Titans Capture Coveted Bellevue West Invite Title

BELLEVUE – Officially, they call it the Bellevue Invitational Volleyball Tournament. What it really was this weekend, though, was the Peyton Schendt Coming Out Party.

After a freshman year spent mostly on the bench for the Titans, the 6-foot sophomore middle – who is drawing major Division I college interest – went gangbusters as a featured weapon this weekend in helping Papillion-LaVista South win the tournament title with a 25-23, 14-25, 25-22 win over Omaha Marian in the finals.

With #1 Marian holding a 18-15 lead in the third set after a kill by Crusader senior Sophia Terwilleger, Schendt had three kills and a solo block to spark a 7-1 run for the #2 Titans that put Papillion-LaVista South ahead 21-19. Elise Duryea’s block for Marian cut the lead to 21-20, but a Crusader hitting error and another Schendt kill put the Titans up 23-20.

Marian, 4-2, got within 23-21 on a Titan service error, but Schendt again blistered a kill to get Papillion-LaVista South to match point. An Elizabeth Loschen kill fended off the first match point for the Crusaders, but a Raegan LeGrand kill on a slide play found the floor and gave the Titans the championship.

Papillion-LaVista South, 6-0, claimed its fourth Bellevue Invitation title in six years with the victory. In the six tournament matches, Schendt finished with 45 kills while hitting .385 and added 5 1/2 blocks and 20 digs. In the championship match, she finished with 13 kills and hit .417 with two blocks and three digs. LeGrand finished the match with 10 kills and eight digs.

Senior setter Taylor Crandall operated the Titan offense to the tune of 32 assists. She finished the tournament with 162 assists, 30 digs and five ace serves in six matches.

For Omaha Marian, Sophia Terwilleger led the the Crusaders with 11 kills on .357 hitting. Loschen finished with nine kills and Kate Ruffalo played huge in the third set for Marian and had two kills and four solo blocks. Brittany Witt had a match-high 15 digs for the Crusaders. The Creighton recruit finished the tournament with 62 digs to bring her career total to 1,922, leaving her 19 digs shy of the all-time state record for digs in a career, which is held by Julianne Mandolfo at 1,941.

In the championship semifinals, Papillion-LaVista South rallied past North Platte 19-25, 25-17, 25-21 to reach the final. LeGrand had a double-double for the Titans in the match with 17 kills and 10 digs. Marian reached the finals with a 22-25, 25-23, 25-12 win over Papillion-LaVista. Loschen had 12 kills in the match and Duryea had nine.

In the third place match, North Platte defeated Papillion LaVista 25-21, 25-23 and in the fifth-place match, Omaha Skutt beat Western Christian of Iowa 25-14, 25-23.