By: Coach Amy Tyler The Wagner Red Raiders earned their second title in as many years at the South Dakota Class A State Volleyball Tournament. The Red Raiders bested Chester in the Region Finals to punch their tickets to Watertown. Heading into the tournament Wagner was the #1 seed with a 31-1 record, and they opened play against an unfamiliar foe, Custer. The Red Raiders were able to sweep Custer, 25-12, 25-10, 25-23. Even though the third set was tight, the girls were able to pull out the win. They were reminded that every point needs to be played with intensity and energy. Jilanne Doom led offensively with 13 kills while Kami Hoeke and Devon Brecke slammed down 9 and 8 kills respectively in the match. Breanna Cuka and Alexa Cimpl put away 2 kills each. Brecke led the defense at the net with 2 blocks while Jenny Eggers led in the backcourt with 11 digs. Keaya Weber dished out 29 assists in the win for the Red Raiders. In the semi-final round, Wagner was face to face with an athletic Platte-Geddes team. Even though Wagner had beaten the Panthers twice during the regular season, they were ready for a fight. Wagner’s blockers did a tremendous job of shutting down P/G’s big hitters to earn the 25-16, 25-12, 25-14 victory. Leading the blocking stats for Wagner was Cuka with 6 while Brecke contributed 5. Cimpl and Doom each stuffed 2 blocks, and Hoeke and LaShawn Medicine Horn blocked 1 apiece. Three hitters were even across the net as Brecke, Doom and Hoeke threw down 9 kills each. Cuka was a on a roll, slamming down 4 kills. Eggers picked up 16 digs in the backcourt while Weber grabbed another 12. Doom and Brecke snagged 9 digs apiece. Weber finished the match with 31 assists. Wagner entered the final match-up of the season against the Milbank Bulldogs, a team they had never faced. It was much of the same game plan; Wagner needed to contain Milbank’s big outside hitters. As throughout the season and the tournament, it came down to blocking and, in that category, the Red Raiders prevailed, racking up 8 blocks to Milbank’s 2, which helped them in the 20-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-15 win. Even though the defense was off to a slow start and dropped the first set, they regrouped and played with energy the rest of the match. There were some jitters in the first set that we needed to get through in order to play our type of volleyball. After adjusting to the swings of their outside hitters, Wagner was able to get their hands on some hits. Defensively at the net, Cuka had 5 blocks while Brecke, Cimpl and Doom each had 2 blocks. Picking up steam in the back row in the final three sets, three Red Raiders were in double digits in digs: Eggers (24), Doom (23) and Weber (20). Courtney Krcil covered the corners well and picked up 9 digs while Talia Peters picked up 8. Brecke rallied for 7 more digs in the back. Four players were in double digits in the kill category: Doom (17), Brecke (16), Hoeke (15), and Cimpl (12). We needed to get all of the hitters involved in order to get Milbank’s defense out of sorts, and that is what the girls did. Weber racked up an astonishing 55 assists in the championship match. For her efforts during the tournament, she set a new state tournament record of 11.5 assists per set. Cuka also got in the state tournament record books with 1.2 blocks per set; she is now #4. Seniors Jilanne Doom and Keaya Weber made the All-Tournament team for the second year in a row, and sophomore Devon Brecke was also selected to the team. Wagner ended the season with a 34-1 record and its second consecutive state championship. Six seniors - Jilanne Doom, Jenny Eggers, Kami Hoeke, Courtney Krcil, Brooke Weber and Keaya Weber - will be graduating, but the leadership they provided over the past few seasons will be evident in the years to come for Wagner volleyball.