Maddie Zimmer smacks the volleyball during tournament action in SD.
In contrast to her powerful spike, Zeason Schaffer tips a ball over a Sturgis defender at the Belle Fourche Volleyball Tournament. (Photo courtesy Sommer Schaffer)
The Lady Hawk Varsity Volleyball team racked up another conference win over the weekend against Busby, while also winning the consolation bracket of the Belle Fourche Tournament on Saturday.
In the match against Busby, Coach Monica Smith had her team work on playing the ball more efficiently than they had in previous matches, which meant that their offense consisted of offspeed hits and tips into open parts of the defensive floor – a stark contrast to the hard hitting spikes that have been the norm.
"We worked on placing the ball where the defense is not," Smith commented. That offensive strategy worked well, with Broadus winning in three sets, 25-11, 25-4, and 25-2.
The strategy of hitting to holes in the defense also carried over into the matches on Saturday, with Smith noting that Broadus was able to use offspeed hitting to find gaps in the defense, particularly in their consolation championship win against Kadoka.
Coming into the Belle Fourche Tourney, Broadus was the defending champion, having won for the first time last season. The tournament has a number of larger schools attending, and Broadus led off against Edgemont, SD, a town which is close to twice the size of Broadus.
The teams traded wins in the first and second set, before Edgemont eked out a win 25-23 in the third set.
The first round loss sent Broadus into the consolation bracket, which resulted in wins against the Wall Eagles, the Bowman Bulldogs, and Sturgis Scoopers, and put Broadus into the consolation championship against the Kadoka Kougars.
Broadus won the first set 25-20, lost the second 25-19, and came back to win the third and final set 25-21 to take the consolation bracket.
In the final match, Macyn McDowell went down with a head injury and to be safe she sat the rest of the match, leaving Broadus without a libero.
Maddie Zimmer and Aspen Krantz stepped into the defensive role, and played well to keep the match alive, according to Coach Smith.
The Hill City Rangers won the tournament.
Broadus currently sits second in the 2C District standings, at 7-1 in conference play. Circle is first, also at 7-1 but hold the tie-breaker over Broadus. Savage is third at 5-2, Terry 4th at 5-3.
Broadus has one match this week, at Plevna.
Smith had unique plans for practice this week, as her team coaches the Broadus Junior High V-ball team. The flip in scripts allows the players to gain perspective on coaching, promotes unity within the program, and as the old saying goes, the best way to show mastery of a subject is to teach it to someone else.
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