Griffins Capture MUDECAS Title; Snap Freeman Win Streak

BEATRICE – A pair of streaks came to an end Thursday night with Diller-Odell’s 26-24, 21-25, 25-21 win over Freeman in the MUDECAS Conference A Division championship at Southeast Community College.

With the win, Diller-Odell ended the school’s conference tournament A division championship drought, bringing home the first time in a boys or girls sport. The loss also snapped Freeman’s 45-match winning streak, which was the second-longest streak in the state. The Falcons last lost in the 2013 Class C-2 state championship against Hastings St. Cecilia.

After the first two intense sets in front of a loud and near-capacity crowd, the third set started with neither team taking early control. Freeman, 12-1 and ranked #6 in Class C-2, was able to take a 15-13 lead on a kill by 6-foot-1 freshman Kayla Haynes midway through the third set, but the Griffins then went on a run to seize control.

A Madison Jurgens kill got it to 15-14 for Diller-Odell and two straight hitting errors by Freeman gave the Griffins a 16-15 lead. A Jurgens ace serve, followed by two more Freeman hitting errors and a kill by Madison Hajek put Diller-Odell on top 20-15.

Freeman made a final push and got an ace serve from Haynes and kills from Alexis Holland and Emily Lenners helped get the Falcons within 23-21. A double-hit violation and ace serve from Diller-Odell’s Paige Vitosh ended the match, however, and started the Griffin celebration. Diller-Odell, ranked #2 in Class D-1, improved to 8-1 on the year with the win.

Some untimely errors hurt Freeman in the first set as the Falcons held a 24-22 lead but were called for a net violation and had a hitting error to allow Diller-Odell to tie the set at 24-24. Katie Schultis slammed home an overpass for the Griffins and Jurgens followed with a kill to give the first set to Diller-Odell 26-24.

A 10-1 run early in the second set allowed Freeman to turn a 9-7 deficit into a 17-10 lead and the Falcons controlled the set the remainder of the way, winning 25-21 on a kill by Lenners.

Diller-Odell def. Freeman 26-24, 21-25, 25-21

Freeman (12-1) Ranked #6 in Class C-2

Alexis Holland – 5 kills, 1 ace, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Kayla Haynes – 8 kills, 2 aces, 1/2 block, 0 assists.
Katie Unvert – 1 kill, 2 aces, 0 blocks, 32 assists.
Lauren Parde – 5 kills, 0 aces, 1 block, 0 assists.
Emily Lenners – 16 kills, 0 aces, 1 1/2 blocks, 0 assists.
Tori Buhr – 0 kills, 1 ace, 0 blocks, 0 assists.

Team Totals – 35 kills, 6 aces, 3 blocks, 32 assists.

Diller-Odell (8-1) Ranked #2 in Class D-1

Madison Jurgens – 9 kills, 1 ace, 0 blocks, 11 assists.
Paige Vitosh – 6 kills, 1 ace, 0 blocks, o assists.
Madison Hajek – 5 kills, 0 aces, 2 blocks, 0 assists.
Katie Zarybnicky – 3 kills, 1 ace, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Bailey Schroeder – 0 kills, 0 aces, 0 blocks, 10 assists.
Katie Schultis – 2 kills, 0 aces, 1 block, 0 assists.

Team Totals – 25 kills, 3 aces, 4 blocks, 21 assists.