Here come the Spartans: How Spearfish pushed its win streak to 12 straight

SPEARFISH — For many within the circle of volleyball, the game where two teams are separated by a net is a one of momentum and emotion. It's a proverbial roller coaster ride.

The Spearfish volleyball team knows all about this. The Spartans were familiar with the dip, and now they're riding high.

The maroon, black and white encountered a tough start to their 2024 regular season, going 1-5 in the opening stretch.

After defeating Mitchell in the first match of their time at the Huron Volleyball Invitational on August 31, the Spartans endured through three straight setbacks. Granted, one of their three losses was against No. 2-ranked (Class A) Dell Rapids.

Then, came a 3-1 loss against Hill City on Sept. 3 at Gins Gym. The Spartans were able to take one away from the Rangers, who are currently 22-3 overall.

Following a close 2-1 setback against Douglas, Wyo., at the Gillette Invitational on Sept. 6, Spearfish went on a tear.

Nearly a month later, the Spartans have yet to taste defeat. Over the rest of September and the early days of October, Spearfish has won 12 consecutive matches, with 11 of those victories being 3-0 sweeps.

The latest three-set victory came from a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-19) triumph over a solid St. Thomas More team this past Tuesday at the Spearfish High School Gym.

According to Shelbie Richards, head coach for the Spartans, it's all about self-improvement and playing mistake-free volleyball.

"We've been focusing on our side and making sure that we're playing clean," Richards said. "That's been our biggest things. Looking back, we were in a different rotation. Since we changed that, we've kind of went on this winning streak."

"It's been figuring out who plays best together," Richards added. "This is a really good team who understands team effort and the 'moving on' mentality. I think our program was lacking that for a while."

The past few seasons saw the Spartans take steps in the right direction, going from 4-22 in 2021 to finishing 16-17 last season. This year, Spearfish is already three games away from matching last year's win total, holding onto a comfortable 13-5 overall record.

Against a solid Cavaliers squads, who moved to 17-9 this past Thursday with a win over Mahpíya Lúta, the Spartans were led by junior Kali Reiner's 33 assists and 11 digs and three service aces.

"(Reiners) has been a great athlete for us," Richards said. "She was pulled up as an eighth grader, so she's had a lot of varsity time. We kind of rely on her to see things. She also plays in the offseason, and she's just a great leader."

"She's very even keeling, also," continued Richards. "Having someone that sees the court, but can also keep us in check, emotionally and mentally, is fantastic."

Sophomore Addison Keller and junior Adelyn Bouman each picked up 12 kills in the win. Bouman also tallied 10 digs, while senior libero Brooklyn Yackley totaled 17 digs and junior defensive specialist Faith Hoffman recorded 16 digs.

Senior Avery Kirk also reeled in 10 digs, along with five kills.

Richards made mention of Kirk's play, who transitioned to the back row over the offseason.

"This is (Kirk's) first season playing back row," Richards said. "She's never been a back row until this year, but watching her be a six-person rotation is not seen a lot in volleyball."

Overall, everyone was worthy of Richards' praise.

"They've all done a great job," said Richards. "They've come together as a team. We don't sub anybody other than our middle, so it's seven on and off. It's do or die together, and everybody is coming together at the same time."

So far this season, Bouman leads the Spartans in kills with 131, followed by Keller's 95 and junior Tabby Zandstra's 48 kills. Zandstra also paces the Spartans in blocks with 10.

Reiners is already at 390 assists, along with 144 digs and 27 aces, as Yackley has collected 258 digs thus far. Kirk has 176 digs in her possession, along with 128 kills and 13 aces.

According to Richards, there's plenty of room to grow.

"We just need to keep working on our shots," Richards said. "Our defense is doing a great job of keeping the ball for us. Knowing the different shots that we can take while playing live, it gets faster. Then, we want to work on covering, because down the line, we're going to see some of those East River teams. That's going to be huge for us."

Ahead of the Spartans will be a road triangular, scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Mitchell High School Gym. There, Spearfish will have a rematch with Mitchell (1-12) at 1 p.m., before facing Douglas (5-10) at 2:30 p.m.

Along with road matches with Sturgis (Oct. 8) and Belle Fourche (Oct. 15), Spearfish hosts Mahpíya Lúta (Oct. 18) and travels to Hot Springs (Oct. 22). Then, it's the East/West Tournament, set for Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 on the campus of Spearfish High School.

"We're setting ourselves up for success right now," Richards said. "We don't want to overlook anyone, and this weekend is big for us. We beat Mitchell earlier this season, but (head coach Deb Thill) has them ready. Then, we play Douglas. I think they'll be good matches for us."

"If we play clean, we can get the job done," added Richards. "We've been playing clean for a long time, and you just hope that you can keep on that train until the very end."

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