FLYERS’ STRONG RUN ENDS IN 4B FINAL
Thrilling 5-set win over Menno highlights a season of vast improvement
The Freeman High School girls may have fallen one match short of the SoDak 16 with their straight-set loss to Parkston Thursday, Nov. 7, but head coach Sherrie Kafka will remember the 2024 season, not for what wasn’t, but for what was.
That is, one of challenge, adjustment, growth and — ultimately — vast improvement.
“From where we started and where we finished, it’s like having a totally different team,” said Kafka, who is in her first year as both head volleyball coach and activities director at Freeman Public. “We’ve worked so much on hitting and passing the ball and all the little things that brought us to where we ended up.”
The net result was a strong final few weeks and a thrilling rivalry game with Menno in the second round of the Region 4B Tournament last week that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Freeman’s late-season surge started the third week of October, when they took a 5-14 record and began turning it around. The Flyers won five of seven matches from Oct. 14 through Oct. 29, went into the Region 4B Tournament with 10-16 mark and as the No. 6 seed, and easily disposed of No. 11 Scotland in the opening round last Monday night, Nov. 4.
That set up a second-round rivalry match at Menno against the Wolves — a team that shares a long history and recent back-and-forth battle with the Flyers.
Last year, in 2023, Menno stunned the Flyers with a straight set win that sent the team into a tailspin, and then won again in late September at a tournament at the Pentagon.
But Freeman had the edge in its regular season match on Oct. 14, winning 3-1 and triggering its late-season run.
Given all of that, why wouldn’t one of the biggest regional rivalries around produce a five-set, Election Night thriller. And so it was.
Playing in the second round of last week’s region tournament, the No. 3 Wolves brushed off an 0-1 deficit and built a 2-1 lead on its home court, threatening to win and advance in what had been Menno’s best volleyball season in 20 years — one that produced a regular season record of 16-11 and opening-round bye.
But the Flyers battled back, staying alive by winning the fourth set to force a decisive fifth that would turn the Menno gymnasium into a high-stakes frenzy.
“I about had a heart attack,” said Kafka. “It was awesome — absolutely awesome. The fans were great, the kids were great on both sides. It was amazing.”
Freeman and Menno traded points early in the frame to the back-and-forth chants of “U.S.A.” expressed by Flyers and Wolves fans with every one of their team’s bump-set- spike routine.
Menno finally established some breathing room and momentum with an 8-4 advantage, but it didn’t last long. Freeman battled back to tie the set at 8-8 on a kill by sophomore Cadence Hofer and then took a 9-8 lead on a serve by sophomore Rylee Peters that the Wolves couldn’t handle.
And back and forth it went.
The Wolves reclaimed the lead at 10-9 and again at 11-10, and the match was tied at 12 before the Flyers rattled off the final three points of the match, including the winner — a kill from senior Savanna Timmerman that Menno couldn’t return.
“We kept talking about tenacity and coming back,” Kafka said after her team had emerged from the locker room to celebrate with family, friends and fans. “I told them in the locker room that you could have rolled over and died tonight, but you didn’t. You fought your way back, even in the fifth set. I told them how proud I was of them tonight.”
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” the coach continued, noting that improved serving, better communication and faster offensive execution late ultimately made the difference in the win over the Wolves.
Leading the way against Menno were Peters and senior Emily Mendel, who finished with 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Junior Vaida Ammann had 38 set assists and Timmerman added 20 set assists to go along with three blocks. Sophomore Claire Loofbourrow also had three blocks.
Freeman’s win moved the girls into one of two Region 4B finals — a match at Parkston against the No. 2-seed Trojans. And that’s where their season ended.
Parkston — which this year dropped from Class A to Class B — used an offensive attack that the Flyers couldn’t handle to come away with a 25-19, 25-14, 25-23 win.
In addition to the Trojans, Region 4B is represented in the SoDak 16 by No. 1-seed Gayville-Volin, which defeated No. 5 Tripp-Delmont/Armour 3-1 in last Thursday’s other region final.
Parkston, the No. 13-seed, faced No. 4 Kadoka Area while Gayville-Volin, the No. 6 seed, played No. 11 Wolsey-Wessington Tuesday night, with a trip to state on the line.
As for the Flyers, they finished their season winners of seven of their last 10 and with a 12-17 record. And they will say goodbye to a senior class that has been a big part of the program the last few years.
In addition to Timmerman — who led the team with 23 blocks — and Mendel — who was second on the team with 152 kills — the Flyers say goodbye to Ellie Andersen, libero Korie Ortman, Erica Swensen and Ella Waltner, an outside hitter who was sidelined for most of the season after suffering ligament damage in her ankle in the sixth match of the season at Centerville on Sept. 10.
But the Flyers will return their leading hitter this season in sophomore Rylee Peters, who finished with 203 kills. Vaida Ammann will return as a senior who led the way this fall with 530 set assists and was third in kills with 153.
Cadence Hofer will be back as a junior after finishing this season fourth on the team in kills with 114, and Loofbourrow will be a key player as a junior after earning a starting spot and significant playing time later this season. She ended up second on the team in blocks with 18.
Sam Fransen, a junior, also saw action off the bench this season.
