It’s becoming a tradition for the Jackson County Central volleyball team.
For the third straight year, the second full week in September will find the Huskies playing a team ranked first in the state on both Tuesday and Thursday and then hosting their tournament on Saturday.
JCC will host Minnesota Class 3A top-ranked Marshall on Tuesday and then South Dakota Class A (the middle of three classes) No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian comes in on Thursday.
The Huskies are 3-1 overall, 0-1 in the Big South Conference West Division.
The Tigers bring in a record of 8-1 overall, 1-0 in conference play. Marshall’s loss was to Class 4A No. 6 Lakeville South.
Marshall has been in the state tournament 19 of the last 21 years one has been held. There was no state tourney in 2020. The Tigers have made five straight state tourneys after an earlier streak of 14 straight from 2001-2014.
In those appearances, Marshall has won eight state championships and finished second five times.
JCC’s last win over Marshall was a 3-2 victory on the Tigers’ home court on Sept. 9, 2010. Marshall has defeated Jackson County Central 18 straight times since, six in postseason play. The teams played two regular-season matches in the COVID-abbreviated 2020 season.
Sioux Falls Christian will come to Jackson with a 12-1 record. That loss came to Iowa Class 2A No. 2 Hinton.
The Chargers have been to 16 straight state tournaments. SFC has won 12 state titles including the last six in a row.
JCC then hosts the Carolyn Hummel Invitational on Saturday. We’ll have more on that in a future newsletter.