HURON — The Huron Tigers survived in five sets, defeating the Yankton Gazelles 25-15, 16-25, 16-25, 25-23, and 15-10.

The Tigers move to 4-4 with the win while Yankton falls to 1-10.

The first set looked like it would be a quick match for the Tigers against a young Yankton team, as the Tigers consistently put the Gazelles out of system, coasting to a 23-10 lead behind impressive passing and serving.

That’s when some errors began to plague the Tigers, as four hitting errors led to a 5-1 run for the visitors before Samantha Mangmoradeth slammed the ball through the block to close out a 25-15 win.

Huron would get a pair of service errors from Yankton to open the second set up 2-1, but then a combination of Huron passing and hitting getting out of sync and excellent Sophomore Gazelle outside hitter Jade Jere getting herself into the offense quickly led to a 6-1 run.

Huron brought in freshman Reagan Bischoff and she got an ace on her first serve to pull Huron within 7-5, but that’s when Yankton started a big run, using excellent blocking from Alivia Dimmer in the middle and forcing the Tigers into poor angles in their hitting and passing, leading to errors. Yankton went on a 7-0 run that featured four Huron serving or hitting errors.

Aly Davis got the Tigers’ first kill of the second set to break the run and make it 14-6, but that’s when Jere took off at the net, hitting darting balls and putting the Tigers out of set.

Huron was down 21-12 when Chloe Carr was able to get a tip kill over the blockers and Davis nailed an ace serve. A long hit by the Gazelles led to a 3-0 run for the Tigers, but they could not sustain the momentum as Yankton closed out the set with a 25-16 win.

A Jencie Goergen ace opened the third set, and the two teams went back and forth, with a pair of consecutive kills by Addyson Knight giving Huron the lead at 8-6.

Halle Wortmann dropped in two aces for Yankton as part of a 4-0 run for the Gazelles to give them a 10-8 lead and draw a timeout call from Huron coach Josh Lien.

The teams again went back and forth until 12-11, when Yankton came out of a timeout and went on an 11-1 run, with six points in a row scored on Huron hitting and system errors, two of which were calls on Mangmoradeth in the net on a block attempt or hit attempt.

Huron was able to get a pair of errors and a pair of kills from Carr, but Jere picked up her fourth kill of the third set to close out a 25-16 set victory for Yankton.

With their backs against the wall, Huron came out firing in the third set, going up 4-1 after a big swing by Aurora Dreyer. A pair of Jere kills helped spark a Yankton run to knot the score 4-4.

Mangmoradeth and Goergen connected on a quick set to the middle hitter and Carr and Dreyer followed with kills to make it 7-4 Huron.

After Goergen placed a kill into the corner, it was 10-6 and Yankton coach Tayler Stacey called timeout.

The Gazelles came out of the timeout and attacked hard at the net, pushing the Tigers out of system, causing three consecutive hitting errors by Huron as part of a 9-1 run.

Knight and Mangmoradeth took over the match for Huron at that point.

The two recorded six of seven Huron points during a 7-2 run to bring the Tigers into an 18-17 lead and draw Stacey’s second timeout of the set.

The Gazelles got a pair of points out of the timeout to take the lead back, but Mangmoradeth tipped into a vacated area by the net for a kill and then Lien surprisingly left the middle hitter in to serve. The senior rewarded her coach with an ace serve.

An excellent Yankton block made it 20-20, but a service error and a Carr kill made it 22-20. The teams traded hitting errors until Huron got Jere to hit long to close out the match 25-23.

Lien was pleased with the effort his senior middle hitter gave to help spark the team in the fourth set.

“Sam provided a bit of a spark. It’s probably her dream for me to let her do that, but she overcame some struggles with being undisciplined on the court and getting some net calls,” Lien laughed, referring to letting Mangmoradeth serve during the fourth set.

“She worked her tail off and carried us in that fourth set.”

The final set did not open well for the Tigers. After a hitting attempt sailed wide, Huron was down 6-3 and took a timeout. Huron came out strong after the timeout, getting a kill from Davis and rallying long on each point until the Gazelles made hitting errors. Three straight Yankton errors knotted the score at 7-7 and drew a Yankton timeout.

Two more hitting errors by Yankton led to Stacey using her second timeout to attempt to gather her team, but the Tigers were playing off the crowd’s momentum at that point and after a Davis ace, Huron held a 12-7 lead.

Knight broke a two-point Yankton run with a very well-placed tip and Mangmoradeth slammed a shot through the blockers to get to match point at 14-9. After Huron hit the ball into the net, Yankton returned the favor on the ensuing set to give Huron the match victory with a 15-10 set win.

Huron was led by Mangmoradeth’s 12 kills and an ace. Knight nailed nine kills and Dreyer finished with eight.

The Tigers recorded 14 service aces, led by three from Goergen. Davis, Hailey Rogers, and Madison Jurgens each had a pair of aces at the service line.

Yankton was led by a dynamic match from Jere, with 15 kills. Dimmer dominated the net, recording many of her nine kills on blocks.

The Tigers won the junior varsity match 21-25, 25-23, 15-11 but lost the sophomore match 25-19, 25-27, 16-14. The Huron freshmen split with Yankton, with the “A” squad winning 25-16 and 25-17 while the “B” team lost 25-19, 23-25, and 16-14.

Lien hopes that the effort required to come back will spur the Tigers as they head into a tough part of the schedule.

“It’s nice to see us find ourselves,” said Lien. “I was proud of our kids for digging in when it got tough.”

The Tigers will travel to top-ranked Harrisburg on Thursday.