just defensively they out-played us at the net during certain stretches of the match, but then also during certain stretches we played very well at the net. So it went both ways and it was a match of rallies, but we just didn’t score enough points.”

Stevens’ Elizabeth Schaefer finished with 19 kills, two blocks (one solo) an ace and nine digs. Phebie Rossi contributed 11 kills, two blocks and an ace. Buehner tallied five kills and 1 1/2 blocks.

Marlee Schneider guided the offense with 31 set assists and came up with nine digs. Laura Petik notched 17 digs and netted a pair of aces. Kyah Watson had three kills, a block, an ace and eight digs. Sobczak totaled three kills, two aces and a block.

For the Bobcats, Kylie Tucker ended up with seven kills, three aces and a block.

Kailee Bartels tallied eight kills and a block. Regan Weisbeck had six kills and Clarissa Miller three to go with a block assist.

Jewett racked up 27 set assists, 11 digs, three kills and a solo block. Miranda Ysbrand notched 11 digs and an ace, while Molly Steffensen had 10 digs and two aces.

“Anytime you lose, there is disappointment and the state tournament only amplifies that,” added Melius. “You know, you want to do the best you can. But we’re excited for another chance to play (Friday).”

Brookings (15-14) takes on fifth-seeded Huron (17-8) in a consolation semifinal today at noon.

Rapid City Stevens (32-1) faces No. 4 Watertown (23-5) in the semifinals at 6 p.m.

RAPID CITY STEVENS 3, BROOKINGS 0

R.C. Stevens 25  25  25

Brookings 17  23  30

Kills – RCS 36, B 28. Blocks – RCS 8 (1 solo), B 5 (one solo). Service aces – RCS 7, BHS 6. Set assists – RCS 32, B 28. Digs – RCS 55, B 50.

• Watertown 3, Huron 2

The Arrows won 25-14, 21-25, 25-19, 24-26, 19-17.

Watertown’s Mariah Gloe had 18 kills, three aces, 3 1/2 blocks (one solo) and 20 digs. Sophie Tietz added 15 kills and 4 1/2 blocks (one solo). Mckenzie Buisker contributed six kills, four blocks (Two solo) and an ace.

Annie Norberg (25) and Alexx Bayles (18) combined for 43 set assists. Tayler Corey came up with 20 digs and Bayles 13.

Huron’s Holee Niehus racked up 22 kills, 3 1/2 blocks, an ace and 13 digs. Tenley Buddenhagen had 34 set assists and 12 digs. Havyn Heinz notched 29 digs.

• Sioux Falls O’Gorman 3, Mitchell 0

The sixth-seeded Kernels started strong but faded as No. 3 Sioux Falls O’Gorman swept Mitchell, 26-24, 25-21 and 25-14, to advance to Friday’s semifinals.

Emma Ronsiek led the Lady Knights with 16 kills while Raegan Reilly and Courtney Baruth added nine kills apiece as OG totaled with 48 kills on the night, compared to 27 for the Kernels.

Bergen Reilly (20) and Raegan Reilly (15) combined for 35 set assists as Jaimie Renshaw and Ellee Ohnoutka picked up 12 and 10 digs, respectively, as the Lady Knights improved to 28-5.

C Brewster tallied a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs for Mitchell, which dropped to 16-9 on the season. Megan Scheurenbrand notched 22 set assists for the Kernels.

• Sioux Falls Washington 3, Sioux Falls Roosevelt 1

The second-seeded Warriors were pushed to four sets by No. 7 Roosevelt, but came away with a 25-15, 25-11, 22-25 and 25-18 win to advance to the semis.

Lily Bartling led Washington, 29-5, with 16 kills while Phekran Kong added 12 kills and six block assists and Samiya Jami finished with 10 kills, 12 digs and four block assists.

Aspen Langley put up 43 set assists as Peyton Rymerson came up with 20 digs.

Leah Koltz had 11 kills for Roosevelt, 16-14, as Elizabeth Denevan contributed 12 set assists and Katherine Nelson chipped in with 12 set assists and 10 digs.

Class A

• Miller 3, Rapid City Christian 0

Kadye Fernholz totaled 23 kills, 2 1/2 blocks (one solo) and 10 digs as the Rustlers won 25-19, 25-12, 25-10. VonnaGail Schlechter added 12 kills and 11 digs. Rachel Oligmueller dished out 43 set assists and Madison Wetz tallied 12 digs.

The Comets’ Tori Altstiel had seven kills, a block, an ace and eight digs. Olivia Kieffer also had seven kills.

• Elk Point-Jefferson 3, Winner 0

The Huskies prevailed by the set scores of 25-19, 25-17, 25-15.

