District Volleyball Preview

Fairbury Lady Jeffs make it Six Wins Straight with Sub-Districts ChampionshipAfter a great first round as the Fairbury lady Jeffs swept Falls City on Monday, October 24th, rested and ready to go taking on Syracuse in the Sub-District championship.It was almost a sweep, as the first and second set went 25-23 in favor of Fairbury, the third set pushed to 24-26 in favor of Syracuse and the fourth set Fairbury claimed 25-21 to advance on to Districts as they will be taking on Gothenburg in Aurora on Saturday October 29th at 2:00.Top performances for Fairbury’s offensive attack was led by the facilitators of Deja Vocelka getting 33 assists and Allison Davis having a lucky number 13 assists and leading the finish on the passes was Emily Huss as she had 22 kills. Allison Davis reached double digit kills with 10, Hannah Robertson came away with eight kills, Alyse Petersen and Destiny Vocelka each had four and Micah Friesen contributed three to the team’s 53 kills. A handful of five aces that were served by Mikya Lierman and Allison Davis each having two aces, and Hannah Robertson with one ace.Defensively Fairbury reached the double digits as a team in blocks with Emily Huss leading the team with seven blocks, Deja Vocelka just one behind her with six blocks, Destiny Volcelka was able to get three blocks, while Hannah Robertson, Micah Friesen, and Eliza Kroeker each had one block. Behind the wall Mikya Lierman was leading the digging as she had 30 digs, Allison Davis was able to get 29 digs, Deja Vocelka had 15 digs, Alyse Petersen contributing 14 and Hannah Robertson finished with 10 digs.A great all around victory that has Fairbury rolling onward to the C1-4 District final looking to ride their six game win streak into the State tournament. D.O. pushed to the last set to claim the Sub-District ChampionshipIf there was ever an example of why sports fans have the passion for the energy sports can bring out, the D2-1 Sub-District final was perfect example of that energy to a “T”. A lively crowd in attendance that could’ve registered on the Richter scale.It was a battle from the start, but if someone had left before the 3rd set had started, it would’ve been to no fault of their own as Diller-Odell had played lights out winning the first two sets 25-19 and 25-20 with no signs of slowing down.The next two sets were a completely different story. The third set would go 24-26 with Sacred Heart Falls City fighting tooth and nail to claim the victory as D.O. gave them everything but the kitchen sink in the effort for the sweep but the effort was foiled. S.H.F.C. not only put a stop to the momentum, but took the momentum and would run away carrying that momentum into a dominant 4th set win 15-25.Evened at 2-2, D.O. was looking for answers and S.H.F.C. was wanting to keep things running. Early on D.O. would find themselves in a hole down 2-4 and eventually 5-8 before D.O.’s Head Coach Reba Hestermann called a timeout. Though things were looking bleak, from that point D.O. would fight back with three straight points to tie it at 8-8, took the lead but had only traded points to get to 9-9, would then push on to score four straight points 13-9, and then was able to hold off the last push from their opponents to win the 5th and final set 15-13.It’s worth noting, that there seemed to be a shift in D.O. during that last timeout that was used as they came back executing as their coach had wanted.Coach Hestermann was able to speak on what was said to her team in that moment as she recalled, “The biggest thing that I told our girls is that we need to come out with a positive mindset and believe that they could do it. Focusing on the little things that we could do to make the big plays. I also talked to them about that everyone has a role on the floor and to trust in their abilities and step up and use them to fight back.”A simple message that set things straight for D.O. to push their winning streak onto 11 games.After a challenge like that has been taken on, the question for D.O. is what to take away and look forward too as Herstermann was able to speak on the upcoming task of hosting Districts saying, “Takeaways from this match that I feel we can take with us the rest of the season is that we have to fight to win. We have to work hard and be discipline every single point. From point 0-25 we have to trust in our abilities that we have been working on throughout the season and execute the game plan that has been put in front of us while also keeping high positive energy.”The energy was certainly high throughout the game as the stat line of D.O. Lady Griffins performance proves it. For five sets it took a team’s effort to claim that final win and it took an all around effort to get that.Karli Heidemann after a few days of surpassing the 2,000 career milestone in kills was able to have an incredible night on both sides. As she has been leading the State of Nebraska in kills, Heidemann was able to push her lead even further as she ended the night with 30 kills, as well as serving three aces which pushed her to 2nd in the State with aces, had 17 digs, and eight blocks. Baileigh Vilda was able to get in the double digits of kills with 10, had one ace, and just missed double digits in blocks as she was a force in the front with a team leading nine blocks. Myleigh Weers was able to come away with six kills and six blocks, Berkelee Beekman was able to get two kills, one ace, one block, and reached double digits on defense with 10 digs, Ashley Duis was able to lead the team with digs as she finished with 24 while contributing two aces as well. Keira Hennerberg was able to get three kills, one block, 14 digs, and had an incredible night of passing as she finished with 43 assists.The Lady Griffins will be looking to continue this momentum into hosting again as Districts will at Odell against Exeter-Milligan on Saturday, October 29 at 4:00 p.m. Meridian Lady Mustangs Leave No Doubt Sweeping the Sub-District FinalFrom the word go the Meridian Lady Mustangs were able to dominate against Johnson-Brock. In the first set for Meridian would take the first set 25-14, the second set 25-11 and third set 25-17 in a decisive game that has Meridian marching onward to the D1-5 final as they take on Elmwood-Murdock Saturday, October 29 at 12:30.In every facet of the game Meridian was ready to go as offensively Bailey Holtmeier led the team with four aces, and the team with 17 assists. Kaira Niederklein was able to dish out 13 assists as well. Jaylee Sobotka was able to serve two aces, McKenzie Hofstetter, Kaylee Pribyl, and Jaala Stewart each had one ace for a team total of nine aces.Stewart led the attack with 17 kills, Sobotka was able to get seven kills, Schyler Schwisow came away with five, and Taelyn Filipi along with McKenzie Hofstetter each had three kills.Defensively upfront Jaylee Sobotka led the charge with two blocks and was joined in the block party with Schyler Schwisow, McKenzie Hofstetter, Bailey Holtmeier, and Jaala Stewart each having one. Bailey Holtmeier was able to lead the team in digs with 20, Kaylee Pribyl had 19, Jaylee Sobotka was able to get 17, and Jaala Stewart finished with 14 digs in what was a spectacular outing for the Mustangs. Titans Roll Into FinalsThayer Central Lady Titans pushed to five sets but claim their Sub-District to advance on to Districts as Thayer Central will take to the road to go against Oakland-Craig on Saturday, October 29th at 6:00 p.m.

Delton Fegter

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