Tigers and Trojans Advance to Class D2 Semifinals - Roughriders Season Comes to a Close at NSAA State Volleyball Tournament
- Evan Jones
- Nov 6
- 6 min read
Pinnacle Bank Arena was the site for the NSAA State Volleyball Tournament on Thursday. Classes C2-D2 were in action today as Classes A-C1 had an off day. Cambridge and Dundy County Stratton took the court in Class D2 and Southwest in Class D1. Check out the blog to see how the matches shook out.
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The Trojans started their tournament run without Head Coach Lauren Carpenter on the sidelines today. Carpenter had her baby girl on Tuesday night. So while she is recovering and enjoying baby snuggles, Assistant Coach Rami Albers took over today and will also be at the helm tomorrow. Carpenter is hoping to sneak away for Saturday's match to be with the team. Congratulations to the Carpenter family!
Now, let's get into the match details! The Trojans started the match with an ace from Mallory Springer and took the early 1-0 lead over Mullen. After errors from both squads, Cambridge led 5-2. The Broncos evened the match up at 7-7, and Mullen took the lead out of the timeout, 8-7. After the two traded errors, leaving the score 12-12, Cambridge struck first, taking a 13-12 lead, and extended it to 15-12, forcing Mullen to call a timeout. After back-to-back aces from Cambridge's Kolbryn Clason to make the score 21-14, Mullen used their final timeout. Cambridge capitalized on errors and strong serving to win set one, 25-15.
In set two, errors struck again as there were six consecutive errors to start the set, with Cambridge having the 4-2 lead. Clason got the momentum going for Cambridge as she aced a serve, but Mullen wasn't going to go away. They evened the score at 6-6 before going on a little run, forcing Cambridge to call a timeout, trailing 9-6. The two went back and forth and evened the setup at 12-12. Mallory Springer had back-to-back aces, forcing the Broncos to call a timeout with a 14-12 Trojan lead. Cambridge extended their lead to 20-15 and forced Mullen to use their final timeout. The Trojans closed out set two 25-20 to take a 2-0 lead.
In set three, Cambridge came out swinging and took an early 6-0 lead, forcing the Broncos to burn a timeout early. The Trojans extended their lead to 12-3 and kept the pressure on. The Trojans had a 21-14 lead and forced Mullen to call their final timeout before they closed out the set, 25-16, to win the match in sweeping fashion, 3-0.
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For Mullen, Hayley Donohoe had seven kills, three aces, and 10 digs; Jenna Donohoe had seven kills, six digs, and three blocks; Brynne McCully had six kills; Ella Rice had four kills and six digs; Kalli Licking had 20 assists and five digs; and Harper Andersen had five digs.
For Cambridge, the Trojans were strong for the service line as they had 12 aces in the match. Brooklyn Holtze had 19 kills, five assists, nine digs, and two blocks; Mallory Springer had 13 assists, six aces, and 14 digs; Joslyn Holtze had six digs and three blocks; Elisabeth Kubik had six digs; and Kolbryn Clason had six assists, four aces, and 11 digs.
We caught up with Brooklyn Holtze after the match. Interviews are brought to you by Acme Printing Company!
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Mullen finished their season with a record of 20-11.
Cambridge advances to the semifinal on Friday morning against #2 SEM at 11:00 A.M. CT on the North Court of PBA.
Check out our highlights from the match, brought to you by Prairie Girl Candle Company!
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DCS jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Eagles pulled within one, 4-3, before the Tigers found a new gear to extend their lead to 8-3. That forced Garden County to call a timeout. DCS kept their foot on the gas, extending their lead to 15-5. The Eagles went on a little run and pulled within four of the Tigers, 18-14, and eventually within two, 20-18. DCS stayed the course and extended their lead to 24-18 before Garden County used their final timeout. The Tigers went on to win set one, 25-20.
In set two, the two squads traded points early, with the squads tied 3-3 before DCS took a 6-3 lead. The Tigers forced the Eagles to use a timeout while leading 8-4. Out of the timeout, DCS extended their lead to 15-5. The Eagles went on a little run and forced the Tigers to use a timeout with a 15-9 lead over Garden County. The Eagles eventually tied the match up at 16-16, and the Tigers took the 19-16 lead, forcing the Eagles to use their final timeout. Dundy County Stratton took the second set, 25-20, and took the 2-0 lead.
