PIERRE, S.D. – The Pierre Athletic Coaches Association (PACA) has named it’s Avera Riggs High School Athletes of the Week. Hallie Gronlund of the Lady Governor Volleyball team is joined by 4 members of the Pierre Governor Soccer Team. Frank Becker,Ethan Falcon, Clay Albon and Tyson Johnson. Below are the nominations from the athletes head coaches, Chris Swiden of the Lady Gov Volleyball team and Sean Blanchette of the Governor soccer team.
Halle Gronlund (volleyball): Halle has averaged 20 assist per game in our first three games. Halle has worked hard all off season and through her leadership we are off to a good start on the season. Halle’s leadership skills and preparation have really helped our younger players prepare for each match. I have had numerous parents from our lower level programs talking to me about how important the upper-class men have been to their student athlete. Halle’s attitude, effort and leadership have been key to our early season success.
Boys soccer: The starting back line of Frank Becker, Ethan Falcon, Clay Alban, Tyson Johnson: After a rough first half of the season conceding 26 goals our defense has rededicated itself and has put together two very solid performances. We started the second half of the season at the bottom of the table but we have shut out two opponents in a row. Rapid City Central, the #3 team in the state, had scored 20 goals in their 3 games prior to coming to Pierre on Saturday but we were able to find the net early in the game and hold off a very aggressive attack for 70 minutes to secure the 1-0 win. The Governors followed that performance up with a 0-0 shutout draw against Yankton, a top ten side. After dropping the first six games of the season, the team is unbeaten in the second half of the season. Our back line is the foundation of our defensive effort. Individual mistakes and lapses have been reduced all across the field and our back line is very cohesive and working well together to anchor what has been am outstanding defensive effort in our last two games. Defense will be our top priority for the rest of the year and our last two game results would not be possible without the high level of play from our back line.
