Now, it’s onto State B

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COLMAN – The Colman-Egan volleyball advanced the Class B State Tournament Tuesday night after sweeping Kadoka Area. The No. 4 seeded Hawks dominated the match winning each set 25-16, 25-15 and 25-13, respectively.
“I think we worked so hard this year and saw the end goal. They knew that they had to do everything possible [to get the win]. They had to be all over the court. They had to get their block up and play the most aggressive they have all year in order to take the victory. We knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, so they just had to have the right mindset,” said Colman-Egan head coach Abigail Dockter.
Dockter added that reaching the State Tournament was one of the teams goals at the beginning of the season was to make state.

“It’s one of the best feelings that [getting to the State Tournament] is finally over with and we can check that off of our goal list. It’s definitely very rewarding for them and they worked very hard for it,” Dockter said.
Olivia Baumberger led the way for the Hawks with 10 kills and six blocks. Braiden Westley had 13 assists, 11 digs and three aces. Mackenzie Hemmer had nine kills, seven digs and two aces. Hailey Larson had seven kills and six blocks. Kennadi Landis had 11 assists.
“[Our players] know their job everywhere on the court, whether they’re in the back row or the front row. They know our blocking is one of the biggest factors to make our team successful and they know a few players that they have to watch out for and where to go on the net and be aggressive up there for us to be successful. If we’re not aggressive at the net we struggle,” Dockter said.
Colman-Egan (No. 4) will play No. 5 Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. on Nov. 19 in Huron. They take a 24-3  record into the state tourney. Kadoka Area ended with a 19-9 mark.
“We have to stay consistent throughout the tournament,” Dockter said. “All throughout playoffs we stayed consistent, playing our game and playing as hard as we possibly can. At state, every game, the three games there, we have to stay consistent and play with same momentum and energy. If we do that I think we’ll be just fine.”