SIOUX FALLS — Miller’s first five-set match of the season was a memorable one. 

The No. 2 Rustlers rallied past No. 7 Platte-Geddes in a five-set marathon match at the Denny Sanford Premier Center on Thursday. The set scores were 24-26, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20 and 15-8. 

The Rustlers (33-2) rallied from a 2-0 deficit and outlasted the Black Panthers in a five-setter, Miller’s first match to go the distance this season. It was also Miller’s first trip to state since 2019 and that played into the sluggish start, said senior hitter Jaden Werdel. 

“I feel like at first we had never been to state,” Werdel said. “So at first we were a little bit nervous. It’s kind of intimidating, but after that we knew what we wanted and we got them in five.”

It was the second meeting between the Rustlers and Black Panthers (27-8) this season. Miller swept Platte-Geddes on Oct. 11 in Miller. 

“In the regular season we beat them in three,” said Werdel, who had eight kills and 16 digs. “But they are a good team and they have two really good hitters.” 

In the rematch, there was very little room for error as both teams played at a high level. The teams combined for 205 digs, 107 kills and 93 assists. 

In the first set, the score was knotted up at points 19-through-24 and Platte-Geddes scored the final two points. 

In the second set, Platte-Geddes surged back from an early deficit and the teams again traded rallies down the stretch. The score was evened up at 13-13, 16-16, 17-17, 19-19, 20-20, 24-24 and 25-25, with Platte-Geddes again scoring the final two points for a 2-0 lead. 

That’s when the Rustlers surged back and jumped ahead in each of the next two sets. They led 17-11 in the third set and 18-12 in the fourth set before evening the match at 2-2. 

In the fifth set, Miller was clinging to a 9-8 lead and scored the final six points to seal the victory. Ally Mullaney pounded down her match-high 27th kill to secure the marathon win. 

“I feel like it comes down to practice,” Werdel said about closing out the match. “You are really tired. It’s five sets and you are constantly going back and forth, back and forth, but all that hard work in practice paid off. It was tiring, but we did it.”

Platte-Geddes’ Karly VanDerWerff finished with 22 kills and 16 digs. Cadence Van Zee added 19 kills and 25 digs. Avery DeVries dished out 37 assists and 17 digs. 

Mullaney added eight digs and two solo blocks. Tyra Gates handed out 43 assists and added 20 digs. Jolie Palmer logged 29 digs. 

Platte-Geddes will play Elkton-Lake Benton or Belle Fourche at 1:15 p.m. Friday in the consolation semifinals. 

Miller will play Elkton-Lake Benton or Belle Fourche at 6:45 p.m. Friday in the championship semifinals.