RAPID CITY - Rapid City Stevens capped its volleyball regular season by achieving the first of its early-season goals on Tuesday night.
The Raiders topped Rapid City Central in four games at Carold Heier Gymnasium - 25-23, 15-25, 25-11 and 25-19 - to win the District 4AA championship and earn a berth in the Class AA state tournament to be held next week at Sioux Falls.
"It really does feel pretty good, I'm not going to lie," Stevens head coach Josh Lien said. "But for the last two weeks, the girls have had this in their sights as Step 1. We're going to enjoy this one tonight and tomorrow we're going to go back to work."
At least one of the Raiders had decided that avenging last year's five-game loss to Central in the District 4AA championship was worth more than just a day of celebration.
"It feels great, especially for all of us seniors," Stevens' Kelly Herrmann said of winning their last-ever game on their home floor. "Last year we lost it and this year we just really wanted to win this one. We'll definitely keep this one in the back of our minds for a couple of days, but we need to remember the first round of state. That's our goal now."
The Cobblers will face the District 3AA third-place winner Huron on Friday night at Naasz Gymnasium in a loser-out game. The winner will grab another one of eight spots in the Class AA tournament.
"Now it's do-or-die," Central head coach Leslie Weber said. "We're going back home to our home court where we're very comfortable. We'll refocus and come out strong on Friday."
The Raiders jumped on Central early in the first game, taking a 17-9 lead on a their typically strong all-around attack, before the Cobblers rallied back to tie the game at 21-all. The Raiders closed out the closest game of the match on a Herrmann block, something that she and her teammates had to earn all night.
"The stats may not reflect it, but our middle blockers played a great game going up against Central's best hitters, and ultimately, one of the best in the state in Caitlin Templeton," Lien said. "It may not look like they had a lot of kills in the stats, but they had to defend the way they did tonight. It was just a great job."
The Cobblers dropped Huron in a four-game match on Oct. 13 at Central and will come in ready to go on Friday.
"We're confident that we can play well against (Huron)," Weber said. "Now we need to come out and do it."
Stevens joined Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Sioux Falls Washington and Pierre as the four district champions in Class AA to nail down spots in next week's state tournament, which begins Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Arena in Sioux Falls.
