Chester outlasts Warner in another five-setter, Flyers once again state champs

Another state ‘B’ tournament, another five-set championship match, and another title for Chester. The Flyers defeated Warner 3-2 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls on Saturday night to complete the curtain call – back-to-back titles.

It’s the third straight year that the Class B championship match has come down to Warner and Chester, but it’s the Flyers who took completed the repeat on the state’s biggest stage.

The Monarchs impressed early in the match, taking the first set 25-18, which was made possible by a 13-0 run.

“Only experience probably teaches you to remain calm, because when you lose your step that doesn’t help your kids either. They absolutely went on a 13-0 run, and it was thirteen of probably some of the worst plays we’ve maybe made all season,” explained Chester head coach Jean O’Hara. “But part of that comes with, I think, the pressure that is on your shoulders being the one seed. Everyone expects you to be here, everyone expects you to win the game, and that’s a lot for kids, so we just needed to calm them down.”

Chester did bounce back to take the second set 25-23, and then it was Warner who turned the table in the third set, 25-23. The Flyers stormed back to take the fourth set 25-15, and then went on to win the fifth set, 15-10, to secure the victory.

Flyers sophomore Jacy Wolf led the team in kills with 20. She also accumulated 25 assists on offense as well. Wolf was a big reason for Chester’s success in both the fourth and fifth set.

“[Jacy’s] a gritty kid, but boy she is just freakish in what she can do,” exclaimed coach O’Hara. “I just love that she’s in my gym and I don’t have to defend her, because she has an arsenal of things she can do and she brings her A game.”

Lily Van Hal also came up big on the offensive end for Chester with 19 kills and 25 assists. Defensively, she also had 25 digs. Van Hal mentioned how this year’s Flyers team has a no-quit attitude, even when momentum might not be on their side.

“It’s something that we work towards every year. I come from a family where we show hard work, we’re not going to give up ever, and we bring that onto the court,” said Van Hal. “We showed a bunch of resilience tonight. A group of best friends and it really just showed tonight.”

“This was really, truly a team effort. On any given night, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, we needed to use a different kid, and those kids stepped up, made plays, made things happen, and I think that’s the true essential element that you need for a full sounding team, and our kids did that,” O’Hara exclaimed.

With Chester and Warner being the top two seeds coming into the tournament on the Class B side, it felt like a real possibility that both would meet up in the title match for yet another rematch. But that didn’t mean the rest of the tournament was smooth sailing.

Warner narrowly escaped in the quarterfinal round on Thursday night in a 3-2 clash with an energized Colman-Egan team. And for Chester, Burke gave them some fits in the semifinal round. Nothing was a guarantee, but both found a way to get back to Saturday night’s main event.

Coach O’Hara mentioned how it’s a different approach when there’s a target on your back as a top seeded team.

“It is tough. It’s a lot of pressure on kids, but we try to work in these situations, so those younger kids that we had in – both [Friday] and [Saturday] – they’re doing those plays, those sets in our gym every single day, prepping for the moment that they may have to do it, and we’re happy that it paid off.”

This is the third state volleyball championship for the Chester Flyers program. They won it in 2015, 2023, and now in 2024. They’ve also finished runner-up four times since 2013.

Despite the hype, added pressure, and strong slate at the state tournament, Chester once again prevailed and can call themselves state champions in volleyball.