YODER – Digging deep when it truly mattered, the Southeast High School Lady Cyclones battled back from a set of defeats to win a tiebreaker fifth set against the Pine Bluffs Lady Hornets on September 7 and secure a 3-2 victory in an intense five-set match.

Southeast won the first two sets, both by a 25-23 margin. Pine Bluffs turned the tables in the third and fourth sets to prevail, 25-23, in each set.

The match came down to a winner-takes-all fifth set. The Lady Cyclones rallied to control the scoreboard from the first point to game point against Pine Bluffs, 15-6.

Five intense sets

The first set established the tone for the evening in a point-for-point battle where the lead frequently switched sides. The Lady Cyclones fought back from behind to pull ahead, 24-20.

Pine Bluffs responded with three points to put a dent in Southeast’s lead, 24-23.

Pine Bluffs served the ball to Southeast senior Brooklyn Leithead. Brooklyn Leithead bumped the ball to junior Keana Llewellyn, who then set it up for junior Hadley Leithead to deliver a powerful kill and score game point, 25-23.

In the second set, the Lady Cyclones and Lady Hornets reached a stalemate at 23 points. Brooklyn Leithead slammed over a kill, assisted by Llewellyn, for point 24.

Pine Bluffs returned Southeast’s next serve. Junior libero Taylor Tregemba responded with a dig and sent the ball to Llewellyn. Llewellyn set the ball up for sophomore Brylie Booth to power over a kill and score game point, 25-23.

Pine Bluffs answered back in the third set. Southeast trailed by one or two points for most of the set, coming up short in matching Pine Bluffs in scoring and the Lady Hornets prevailed, 25-23.

The lead bounced back and forth in the fourth set. The Lady Cyclones tied the set, 23-23, before Pine Bluffs scored two decisive points to win, 25-23.

An epic fifth set

The Lady Cyclones left it all on the court in the fifth set against Pine Bluffs. Southeast established an early 4-0 lead with Llewellyn serving up four points.

Pine Bluffs scored two points, but Southeast maintained the lead with a kill by Booth and a block from Brooklyn Leithead and senior Anna Hartman.

The Lady Hornets sent the ball out responding to a serve by Tregemba. Brooklyn Leithead and Hartman each delivered a kill and Southeast remained ahead, 11-5.

Brooklyn Leithead scored point 13 with a kill, assisted by Llewellyn, before acing a serve and widening the Lady Cyclones’ lead, 14-6.

Pine Bluffs managed to return Southeast’s next serve. Sophomore Rein Coulson covered the floor for Southeast with a dig and bumped the ball to Llewellyn. Llewellyn set the ball up for Booth to slam over a kill and score game point, 15-6.

Booth set the momentum for the Lady Cyclones offense with 15 kills. Brooklyn Leithead tallied 10 kills, Hadley Leithead eight and Hartman seven.

Booth aced four serves. Llewellyn served up three aces while both Tregemba and Brooklyn Leithead posted two aces.

On defense, Hadley Leithead and Brooklyn Leithead both collected four blocks. Sophomore Haylee Ekwall contributed three blocks.

Tregemba provided solid coverage as libero with 21 digs. Llewellyn delivered 37 assists as setter for  Southeast.