NO. 6 FLYERS UPSET NO. 3 WOLVES TO ADVANCE TO FINAL ROUND
Why wouldn’t one of the biggest regional rivalries around produce an electric Election Night thriller?
That’s what Freeman Public and Menno treated their fans to in the second round of the Region 4B Volleyball Tournament Tuesday night, Nov. 5.
In the end, the No. 6-seed Flyers were left standing on the heels of a wild five-set affair that saw Freeman come back from 2-1 down — and a deficit in the fifth and decisive set — to upset the No. 3-seed Wolves on their home court.
Set scores were in favor of the Flyers 25-23, 22-25, 20-25, 25-15, 15-12.
The win moves Freeman to 12-15 on a season that started 2-8 and into the final round of the Region 4B tournament against No. 2-seed Parkston (19-11). That match will be played Thursday night with a spot in the SoDak 16 on the line; a location has not been announced.
As for the Wolves, their Tuesday night loss brings an end to one of the best volleyball campaigns since 2004, when Menno lost to Mt. Vernon in a match to get to state.
Menno started this season 9-3 and finishes 16-11.
First-round action
Freeman Public and Freeman Academy/Marion were both in action Monday night, Nov. 4 in the opening round of the Region 4B Volleyball Tournament, with the Flyers moving on to Tuesday’s second round and the Bearcats seeing their season come to a close.
Freeman, the No. 6 seed, had little trouble with the No. 11-seed Highlanders at home, coming away with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-15 win. The Flyers will now travel to Menno Tuesday to face the No. 3 Wolves, who drew a first-round bye. Freeman improved to 11-16; Scotland finishes its season 3-24.
Menno goes into Tuesday’s match with a 16-10 record; Freeman lost to the Wolves 2-1 at the Sanford Pentagon earlier this season before coming back to win 3-0 in its regular-season match on Oct. 14.
No. 7-seed FA/Marion, meanwhile, was upset by the No. 10 Eagles in Marion after winning the first set 25-20 Monday night. Irene-Wakonda took the next three frames 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 to pull off the upset; the Eagles improve to 6-18 on the season and will face No. 2 Parkston (19-11) Tuesday night.
The Bearcats finish their season 10-16.