In the third set, DCS took an early lead, 6-0, and kept their momentum rolling, staying ahead, but the Eagles weren't letting them get too far ahead, staying a couple of points behind. Garden County pulled within one, 7-6, but the Tigers stayed focused and pulled away, 13-7. DCS forced Garden County into a timeout with a 16-9 lead and found a little momentum of its own. The Eagles went on a little run to make the score 23-17 in favor of DCS, but made the Tigers use a timeout to regroup. The Tigers took the set, 25-17, and the match, 3-0.
We caught up with Emily Schack after the match. Interviews are brought to you by Acme Printing Company!
For Garden County, Kirstyn Beberniss had 10 kills, six assists, 13 digs, and three blocks; Ridglyn Stanczyk had six kills, four assists, two aces, and eight digs; Natalie Coss had five assists, two aces, and four digs; Bre Yates had five digs; Chanley Loomis had seven digs; and Kenley Dehning had 10 digs.
For Dundy County Stratton, Emily Schack had 15 kills, two aces, and seven digs; Abi Spargo had 12 kills, eight digs, and five blocks; Clara Spargo had 11 kills, three digs, and five blocks; Ava Lutz had seven digs and two blocks; Lexie Yrkoski had eight digs; Kimberly Escobar had six digs; and Bree Lutz had two aces, seven digs, and 33 assists.
Check out our highlights from the match, brought to you by Prairie Girl Candle Company!
Garden County ends their season with a record of 29-4.
Dundy County Stratton advances to the semifinal on Friday morning against #1 Wynot at 9:00 A.M. CT on the North Court at PBA.
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Southwest jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before the teams went back and forth, trading points at 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5. Overton then took an 8-5 lead, forcing Southwest to use a timeout. The Eagles extended their lead to 16-10, and the Roughriders pulled within four as they trailed 19-15. Overton started to create some space as they forced Southwest to use their final timeout, trailing 23-17. The Roughriders found some late momentum as they forced the Eagles to call a timeout with a 24-21 lead. Southwest evened the match at 24-24 and again at 25-25. Overton was able to close out the set, 27-25, and took the 1-0 lead.
The second set was a lot of back and forth as they were tied at 1-1, 3-3, and 5-5 before Overton extended their lead to 9-5 and forced Southwest to call a timeout. Southwest evened the score at 10-10, 12-12, 13-13, 14-14, 15-15, and 16-16 before Southwest took the 18-16 lead and forced Overton to use a timeout. The Roughriders extended the lead to 20-17, and Overton used their second timeout. The Eagles evened the set at 20-20 and forced Southwest to use a timeout. Overton was able to find momentum and take the second set, 25-22, to take a 2-0 lead.
In set three, the two went back and forth as they traded points and were evened up at 3-3 before Southwest took an early 7-3 lead and forced Overton to use a timeout early. Overton clawed back into it and evened the set at 7-7. Southwest used a timeout when Overton took a 10-8 lead and evened the set at 18-18. Southwest regained the lead at 20-18, and Overton used their last timeout. Southwest took the third set, 25-18. Oveton led the match, 2-1.
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In set four, Southwest took a 3-1 lead, but Overton evened it at 4-4. The two quads went back and forth again as they were tied at each point until Overton took a 16-13 lead. Southwest pulled back within two, 19-17, which forced an Overton timeout. It was tied at 20-20, but the Eagles found a new gear and clinched the fourth set 25-21, then won the match, 3-1.
For Southwest, Kyra Nelms had 27 kills, seven digs, and two blocks; Anikka Nelms had 19 kills, two aces, and 16 digs; Aspen Billeter had 37 assists, three aces, and 26 digs; Alivia Cure had 11 digs; Caitlyn Adams had seven assists and 11 digs; and Bellamie Stritt had 14 digs.
For Overton, Daisy Ryan had 23 kills and 20 digs; Gracen Hughes had 13 kills, eight digs, and three blocks; Braelyn Florell had 12 kills and 13 13 digs; Halynn Hughes had seven assists, 13 digs, and two blocks; Chloe Svarvari had three aces and 25 digs; and Kyla Elfgren had 41 assists and 12 digs.
Check out our highlights from the match, brought to you by Prairie Girl Candle Company!
Southwest ends their season with a 28-6 record.
Overton advances to the semifinal match on Friday morning against #6 Shelton at 11 AM CT on the South Court at PBA.
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