West Central was no match for the Dakota Valley varsity volleyball squad on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The Panthers swept the Trojans in three quick games to continue their superb season. Scores were: 25-8, 25-6 and 2510.

The competitive cheer squad for Dakota Valley travelled north to Harrisburg to perform in front of a large crowd where many schools from Class A and Class AA were gathered to compete Saturday, Sept. 24.

Saturday, Sept. 24 brought an exciting day of volleyball to the Panther varsity roster as the team was met with strong competition for all of their games at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.

The dancers of Dakota Valley showed strength and poise as they competed at yet another hard competition with fellow Class A schools, as well as larger districts in Class AA on Sept. 24 in Harrisburg, SD.

The varsity boys golf team for Dakota Valley returned to Vermillion for the second time this season for the DAK12 conference meet. It was held at The Bluffs Golf Course. “Tough winds and some errand shots gave us several big numbers on the card today,” coach Rodd Slater said. “That’s to be expected with such a young team.” Windy and hot conditions were definitely present, but the Panthers were still able to post good scores and bring home a 5th place team finish as well as some individual medalists. Sophomore Logan Collette had an impressive round of golf to score a 79 and place 11th. “We end the regular season with a lot of valuable experience going into the state region qualifiers, as well as next season,” Slater commented.

A truly fabulous day of golf was had for the Panther varsity team Sept. 26. The Dakota Valley boys putted, chipped and drove for yards to earn a 3rd place finish at regions on the Hiawatha golf course in Canton, SD. This spectacular play punched the team’s ticket for state where they will go up against some of the finest golfers around in the South Dakota High School Athletic Association’s Class A championship.

It was a close contest under the Friday night lights for the Panthers on Sept. 23 as they squared off against the Madison Bulldogs. The fans were loud and the student section lit up the stands as the theme for the evening was “GLOW!”. This meant many high schoolers and middle schoolers came to the game ready to cheer in black attire with glow stick necklaces and bracelets.

The Dakota Valley Panthers will be celebrating Homecoming Sept. 26-Oct.

A long road trip on Friday, Sept. 16 proved to be worth the windshield time as the Panther football team travelled to Millbank to take on the Bulldogs. It was a strong win for the Panthers who left the field with a 33-6 victory. “We played well in all three phases of the game against Milbank,” coach Jeff VanDenHul stated. “[It’s] a lot of fun to watch your team play hard and play as a team.” Senior Lake Kistner led in rushing with 73 yards on 5 carries. Quarterback Ethan Anema completed over 60 percent of his passes for 209 yards on the night. Anema also ran in the 1st touchdown of the game for the Panthers which started the momentum that stayed in high gear all night. Anema would go on to connect a pass to senior Jaxon Hennies in the 1st quarter for the second score of the contest. Between the pass and Hennies’ run, the Panthers blasted the last 90 yards of the field for the touchdown. Trae Piel would then complete a pass to senior Randy Rosenquist in the 2nd quarter for a 19-0 lead with 9 minutes left in the 1st half.

Tough match-ups in soccer faced both the girls and boys this past week for Dakota Valley. The girls had two contests, one was versus West Central on Tuesday, Sept. 13 and the other was versus Sioux Falls Christian on Saturday, Sept. 17. For the first match-up the Panther girls travelled to Hartford and fell short to a strong West Central squad in a 0-6 loss. It was observed that the girls played hard and the score may sound a bit deceiving as many good things were noted by the coaches and crowd. They appear to be coming together well as a team, despite being a young roster. The Sept. 17 game was an away match for the ladies and they lost 0-2 to the Sioux Falls Christian Chargers.