Class C-2 State Tournament Preview, Capsules
There’s a little bit of everything in the Class C-2 state tournament field in 2015. The C-2 tournament gets underway at 1:30 p.m. Thursday with a match between defending champion Freeman and upset-minded Shelby-Rising City at Lincoln Southwest High School.
The eight-team field, which will play all its first-round matches at Lincoln Southwest, features a returning champion, teams that have stumbled coming into the tournament and others that have caught fire at the right time. Here is a look at each of the eight teams.
Freeman looks to defend its title and has been solid all year long, losing only to Class D-1 title contender Diller-Odell in five sets for the MUDECAS championship in mid-September. In fact, since needing five sets to beat D-1 qualifier Johnson-Brock on Sept. 24, Freeman has dropped just one set in its 16 matches since. The are no stranger to the big stage, having defeated Crofton in the C-2 championship last year and making the finals in 2013 – which was a four-set loss to Hastings St. Cecilia.
Shelby-Rising City played perhaps its best match of the season at the most important time, beating 31-3 Stanton in the district finals in five sets. Even though this Huskies enter state as the #8 seed, they are battle tested and have proven their ability to knock off some of the top teams. Playing in the ultra-competitive Crossroads Conference, Shelby-Rising City played eight matches this year against teams in the state tournament this year and went 4-4 in those matches.
Last year, Stanton was defeated by Columbus Scotus in a district final and kept out of the state tournament despite a record of 32-2. History nearly repeated itself this year as the 31-3 Mustangs were upset by Shelby-Rising City in the district finals but Stanton was able to qualify for its first state tournament via a wild card. After cruising through most of the season at 28-1, Stanton stumbled in a triangular match with North Bend Central, falling 2-1 and dropped a set in each of its subdistrict matches. In order to get a win in its first state tournament appearance, Stanton will need to get back on the right track against a Crofton team which reached the state finals a year ago.
Graduation hit Crofton hard after making it to the C-2 championship last year, but the Warriors had a great summer camp season and entered the year as our top-ranked team. It was short-lived, however, as the Warriors started the year 7-6, making a return trip to state seem unlikely. Crofton got things turned around with a seven-match winning streak, but closed out the year with a 4-2 mark in the Mid State Conference and postseason tournaments, which included a set record of 13-10. The Warriors got their bid to state with a nice 5-set win over Elgin-Pope John in the district final and will look to recapture their state tournament mojo from a year ago.
Arcadia-Loup City has been living right in the postseason so far, which is a far cry from where the Rebels started the year. It took the Rebels most of September to get back to .500 after a 1-5 start to the season and the team sat at just 14-12 after a pair of triangular losses on Oct. 27. Arcadia-Loup City, however, finished the regular season with a sweep of Ainsworth and then got a sweep of 24-6 Amherst for its first district upset. The Rebels kept it going by beating 22-10 North Platte St. Patrick’s in five sets in the subdistrict final and then needed five sets again to upset 23-9 Hemingford for the district championship. Don’t let the 14 losses the Rebels have fool you – those losses came against teams with a combined record of 284-85 – or a winning percentage of .770.
Guardian Angels CC is looking to finally break through for a state championship this year after reaching the semifinals in five consecutive years but not being able to win it all. The Bluejays finished fourth in 2010 and third in 2011 before a runner-up finish in 2012. Guardian Angels then finished third in 2013 and took fourth place a year ago. Guardian Angels has some impressive wins on the year, including a 3-2 victory over Class C-1 state qualifier Bishop Neumann and a 2-1 win over a 22-12 Omaha Northwest team.
There might not be a hotter team in the state right now than Hastings St. Cecilia, which had to beat three state-tournament caliber teams just to reach Lincoln. The Hawkettes always play a difficult schedule and it appears it paid off in the postseason as Hastings St. Cecilia defeated 23-5 Nebraska Christian and 23-8 Doniphan-Trumbull in the subdistrict tournament before a stunning sweep of Sutton in the district final. Hastings St. Cecilia also owns a 2-1 win over Class C-1 power Columbus Scotus in the past two weeks. The huge task ahead of St. Cecilia now is having to turn around and face Sutton again in the first round of state. The two teams have played three times this year with Sutton getting the win in the first match and the Hawkettes taking the last two.
It will be interesting to see how Sutton responds to facing Hastings St. Cecilia again in the first round of the state tournament after the Hawkettes swept the Fillies in the district final. Sutton is an amazing 17-2 against fellow C-2 teams this year, but both those losses have been to Hastings St. Cecilia and the only other team to get Sutton this year has been Class C-1 power Kearney Catholic. The Fillies will look to build on their experience from last year when they lost 3-1 in the first round to eventual state champion Freeman. If Sutton is looking for a way to beat Hastings St. Cecilia in the first round of state, it could consult its own 1991 team, which scored a win over the Hawkettes in the first round of state that year.
