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Volleyball Power Rankings

September 14, 2016

Bismarck Century rolled through another week to stay locked in at number one. But watch out for the east! Two of the best teams in the state are putting together winning streaks. West Fargo Sheyenne has now won nine consecutive matches. Kalli Hegerle had 14 kills and 15 assists in their 3-0 match against Thief River Falls on Saturday and they got another sweep on Tuesday against Grand Forks Central. Grand Forks Red River just polished off a great week beating Shanley, North and South. Maggie Steffen had 23 kills in their 5 set match against North. The Rough Riders now have 7 straight wins.

There's a new number one in South Dakota, although you could make an argument for any of the top three teams to take the top spot, the Roosevelt Rough Riders move to one. The Riders lost a couple of games in Marshall Minnesota to big schools Waconia and Lakeville North but have yet to lose in South Dakota. They'll be tested on Friday night against Rapid City Stevens who remains perfect on the year. Head Coach Kylie Voorhees attributes their early season success to great blocking and serving. Elizabeth Schaefer and Cate Whiting have been standouts for the Raiders to this point. Harrisburg lost their first match of the season on Saturday to Huron. That win for Huron vaults them back in the rankings at number 4

Head Coach Shelly Buddenhagen talked about the keys to her team's Saturday upset,

"Our DEFENSE was the key on the court.  Our defense was able to get some touches early at the net vs. their big hitters and our “littles” in the back row did a tremendous job of getting the ball up and giving us a chance to get a swing or send the ball back to them.  Also, we passed the ball pretty well and were able to run an effective offense which caused chaos on their side of the net and we were able to get them scrambling a bit which affected their highly potent offense."