BROOKINGS – It just wasn’t meant to be.

The Bobcats lost in straight sets to Watertown – 25-23, 25-19 and 25-15 – on Thursday night at the BHS Auxiliary Gymnasium.

The worst part of the straight-set Eastern South Dakota Conference loss to the Arrows?

Brooking led 23-19 following an ace serve by Kailee Bartels before allowing Watertown to score six straight points to take the Set 1, and then, the ‘Cats spotted the Arrows a 12-1 edge to open Set 2 and an eight-point opening run in Set 3.

“Our girls did a tremendous job of adjusting in a chaotic situation – obviously losing your setter barely into Set 1 isn’t an ideal match for anyone, but our girls responded well – Emma Hardin did a fabulous job of stepping in and playing a position that isn’t new to her, but that she hasn’t played for a while either,” said Bobcat head coach Jodi Melius. “We just had stretches at the beginning of Sets 2 and 3 where we couldn’t get a kill if the match depended on it – we just need to fight through those slumps and get a point however we can.”

Set 1 was back-and-forth early as Watertown held a three-point edge on two different occasions before the Bobcats rallied to tie the game at 11-11 following a kill by Grace Eggebrecht.

From there, Brookings went on a 7-3 run, capped off by a Kylie Tucker kill, to go up 18-14.

The Arrows closed back within two at 21-19, and then, the ‘Cats earned a sideout and Bartels served up the ace to make it 23-19.

But Watertown won the next rally and Alexx Bayles served out the match – picking up three aces and preventing the Bobcats from getting into their offense on the other two points with solid serves as the Arrows scored five straight points to rally to the 25-23 win.

The Arrows kept their momentum going in Set 2, building an 11-point lead before Brookings rallied to pull within four points on two different occasions – 17-13 and 19-15.

Watertown closed the second set with a 6-4 run to take a two-set lead.

After scoring the first eight points to open the third set, the Arrows increased their lead to nine at 12-3 before the Bobcats got going.

A kill by Annika Johnson made it 13-9, but that would be as close as the ‘Cats would get as Watertown closed out the set – and match – with a 12-6 run.

Eggebrecht led Brookings with 15 kills as Johnson tallied eight.

Hardin (17) and Jewett (15) combined for 32 set assists while Bartels tallied three aces and Tucker finished with four block assists.

Miranda Ysbrand collected 18 digs and Hardin 14 as the Bobcats dropped to 2-9 overall and 2-7 in the ESD.

Watertown improved to 6-4 on the season and 5-3 in conference play as Mariah Gloe and Abby Johnson each had 15 kills for the Arrows.

On Saturday, Brookings travels to Harrisburg to face the Tigers in an ESD matchup that starts at 3 p.m.

Junior Varsity – Watertown 25-14, 19-25, 15-10

Sophomores – Watertown 25-12, 25-21

Freshmen A – Watertown 25-22, 25-16

Freshmen B – Watertown 25-18, 25-20