For classes D1 and D2 it was the first round of Tournament play at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The RPAC was represented by a trio of teams, the Cambridge Trojans, Wallace Wildcats, and Southwest Roughriders.
Cambridge, the #1 seed in Class D2, had the 9:00 A.M. game against #8 seeded Shelton. Cambridge beat the Bulldogs three sets to one and the set scores were 25-18, 21-25, 25-15, and 25-19.
In the opening set, Cambridge got up 9-4 in the early stages as they again dominated the service line. From there, they cruised to victory. In the second set, Shelton came back swinging. They attacked the Trojans in a variety of ways. The set was neck and neck at 11-10 in favor of Cambridge. Shelton then went on a nice run to create some space and lead 21-18 before a Cambridge timeout. But, the Trojans couldn't regroup.
In the third set, Cambridge was strong. and dominated the set thoroughly. In the fourth set, a couple of timely aces from Cambridge made the difference. It was 19-18, and Jalen Kent served an ace to push the lead the lead to 20-18. Another point was scored by the Trojans, and Shelton took a timeout. Trying to kill the Trojan's momentum did no good, and they secured the win.
Unofficially for Cambridge, Erin Johnson had 22 kills and three aces. Jalen Kent had 20 kills and four aces for Cambridge. The Trojans move on and will play #5 seed Wynot at 9:00 A.M. on Friday at Pinnacle Bank Arena, on the North Court.
Wallace, the #4 seed in Class D2 battled a tough #5 seeded Wynot. The Wildcats fell in the match via the sweep, 25-22, 25-11, 25-20.
In the first set, Wallace looked like they were going to control the action. They were up quickly 9-4, before Wynot took a timeout. The Blue Devils had some errors, but Wallace was forcing those to occur. Wallace extended their lead to 12-5, then Wynot climbed back into it. It wasn;t all at once, the Blue Devils just chipped away at it and eventually took the lead at 21-19. They closed out the set strong to get the win.
In set number two, Wallace fell behind early and could not recover.
In the third set of the match, Wallace clawed back from an 11-2 deficit, to get within three at 16-13. But, they couldn't quite complete the comeback.
Unofficially, Wallace was led by Kendyl Flaming had 13 kills and three aces. Skyler Kuhlman added six kills and an ace. Wallace finishes the 2023 campaign at 27-5.
Southwest, the #2 seed in Class D1 faced #7 seeded Elgin Public/Pope John in the afternoon session. The Roughriders dropped the first two sets, but won the next two, making it go five total sets. The set scores were 23-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-19, and 10-15.
In the first set, Southwest took an early lead of 8-5. But the Wolfpack tied it up at 8-8. They used a steady dose of attaching and were able to capture the first set.
In the second set, It was a battle. Southwest went up early, 15-8 as they applied pressure on the net and the service line. They led 18-11 at one point. Elgin Public/Pope John though tightened up and went on a 15-6 run and went up 2-0. In the third set, Southwest was down 18-9 and then a huge block that turned the tide for the Roughriders. They got rolling on both sides of the net and made it 2-1.
In the fourth set, Southwest was cruising up 17-13 when the Wolfpack took a timeout. Southwest stayed the course and secured the fourth set win, forcing a fifth and decisive set.
In the fifth set, Elgin Public/Pope John got out to a 4-0 start and Southwest took a timeout. The Roughriders struggled to recover. The Wolfpack was just too strong this time and Southwest couldn't get the win.
Unofficially for Southwest, Payton Truksa had 22 kills and Atleigh Helms had 11 kills.
Southwest ends the season at 29-4.
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