Winner finishes as White division runner-up at Pentagon Invite volleyball tournament

Sep. 28—SIOUX FALLS — Taking four wins from five matches, Winner emerged as the runner-up from the White division at the Sanford Pentagon Invitational volleyball tournament on Saturday.

Opening with the pool play portion of the tournament, the Warriors posted 2-1 wins over Mount Vernon/Plankinton and Ethan. Once in bracket play, Winner swept Wagner, then defeated Hill City 2-1 to reach the title match.

Hitchcock-Tulare knocked off Winner 2-1 to claim the White division championship. The Patriots went 1-1 in pool play, losing to Wagner but beating Parker/Marion, before advancing past MVP and Hanson in bracket play.

Wagner fended off MVP for fifth place in the division, as the Red Raiders went 2-2 for the tournament. Hanson also finished 2-2, while Canistota was 2-3. Parker/Marion ended at 3-1, winning two matches in the lower bracket.

Elsewhere in the tournament, Platte-Geddes was the lone area representative in the Orange division. The Black Panthers went 1-2 in pool play, nabbing a win over Oldham-Ramona-Rutland. After moving on to the lower bracket, P-G defeated Mobridge-Pollock before falling to Colman-Egan.

MOC-Floyd Valley (Iowa) won the Orange division title, defeating Rapid City Christian in the final match.

In the Blue division, which featured several top teams representing all three South Dakota classes plus Iowa, Dakota Valley went unbeaten in four matches to take home the crown.

The Panthers defeated Watertown and Western Christian (Iowa) in pool play. In bracket play, Dakota Valley dispatched Dell Rapids and Chester — the No. 1-ranked programs in Class A and Class B, respectively, in last week's South Dakota Prep Media polls — without dropping a set. Against Chester in the title match, the set scores were 25-19 and 25-22.

Western Christian knocked off Dell Rapids for third place, while Sioux Falls Christian defeated Miller for fifth place.