In late July while playing basketball with her Gayville-Volin teammates, at a team camp in Sioux Falls, Keeley Larson pivoted and knew immediately something was wrong.

A multi-sport standout, and with her mind swirling, Larson's first thoughts were on the upcoming volleyball season which now seemed very much in doubt. 

“My first thought was volleyball because I love it and love to play it,” Larson said. 

After visiting with doctors the recommendation was immediate surgery. 

“They told me that I was young and strong and mentally tough and with no swelling it would be a great opportunity to have the surgery,” she said.

Larson said she has never felt pain with her injured knee and that her range of motion wasn’t impacted greatly. After further discussion with her medical team the option of playing volleyball for her senior season was discussed. 

Larson chose to play and immediately went to physical therapy to start working on the injured limb. After missing the first seven games of the season Larson made her debut on Sept. 12 in a straight-sets win over Viborg-Hurley. 

First-year coach Allison Jones wasn’t even sure Larson would be available this season. 

“Keeley is a natural leader on the team,” Jones said. “She’s mature, very coachable and communicates well and has been doing this since her seventh-grade year.” 

The communities of Gayville and Volin have been buzzing since the Raiders knocked off the Faith Longhorns in the SoDak 16 on Nov. 7 to earn their first-ever trip to the state volleyball tournament. 

Larson has been the glue for the Raiders this season but it has been the emergence of young talent that put the team in the state tournament.

Coach Jones gave credit to the middle school program for developing the players on the 2023 team. 

“They start them pretty young over here,” Jones said. “Natalie Selchert does a great job with the skill development of the middle-school girls.”

Freshman Maia Achen leads the team with 446 kills and Larson said Achen’s development has been key to the Raiders. 

“Maia knows exactly where to put the ball,” Larson said. “She tells me if she doesn’t like the way she’s being set and I like that. She’s stepped up big in each of the last two seasons.” 

Freshman twin sisters Jolie and Aliza Westrum also drew praise from the senior setter. Aliza has 152 kills and 32 blocks while Jolie has 72 kills, 14 blocks and 28 assists. 

“To me it is just insane how much they’ve grown and developed over the last year,” Larson said.

In the SoDak 16 match against Faith the Gayville-Volin girls came out tight and lost the first set, 25-23. 

“Coming in we felt like we had a chance but it was incredibly nerve racking and I knew if we didn’t win that was the end of my high-school sports career,” Larson said. “Once we got our nerves out we started playing better. In the fourth set I looked over at Aliza Westrum and said ‘This is it. We are going to state.’ ”

While glued to the match in the fourth set Larson had time to look up in the stands to take in how much the match and the moment meant to her family. Her parents Staci and Daniel, younger brother Nate and older sisters Abby and Molly were all in attendance. 

“I looked up and saw how emotional my dad was and knew this was happening,” Larson said. “My older sisters, who both played volleyball for Gayville-Volin, both had the biggest smiles on their faces.”

Following the win over Faith that clinched the state tournament for the Raiders, Larson’s senior teammate and best friend Krista Jorgensen reminded Larson of what she said when they were both little girls.

“When I was little I told Krista that we were the ones that would be the first team from our school to go to state,” Larson said. “I knew this was my last year and wanted to go out with a bang and everything fell into place.” 

Larson will be having surgery on her injured ACL on Monday.