Carlie Corder had 16 kills and 1 1/2 blocks (one solo). Marly Marx totaled 40 set assists and 14 digs. Katelyn Chytka came up with 14 digs and Ally Nearman 20.

For the Warriors, Morgan Hammerbeck notched 11 kills and 12 digs. Maggie LaCompte and Gracie Littau both had 21 digs.

• Sioux Falls Christian 3, Parker 0

The Chargers powered to an easy sweep by set scores of 25-4, 25-22 and 25-10 to move into Friday’s semifinals.

Kylee Van Egdom dominated at the net with 19 kills, five blocks assists and a solo block as SFC improved to 29-8 overall. Samantha Fykstra put 34 set assists while Abby Glanzer finished with seven kills 14 digs, two solo blocks and a block assist. Jamaica Calkhoven also had 14 digs.

Logan Gusso led the Pheasants with nine kills while Grace Leberman contributed eight kills and 14 digs as Parker dropped to 26-8.

• McCook Central/Montrose 3, Aberdeen Roncalli 1

The seventh-seeded Cavaliers pushed No. 2 MCM to four sets but came up short as the Fighting Cougars prevailed by set scores of, 25-19, 25-17, 26-28 and 25-16, to advance to the semis.

McKenna Kranz had 17 kills and 15 digs for MCM, 25-4, while Abigail Van Ruler added 14 kills, to go along with seven solo blocks and three block assists.

Aleah Ries contributed 12 kills and 22 digs; Emily Bies totaled 49 set assists and 12 digs; and Jacy Pulse collected 25 digs.

Mariah Winegar’s 11 kills and four service aces led the Cavaliers, 21-7, while Jami Ewart and Hannah Kuck added nine and eight kills, respectively.

Megan Streier finished with 33 sets assists and 20 digs.

Class B

• Northwestern 3, Kimball/White Lake 0

The Wildcats overcame a slow start for a 25-19, 25-7, 25-8 victory.

Rylie Grandpre had 15 kills and a block. Catelyn Fischbach contributed 10 kills and two blocks (one solo). Sydney Schell added 10 kills and a block. Madalyn Groft guided the offense with 32 set assists and Tya Weideman paced the defense with 20 digs.

The WiLdKats’ Kennedy Leiferman finished with six kills, two solo blocks and seven digs. Grace Konechne added five kills, 1 1/2 blocks (one solo) and an ace. Darby Deffenbaugh came up with 17 digs.

• Faith 3, Faulkton Area 2

The Lady Longhorns pulled out a 19-25, 21-25, 25-12, 26-24, 15-11 victory. They trailed 24-16 in Set 4, overcoming eight match points to survive.

Mikenzy Miller had nine kills and four blocks (three solo). Shianne Price added 12 kills and a block assist. Sydnie Schauer totaled 33 set assists and 17 digs. Jayden Shoemake came up with 20 digs.

The Trojans’ Peyton Melius finished with 22 kills, two aces and 21 digs. Taylor Cramer had 16 kills, an ace, a solo block and 14 digs. Brooke Niederbaumer notched 11 kills, an ace, a solo block and 12 digs.

• Chester Area 3, Ethan 0

The third-seeded Flyers used a balanced offense to sweep the Rustlers in straight sets – 25-20, 25-15 and 25-23 – to advance to Friday’s semifinals.

Jayda Kenyon tallied 10 kills to go along with six solo blocks to lead Chester Area at the net while Jadon Wages and Makenna Larson each had nine kills and 11 digs.

Hailey Ewoldt collected 36 set assists as Ella Pry added eight kills and Hanna Reiff notched 29 digs as the Flyers improved to 26-5.

Karly Gustafson led Ethan, 27-7, with 13 kills, a solo block and a block assist as Jada Plastow added 12 kills and Cameryn Logan chipped in with 10.

Jessica Bartscher put up 36 set assists and picked up 13 digs while Mollie Miller led the defense with 17 digs and Maddie Miller contributed 13 digs.

• Warner 3, Burke 0

The second-seeded Monarchs made short work of No. 7 Burke with a sweep by set scores of 25-10, 25-18, 25-15 to move into Friday’s semis.

Sydney Leidholt (13) and Laurie Rogers (12) combined for 25 kills as Peyton Fisher tallied 36 set assists. Rogers added three block assists; Fisher had a solo block and a block assist; and Leidholt collected 12 digs as Warner improved to 34-2.

Taylee Indahl and Sierra Swan had eight kills apiece for the Lady Cougars, 29-8, as Bobbi Jo Wischman totaled 14 set assists. Lanie Schonebaum and Indahl each had 14 digs to lead the defense.