Omaha Skutt Defeats Millard West for Invite Title
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OMAHA – There is an old saying in Nebraska that if you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes and it will change. For the Omaha Skutt volleyball team, the same could be said for how it played against Millard West on Saturday.
The #21 Skyhawks dropped a 20-25, 25-20, 25-23 decision to fourth-ranked Millard West to start the day in pool play, but finished the tournament by coming back and beating the Wildcats 26-24, 26-18 in the championship match a few hours later in the day.
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After falling in the final pool play match this morning, Skutt bounced back to defeat #9 Millard South 25-22, 26-24 in the tournament quarterfinals and then #13 Lincoln East 25-13, 25-20 in the semifinals to get its rematch with Millard West. The Wildcats, meanwhile, went undefeated in pool play to get a first-round bye in the tournament. Millard West then defeated #6 Lincoln North Star 27-25, 25-22 in the semifinals.
In the championship match, Millard West got out to a 13-7 lead in the first set on a kill from sophomore Bridget Peteren, but the Skyhawks eventually cut the lead to 20-18 on a kill buy Claire Knust. Skutt then tied the score at 21-21 on a Millard West hitting error, but the Wildcats pulled out to a 23-21 advantage on an ace serve from Jordan Daniels.
Skutt answered with three straight points, but the Wildcats tied it at 24-24 on a kill by Alexy Woodward. A service error by the Wildcats and an ace block from Skutt’s McKenna Kirkpatrick gave the Skyhawks a 26-24 win in the first set.
The second set went back-and-forth until the Skyhawks got back-to-back kills from Kirkpatrick to go up 17-13. An ace block from Millard West’s Cassidy Loberg got the Wildcats within 18-16, but Skutt then went on a 5-1 run to take a 23-17 lead on a Sydney Arkfeld kill. Arkfeld also got the match-winning kill, as the Skyhawks won 2-0.
#21 Omaha Skutt def. #4 Millard West 26-24, 26-18.
Omaha Skutt (kills-ace serves-blocks)
Claire Knust 9-0-3; Monica Hruby 1-0-0; Allison Schomers 3-0-0; McKenna Kirkpatrick 5-0-4; Alyssa Woodman 5-0-0; Sydney Arkfeld 5-0-0; Nikki White 0-0-1; Jessica Schlautman 0-2-0.
Millard West (kills-ace serves-blocks)
Bridget Petersen 5-0-1; Tiffany Wentworth 1-0-1; Cassidy Loberg 4-0-1; Alexy Woodward 4-0-0; Kira Shapiro 1-0-2; Braeden Burling 5-0-0; Jordan Daniels 0-1-0; Callahan Netsch 1-0-0.
Assists: Omaha Skutt 25 (Hruby 13, Schomers 12). Millard West 16 (Wentworth 15, Yong 1).