Meridian, Diller-Odell Each Drop In Opening Round Of State

The Meridian Lady Mustangs gave a good fight but bowed out in the first round 1-3 to Maywood-Hayes Center in the first round of the state volleyball tournament last Thursday in Lincoln.Entering the state volleyball tournament the Meridian Lady Mustangs came in with a 27-4 record, and off the back of the last two games being sweeps, the momentum carried in to this was a lot.Three different win streaks in the season with the longest reaching eight games, and now on another win streak this time five games as they prepared to take on Maywood-Hayes Center in the first round of the Class D-1 State tournament. The first set a great win for Meridian taking it 25-18 with the Lady Mustangs looking like they were gearing up to run away with it early, but unfortunately the next three sets would go to their opponents 21-25, 14-25, and 21-25. Despite the results not being what was Meridian had wanted, but with her first year as head coach Brooke Wolfe had quite a year to establish as Meridian finished with a record of 27-5, were the MUDECAS tournament champions sweeping in that game, swept in the sub-district and district final and had a state volleyball team for the first time in eight years showing that for the upcoming seasons that Meridian has plenty to build off.Griffins Faced SheltonThe Diller-Odell Lady Griffins don’t go quietly into the night, but were eliminated by Shelton 1-3 in the match in the first round of state volleyball. Going into the state tournament it was D.O. having to fight off their opponents as the last two games prior to the tournament had been pushed into extra sets. The Lady Griffins at times had bent, but never broke and when the time to rise against the wave of adversity they had done it securing the victories with gusto in the sub-district and district finals.The first round of state was different story as D.O. had struggled to get in a rhythm and fell behind 0-2 in the first two sets going 11-25, and 16-25.The next set was a complete 180 for D.O. as the execution was crisp, the passes on point, and the spikes had some steam that helped them claim the third set 25-20 taking some momentum back. The fourth set, was a showdown that D.O. scratched and clawed for as they gave everything that they had, and nearly took the fourth set, but couldn’t finish the set as the score would be end with 27-29. A valiant effort to push for extra sets was to no avail as D.O. ended the season with a record of 29-6.The results not the desired ones, but another year back at state a success, along with this season having claimed the Pioneer Conference championship, and battles of extra sets in the sub-district and districts.From the first round of state with notable performances was Keira Hennerberg finishing with a 34 assists as she had great passes for Karli Heidemann who was leading the attack with 32 kills, while the duo of Baileigh Vilda and Keira Hennerberg each had four, Myleigh Weers came away with three kills and Berkelee Beekman had two. Three aces were served with one by Ashley Duis and with Baileigh Vilda who led the team with two aces being served, and defensively along with Aidan Mckinney each had contributed four blocks. One block right behind Myleigh Weers leading the team with five blocks while Berkelee Beekman, Keira Hennerberg, and Karli Heidemann each had one block as well.Next year D.O. will be returning a majority of the team but one from this year. That one is Karli Heidemann who as players go, don’t come around too often as she finished the year as the number one kill leader in the state of Nebraska with 658 in this season alone, second in kill percentage with 59 percent, and second in the aces served surpassing the 100 mark with 103.For a career, Heidemann finished with 2,112 kills with a career 54.3 percent, and served 261 aces in her career.

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