RAPID CITY — Harrisburg maintained its grip on Class AA volleyball on Saturday. 

The Tigers swept Sioux Falls O’Gorman to claim their fourth consecutive Class AA state volleyball championship at the Summit Arena at the Monument. The set scores were 25-16, 25-16 and 25-13. 

Harrisburg (35-2) is the first team in Class AA history to win four consecutive state volleyball championships, and it is 125-5 in the past four seasons. The Tigers are ranked 11th nationally, according to MaxPreps.com. 

“It’s so rewarding that we could finish out this strong, especially the senior class,” Harrisburg senior outside hitter Gabi Zachariasen said. “It shows that all of our hard work has paid off and I honestly couldn’t be prouder of our group.”

Saturday’s three-set sweep put a bow on one of the most impressive runs in South Dakota high school sports history. The Tigers have gone 125-5 in the past four seasons, with three of the losses against non-South Dakota teams. Harrisburg’s last defeat against a South Dakota team was Sioux Falls Lincoln on Sept. 22, 2022.

This season, Harrisburg’s lone losses were against No. 8 Torrey Pines (California) and No. 10 Cornerstone Christian (Texas) at the prestigious Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada, in September. 

Harrisburg coach Ronette Costain said the staggering numbers and impressive accomplishments are the fruits of the Tigers’ labor. 

“The kids have earned that,” Costain said. “It didn’t happen by accident. It didn’t happen overnight. These kids have been grinding since they have been in middle school about volleyball and they’ve earned every bit of the accolades that they are receiving.”

On Oct. 28, O’Gorman (26-5) took a set off the Tigers in a 3-1 Harrisburg win in Sioux Falls. On Saturday, the Tigers were determined to finish off another championship season with a sweep. 

“We knew O’Gorman was going to bring the kitchen sink and throw it at us,” Costain said. “They are a good team and if they get hot, they’re streaky. They’re going to put some points up. We didn’t want that to happen. We said we are not going to four with these guys. That was our goal tonight to finish in three and not give them any hopes and we did.”

Zachariasen, a two-time South Dakota Gatorade player of the year, said the Tigers focused on controlling the controllables against the Knights. Harrisburg controlled the controllables by limiting its unforced errors and also controlled the match.

The Tigers took sizable leads in all three sets, and cruised to the four-peat.  

“We know we are the best team in the state,” said Zachariasen, who totaled 15 kills and six digs. “So if we just play like that we knew we were going to win, but we had to really focus on that, and not let other factors play into our game.”

Julia Masselink added 12 kills, while setter Josalyn Samuels again engineered the offense and dished out 33 assists. 

“She’s a great setter and she gets a lot of the hitters in one-on-one situations, which is not heard of a lot,” said Zachariasen, a future University of South Dakota volleyball player.

The Knights finished with just 19 kills, with Lauren Venenga leading the way with six kills and seven digs. Londyn Smith totaled 19 assists and four digs. 

It was Harrisburg’s eighth state volleyball championship, and their sixth Class AA state title since 2016. 

The Tigers’ warm-up T-shirts had R-E-P-E-A-T across the back, and the letters stood for resilience, effort, persistence, endurance, attitude and together. 

Zachariasen said the Tigers used the motto to push the team every day. 

“We focused on one part of the word ‘repeat’ every single day and I feel like that made us complete and that made us even better,” Zachariasen said.