RAYMOND – Freeman wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to need a wild card to get into the state tournament this year, and the Falcons accomplished just that in the Class C2-1 district final Friday night.
After climbing out of a 3-0 hole to take a 5-4 lead early in the first set, Freeman never trailed at any point the rest of the night en route to a 25-18, 25-15, 25-11 win over Fremont Bergan at Raymond Central High School.
With the win, Freeman improved to 30-0 on the season and will enter the state tournament as the #2 seed in Class C-2. The Falcons will face #7 seed Sutton in a first-round match at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Lincoln Southwest. Fremont Bergan finishes its season at 14-20 with the loss.
Last year, Palmyra upset Freeman in subdistrict play but the Falcons got a wild card and entered state as the top seed. This year, Falcons coach Dani White said, Freeman wanted no part of a wild card and was all about winning a district championship.
“Last year, being upset by Palmyra when we played them for the fourth time that year in (subdistricts), that was gut-wrenching,” White said. “They had (winning a district title) in the back of their minds.”
Fremont Bergan came out quickly against Freeman in the first set with senior Hannah Conklin delivering aces on the first two serves of the match and the Knights went up 3-0 on a kill by Haley Kucera.
Bergan eventually got the lead to 4-2 on a kill by Chloe Kirby. Fremont then went on a 5-0 run, but a Freeman hitting error and a block by Kirby got Bergan within 7-6. That’s when Freeman senior Carley Remmers, an Ohio recruit, took over.
Remmers had three kills and two blocks during a 5-1 Freeman run that put the Falcons ahead 12-7. From that point on in the match, Freeman’s biggest challenge came from within as Bergan scored 26 of its final 37 points off of errors committed by the Falcons.
Remmers led Freeman with 19 kills and five blocks on the night while Marissa Haynes had 10 kills and two aces and Emily Lenners added seven kills and four blocks.
Kucera’s six kills led Fremont Bergan while Alexis Villwok added five.
Class C2-1 District Championship
Freeman def. Fremont Bergan 25-18, 25-15, 25-11.
Fremont Bergan (kills-ace serves-blocks)
Hannah Conklin 1-2-0, Haley Kucera 6-0-0, Chloe Kirby 1-1-1, Alexis Villwok 5-0-0, Abby Walter 1-0-0.
Freeman (kills-ace serves-blocks)
Alexis Holland 1-0-2, Riley Dorn 2-0-1, Taylor Sugden 5-0-1, Marissa Haynes 10-2-3, Tori Buhr 0-2-0, Cassidy Mason 1-0-0, Lauren Parde 1-0-0, Carley Remmers 19-0-5, Emily Lenners 7-2-4.
Assists: Fremont Bergan. Freeman 42 (Dorn 38, Sugden 3, Lenners 1). Digs: Freeman 53 (Sugden 12). Fremont Bergan N/A (Villwok 11).
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