Sutton Fillies
Record: 29-3
Strength of Schedule in C-2: 18th out of 56 schools
Head Coach: Adam Kuntz
Seed: 4
NPV Ranking: 2
Conference: Southern Nebraska
Trips to State: Making 5th appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 5-4
Team Kill Leader: Sydney Griess, 5-foot-9, sr., OH - 292
Team Block Leader: McKenna Griess, 5-foot-11, sr., MH - 63
Team Dig Leader: Kailyn Wiseman, 5-foot-4, jr., libero - 482
Team Assist Leader: Nicole Keenan, 5-foot-5, sr., setter – 865
Crofton Warriors
Record: 20-9
Strength of Schedule in C-2: 8th out of 56 schools
Head Coach: Susie Johnson
Seed: 6
NPV Ranking: Not ranked
Conference: Mid State
Trips to State: Making 8th appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 4-7
Team Kill Leader: Monica Arens, 5-foot-10, jr., MH - 315
Team Block Leader: Arens - 133
Team Dig Leader: Breanna Allen, 5-foot-4, sr., libero - 559
Team Assist Leader: Brittany Guenther, 5-foot-1, sr., setter – 397
Stanton Mustangs
Record: 31-3
Strength of Schedule in C-2: 10th out of 56 schools
Head Coach: Tracy Kuester-Burtwistle
Seed: 3
NPV Ranking: 4
Conference: East Husker
Trips to State: Making 1st appearance
Last Time at State: N/A
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 0-0
Team Kill Leader: Hiliary Huss, 5-foot-7, sr., OH - 294
Team Block Leader: Chantelle Christensen, 5-foot-10, sr., MH - 129
Team Dig Leader: MacKenzie Brandl, 5-foot-5, jr.,. libero - 715
Team Assist Leader: Huss – 429
Arcadia-Loup City Rebels
Record: 18-12
Strength of Schedule in C-2: 12th out of 56 schools
Head Coach: Dusti VanSlyke
Seed: 8
NPV Ranking: Not ranked
Conference: LouPlatte
Trips to State: Making 1st appearance as a Co-op
Last Time at State: N/A
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 0-0
Team Kill Leader: Jessica Eurek, 5-foot-10, sr., OH - 314
Team Block Leader: Sheridan Holcomb, 5-foot-10, soph., MH - 70
Team Dig Leader: Eurek - 296
Team Assist Leader: Sydney Harrington, 5-foot-6, sr., setter – 601
Freeman Falcons
Record: 30-1
Strength of Schedule in C-2: 25th out of 56 schools
Head Coach: Dani White
Seed: 2
NPV Ranking: 1
Conference: East Central Nebraska & MUDECAS
Trips to State: Making 13th appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 3
Record at State: 20-9
Team Kill Leader: Emily Lenners, 6-foot-2, sr., MH - 281
Team Block Leader: Lenners - 117
Team Dig Leader: Alexis Holland, 5-foot-9, sr., OH - 279
Team Assist Leader: Katie Unvert, 5-foot-9, sr., setter – 788
Hastings St. Cecilia Hawkettes
Record: 22-11
Strength of Schedule in C-2: 2nd out of 56 schools
Head Coach: Thera Jones
Seed: 5
NPV Ranking: 8
Conference: Centennial
Trips to State: Making 21st appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 6
Record at State: 34-14
Team Kill Leader: Lucy Skoch, 6-foot-2, jr., MH - 394
Team Block Leader: Skoch - 139
Team Dig Leader: Shanda Farmer, 5-foot-3, sr., libero - 639
Team Assist Leader: Brittany Mangers, 5-foot-4, sr., setter – 995
Shelby-Rising City Huskies
Record: 21-9
Strength of Schedule in C-2: 21st out of 56 schools
Head Coach: Sandy Voss
Seed: 7
NPV Ranking: Not ranked
Conference: Crossroads
Trips to State: Making 2nd appearance
Last Time at State: 2010
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 0-1
Team Kill Leader: Macy Stewart, 6-foot, sr., MH - 282
Team Block Leader: Emmie Noyd, 6-foot-2, sr., MH - 84
Team Dig Leader: Shaelyn Voss, 5-foot-2, sr., libero - 347
Team Assist Leader: Delaney Belt, 5-foot-6, jr., setter – 621
Guardian Angels CC Bluejays
Record: 29-2
Strength of Schedule in C-2: 4th out of 56 schools
Head Coach: Kate Hagemann
Seed: 1
NPV Ranking: 3
Conference: Mid State
Trips to State: Making 17th appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 4
Record at State: 27-14
Team Kill Leader: Madeline Knobbe, 6-foot-1, jr., MH - 337
Team Block Leader: Knobbe - 142
Team Dig Leader: Kathleen Steuter, 5-foot-8, sr., OH - 405
Team Assist Leader: Kali Stratman, 5-foot-5, soph., setter – 466
