Concordia Overcomes Injuries, Illness, St. Cecilia for Centennial Crown
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OMAHA – Omaha Concordia overcame injuries, sickness and a very good Hastings St. Cecilia team to win the Centennial Conference championship for the first time in school history on Saturday.
The Mustangs, ranked #2 in Class C-1, defeated Class C-2 #2 Hastings St. Cecilia 25-23, 25-21 in the championship match of the tournament.
Concordia, now 18-1 on the season, played without starting right side hitter Rebekah Knapp. The 6-foot senior broke a rib earlier this week after coughing too hard during an illness bout. That same illness swept through a vast majority of the team this week, Concordia coach Kiley Hansen said, as a few Mustangs played in the tournament with flu and pneumonia symptoms.
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The wave of illness – combined with its top two hitters (Ohio State recruit Megan Wickey and sophomore Averey Yaksich) battling through hip injuries made Concordia look vulnerable early on in the tournament. Concordia dropped the opening set in its first-round win over Lincoln Christian as well as in the semifinal match against David City Aquinas.
Wickey and Yaksich, however, made sure there would be no first-set hole to dig out of in the championship match against St. Cecilia. A kill by Wickey – who finished with a match-high 14 of them – put the Mustangs on top 14-13 in the first set and Concordia didn’t trail again in the set.
The Hawkettes, however, made it tight several times. St. Cecilia hung close and got within 22-21 on a kill by Clare Hamburger and a Concordia hitting error. A Yaksich kill helped get the Mustangs to 24-21 in the first set, but Hamburger again led St. Cecilia back with two straight kills to get it to 24-23.
Yaksich, however, ended the first set with one of her 10 kills on the night for Concordia.
Hastings St. Cecilia, which dropped to 24-2 with the loss to Concordia, took an early 9-4 lead in the second set after a kill and block from 6-foot sophomore Lucy Skoch and a Concordia hitting error.
Concordia, however, answered with a 6-0 run to go up 10-9 and the match then went back-and-forth until a block by the Hawkettes’ Josie Prevette tied the score at 21-21.
A Yaksich kill put Concordia up 22-21 and then Wickey rattled of a pair of booming kills to get it to championship point at 24-21. The Mustangs then won the title when a St. Cecilia attack went into the net.
In the third-place match, Grand Island Central Catholic defeated David City Aquinas 25-19, 25-23. Emma Benton, an Emporia State recruit, led the way for the Crusaders with 11 kills while Jenna Eller had 10 for Aquinas. Columbus Scotus finished 5th with a 2-1 win over Wahoo Neumann and Fremont Bergan took 7th place with a 2-1 win over Lincoln Christian.
#23 Omaha Concordia def. #18 Hastings St. Cecilia 25-23, 25-21.
Omaha Concordia (kills-ace serves-blocks)
Faith Johnson 3-0-2, Megan Wickey 14-0-1, Jenna Spellerberg 0-1-1, Brooke Pickette 0-0-1, Victoria Jones 0-1-0, Sydney Clarkson 2-0-1, Abbey Claussen 0-3-0, Averey Yaksich 10-1-0.
Hastings St. Cecilia (kills-ace serves-blocks)
Clare Hamburger 11-1-0, Lil Sheehy 3-0-0, Lucy Skoch 3-0-2, Karlee Wright 0-1-0, Shanda Farmer 1-0-0, Josie Prevette 4-0-1.
Assists: Omaha Concordia 27 (Spellerberg 26, Jones 1). Hastings St. Cecilia 20 (Wright 12, Hamburger 7, Farmer 1). Digs: Omaha Concordia 32 (Bailey Paskevic 8). Hastings St. Cecilia N/A.
Grand Island Central Catholic def. David City Aquinas 25-19, 25-23.
David City Aquinas (kills-ace serves-blocks)
Kirsten Romshek 2-0-1, Allison Pokorny 2-1-0, Jenna Eller 10-1-0, Jessi Vavrina 1-0-1, Kinsey Kozisek 2-0-0, Kinzy Krafka 2-0-1.
Grand Island Central Catholic (kills-ace serves-blocks)
Emma Benton 11-0-1, Laura Lowry 1-1-0, Emily Herbek 3-0-2, Sadie Goering 3-1-0, Lauren Webb 4-1-1, Daryn Willman 1-0-1, Madison Liske 0-1-0, Chelsea Puncochar 0-1-0,
Assists: David City Aquinas 15 (Pokorny 15). Grand Island Central Catholic 20 (Lowry 17, Katie Golka 2, Jennifer Sindt 1).