WINNER, SD — For a team that is consistently in the Class A SoDak 16, it might seem strange to call this a bounce-back season for Winner High School volleyball.

But this season has been much closer to expectations for the Warriors under coach Jaime Keizer, as Winner has 18 wins and is aiming for solid positioning for a top seed heading into the playoffs.

Keizer said the turnaround starts with the team’s six seniors, who have steered the team in the right direction heading into the 2024 campaign. The winner is 18-5 this season and ranks 10th overall in the team standings. Class A seed points as of Oct. 24, which is also first in Region 7A.

“They have a great desire to win, they worked a lot this summer,” Keizer said. “I think the team was just a little tired of losing and wanted to bring the tradition of Winner volleyball back to where it was. The seniors know it’s their year and they wanted to do it, so it really started this summer and they empowered everyone and got the team to come open gyms and do the little things it takes do to improve. »

The Warriors have been a consistent SoDak 16 team in Class A volleyball, playing in the previous eight editions as a strong team in Region 7A. But after reaching the state tournament three years in a row in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the winner was the lowest-ranked team in their 2021, 2022 and 2023 SoDak 16 contests, each of which swept.

Marcus Traxler/Mitchell Republic

Each of the last two seasons ended with a sub-.500 record. Last season, Winner was the No. 15 seed with a 13-17 record, falling to second-seeded Rapid City Christian in straight sets. In 2022, Winner finished 12-20 on the year after falling to No. 1 Wagner in the SoDak 16 state qualifying round.

“We talked about it at the start of the season, the last few years we were 14th, 15th, 16th at the end of the season,” Keizer said. “It’s tough to play these teams in the SoDak 16, so we’ve really talked about it from the beginning, we have to be on our game in terms of gaining seed points. We still have a few big games coming up, including the (Southeastern South Dakota) conference tournament, which is always tough.

The SESD tournament will take place on Saturday, October 26 in Parkston. Burke is the No. 1 seed, while Winner is No. 2, with Mount Vernon/Plankinton, Parkston and Gregory rounding out the top five. The Warriors are one of two teams to beat Burke, ranked No. 2 in Class B, in a 3-0 sweep on September 3.

Senior outside hitter Keelie Kuil leads the Warriors’ hitters, with 184 total kills and 3.2 kills per set. Livvy Audiss has 152 kills to her name this season and Lilly Barfuss has 140 kills, hits a team-best .243 and has a Warrior-best 31 blocks. Cora Moss and Gracie Root lead Winner in digs with 250 and 226, respectively, while Root is the leading passer with 508 assists this season.

The Warriors have two losses to Miller, a loss to Class B No. 4 Hitchcock-Tulare Mount Vernon/Plankinton and a loss to Mobridge-Pollock, although Winner beat the Tigers on Sept. 21 in the Big Dakota Tournament.

Keizer said a few of the team’s leaders have been playing on the varsity team for a few years, so they’ve gotten a taste of what winning takes.

“They know what kind of effort is required, but sometimes it just comes down to whether you’re going to dig deep to make the play,” she said. “This team showed they can be a courageous team, which shows what they are willing to do to win.”

The regular season ends October 28 for Winner against Platte-Geddes. The Region 7A tournament will begin on November 5, with the SoDak 16 for Class A volleyball scheduled for November 12.

Marcus Traxler/Mitchell Republic

Marcus Traxler is an associate editor and sports editor for the Mitchell Republic. A past winner of the state’s Outstanding Young Journalist and 2023 South Dakota Sports Editor of the Year, he has been with the newspaper since 2014 and covers a wide variety of topics. A Minnesota native, Traxler can be reached at [email protected].