Bellevue West Win Highlights Crazy Night Of Upsets

It was a crazy night of high school volleyball Tuesday in Nebraska. While Class A #1 Millard West was holding off #3 Omaha Marian in a classic five-set match, numerous other highly-ranked teams around the state were upset.

Unranked Bellevue West may have pulled off the biggest upset of the night. The 16-17 Thunderbirds rallied from being two sets down to take a 23-25, 14-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-12 win at #2 Millard North. The loss dropped the Mustangs to 22-10 on the season.

At the Heartland Athletic Conference, #8 Lincoln North Star defeated #6 Lincoln Southeast 25-21, 25-17, 18-25, 25-19 in the semifinals. The Gators will face #5 Lincoln Southwest for the championship on Thursday. Aspen Green led North Star with 17 kills while sophomore Sarah Allick had 11 kills and 10 total blocks.

At the same time in Lincoln, Class C-2 #1 Hastings St. Cecilia stunned Class C-1 #1 Columbus Scotus 25-20, 25-21 at the Lincoln Lutheran triangular. It was just the second loss on the season for the Shamrocks, who had defeated St. Cecilia 2-1 in the finals of the Centennial Conference tournament just two weeks ago.

Lincoln Lutheran, 13-12 and unranked in Class C-1, recorded their owner shocker with a 25-19, 25-21 win over St. Cecilia. In the other match on the night, Scotus beat Lutheran 25-22, 25-21.

Staying in Class C-1, unranked Kearney Catholic scored a 25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 25-21 win over #9 St. Paul. And in the Bishop Neumann triangular, the unranked Lady Cavaliers took a 26-24, 25-23 win over #5 Omaha Concordia. Earlier in the night, #8 Columbus Lakeview also defeated Concordia 25-16, 25-20. In the final match of the triangular, Lakeview defeated Bishop Neumann 18-25, 25-14, 25-23.

In the championship match of the Elmwood-Murdock Booster Invite, Class D-2 #5 Mead knocked off Class C-2 #2 Freeman 11-25, 25-20, 25-19. The two teams had squared off just a day earlier with the Falcons winning that match 25-20, 15-25, 25-23.

While not technically an upset, Class C-1 #4 Ogallala defeated unranked Class A North Platte in a grueling 28-30, 12-25, 25-13, 25-23, 15-10 match.  That win also makes Class C-1 schools 9-1 on the season against Class A teams.

Another Class C-1 school – #10 Wahoo – also scored a major victory Tuesday night with a convincing 25-15, 25-15, 25-22 win over Class B #9 Beatrice.

Last night was a prime example of the fact that with less than two weeks left before postseason play, there is much to be determined.