By Rich Winter

605 Sports

SIOUX FALLS — The 2024 Sioux Falls Christian girls are no ordinary No. 8 seed. 

After slogging through a 25-12 regular season filled with ranked teams from multiple states the seven-time defending Class A champions rolled into the state tournament brimming with confidence. The Chargers rolled into Friday’s semifinals with a straight set sweep of No. 1 Miller, 25-14, 25-17 and 25-11. 

“We played a lot of good teams this year,” Darci Wassenaar, Sioux Fall Christian coach said. “We tried to have a tough schedule this year and being able to play at that level really helped us today.” 

Right from the start led by hitter Brietta Timms and setter Addisen Barber orchestrated the offense to perfection. Miller’s Aleah Schlecter put down a kill to cut the lead to 10-7 but the Chargers just kept getting better as the set wore on. 

“It was a good win,” Wassenaar said. “The girls were excited and so you know every team here is going to be good so you have to come out and be ready and I thought our girls were really ready today.” 

The second and third sets were more of the same as the Chargers dominated play at the net with both their hitting and blocking. 

Tims led the way with 17 kills, one ace, eight digs and two assisted blocks. Barber dished out 28 assists and had four kills, two aces, 11 digs and an assisted block. Camdyn Mulder finished with seven kills, two digs and an assisted block while Rachel Dieleman assisted with five blocks and a solo block. Aubrie VanBeek added two kills and four digs while Jayla Overman chipped in with two kills, five digs and three assisted blocks. 

The quality of play was unmistakable as the Chargers laid the first brick on what they hope might be an eighth consecutive state championship. 

“We played with a lot of confidence today,” Wassenaar said. “We played at a really high level and that is really good as we go deeper into the tournament.”

Miller’s Aleah Schlecter led the Rustlers with five kills, nine digs and two assisted blocks. Kaihlyn Anderberg added three kills and two digs while Paige Werdel contributed four kills, three aces and four digs. Jolie Palmer led with 10 kids while Gracen Werdel had two kills, an ace and six digs. 

Wassemaar said her team is taking this tournament one game at a time. 

“We woke up on Monday and our focus was on Miller,” she said. “Tomorrow our focus will shift to whomever we are playing and we will get ready for our next match.”