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|Sioux Falls O’Gorman vs. Sioux Falls Christian
Saturday night, October 1, 2022
I am sitting in the stands behind the scoring table in the gym at Sioux Falls Christian High School watching a girls volleyball game between the Knights of Sioux Falls O’Gorman High School and the Chargers of Sioux Falls Christian High School.
Sioux Falls O’Gorman is the two-time defending South Dakota State AA Champion. Since 2010, the Knights have won four South Dakota AA state titles, including the last two in a row.
Sioux Falls Christian is the five-time defending South Dakota State A Champion. Since 2010, the Chargers have won ten South Dakota A state titles, including the last five in a row.
These young women are superb athletes. They are clearly in top physical condition. These young women are surely among the best athletes in South Dakota high school volleyball sports.
Of course, the place is packed. Hundreds of very serious, screaming fans are here. It is REALLY LOUD in here. The students are the loudest. Their parents are a very close second.
About a hundred Sioux Falls Christian high school guys are standing tightly together in a solid pack at one end of the court.
The boys cheer their girls with very loud, very rhythmic chants and songs throughout the night.
The O’Gorman guys are standing tightly together in their own solid pack at the other end of the court.
The boys cheer their O’G girls with their own very loud chants and very clever rhythmic songs throughout the night.
The place is alive with expectation. The building resonates with energy and tension.
When the whistle blows and the combat begins, deep swooping “oohs” and “ahs” fill the air as hundreds of pairs of eyes try to keep up with the rocketing ball during long, amazing back-and-forth-hold-your-breath volleys.
The place explodes when thundering, hammering kills, and unbelievable, impossible digs, and miraculous, unreal saves are made by the warrior women of either team.
The game goes to all five sets. Each team is evenly matched, and each team is as even as it gets throughout the grueling back and forth combat. Finally, the O’Gorman girls get the win in the last set.
When the final set is over, everyone knows that the girls on each team have left everything they have on the court. These young women have played their hearts out.
The look on the faces of both coaches tells of their beaming respect and admiration for the girls on both teams.
The look on my own face, and the feeling in my heart, overflows with respect and admiration for the fight and grit of these high school girls who have just fought each other to a standstill.
Wow! Without a doubt, these young women really are among the best athletes in South Dakota.
Both teams line up in their customary long single file, each team facing the other. Every team member goes down the line, exchanging high fives with every team member of the opposing team.
Then a remarkable thing happens, which I have never seen before in my life.
The Sioux Falls Christian volleyball players and the Sioux Falls O’Gorman volleyball players gather themselves together on the court in one very large circle.
Each player stands next to a player from the other school, with their arms linked, alternating all around the circle.
With heads bowed, these young women say a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the blessing of a hard-fought game in which no one has been hurt.
After the amen, they shake hands and head off to their respective team locker rooms.
The look on my face, and the feeling in my heart, overflows all the more with respect and admiration for these young women, and their coaches, and their schools.
These young women have taught me something new tonight, and I am grateful for having been here to see it.
Smiling quietly to myself, I cannot help thinking, “It’s You again, isn’t it? I know it’s You. It’s always You. Wow. Look what You can do. Thank You my Lord, from the core of my soul.”