The Hyannis Longhorns are playing in the D2 State Volleyball semifinals Friday morning after a four set thriller in Thursday’s opening round.

The Longhorns are first up in the opening match at Pinnacle Bank Arena against the three-seed Exeter-Milligan which needed five sets to get past Mead High School, 15-9 the final in the fifth set.

Looking at E/M they’re now 25-6, but four of those losses came to the same school – Meridian – which went 29-2 in the regular season and also won their first round match at State.

If Hyannis wins this morning (8:00 MT first serve) they’ll be in the D2 championship bright and early again tomorrow at 8:00.

It was a wild opener for Hyannis.  In a match that saw two sets go into extra points, the two-seed outlasted a battle-tested Elwood Pirates squad in four, 28-26, 15-25, 29-27, 25-21.

The Horns were led by a trio of attackers with double-digit kills – Jackie Schwanenebeck had 14, Mackenzie Anderson and Britney Brosius 11 each – and defensively three Longhorns had 30-plus digs.