Class D-1 State Tournament Preview, Capsules
With two-time defending champion O’Neill St. Mary’s competing in Class D-2 this season, Class D-1 is in search of a new title holder for 2015.
Considering the revolving door at the top of the D-1 rankings all year, the hunt for that champion could lead in many different directions.
The Class D-1 state tournament gets underway with a 1:30 p.m. match between top-seeded Emerson-Hubbard and #8-seed Dundy County-Stratton on Thursday at Lincoln Southeast. All first-round matches in D-1 will be played at Lincoln Southeast with the semifinals on Friday at Pinnacle Bank Arena and the championship on Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Dundy County-Stratton is making its first appearance at the state tournament as a co-op program. A trip to state seemed unlikely early on for the Tigers as they limped out to a 5-7 start to their season. Dundy County-Stratton finished has won its last five matches, the last two in heart-stopping matches. Tigers needed five sets to defeat 23-9 Leyton in the subdistrict final and then turned around and beat 21-9 South Loup in five sets three nights later in the district championship.
Emerson-Hubbard was at state last year, but did not have all-stater Kylie Belt available after she suffered a major knee injury in the district championship. Belt has come back this season and is ready to go for the Pirates heading into this state championship. The Pirates have not lost to a Class D team all season with their only two setbacks coming against Class C-1 North Bend Central – which finished the year at 23-6 – and Class C-2 Ponca, which closed out the year with a record of 25-6. Since losing to Ponca on Oct. 17, the Pirates have dropped just one set in nine matches, that coming in a 3-1 win over Ponca for the Lewis and Clark Conference title.
Johnson-Brock made it to state as a wild card thanks to its incredibly difficult schedule. The Eagles played the second-hardest schedule in Class D-1 and proved along the way they can beat anyone on any given night and are a real contender for the state title. Three of Johnson-Brock’s losses have come to Class C-2 #1 Freeman and two more have come against Diller-Odell – including in the district finals. Johnson-Brock, however, owns a pair of wins over the Griffins from earlier in the year and is 12-2 in its last 14 matches.
Much like Johnson-Brock, Howells-Dodge rarely had a night off during the season with a brutal schedule. The Jaguars return to state for the third time in the past four years after it knocked off 27-5 Cedar Bluffs in straight sets in the district final. Howells-Dodge only played 10 matches against opponents in D-1 or D-2 and the Jaguars went 9-1 in those matches and finished 14-8 in 22 matches against teams in either C-1 or C-2. The second quarterfinal of the day at the D-1 state tournament between Howells-Dodge and Johnson-Brock will be a rumble between two battle-tested teams.
Bertrand has been, perhaps, the most consistent team in D-1 all year long and current sits as the top-ranked team by Nebraska Prep Volleyball. The Vikings suffered a straight-set loss to Alma on the first night of competition but has been pretty much on a roll since then. The Vikings last lost on Sept. 17 and on the season they own wins over D-2 state qualifiers Hampton and Giltner and also swept Dundy-County Stratton and scored a 3-0 win over Lawrence-Nelson in the district finals. The Vikings lost just two sets in 10 October matches and might be the team to beat this weekend.
Heartland Lutheran is making its first appearance at the state tournament after it swept its way through all three of its postseason matches. The Red Hornets have one really nice win on the season – that coming back in mid-September against Cedar Bluffs and perhaps more impressively, Heartland Lutheran doesn’t have a “bad” loss on its resume. Heartland Lutheran dropped a pair of matches to Class C-2 power Nebraska Christian (23-5), Fullerton (19-9) and Class D-2 state qualifier Humphrey St. Francis (19-12) while also dropping a 3-0 decision to Class C-1 state qualifier Grand Island Central Catholic.
Lawrence-Nelson has all the makings of a state-championship team, but the 3-0 loss to Bertrand in the district final makes you wonder if the Raiders could get to the championship, even if it gets past Diller-Odell in the first round. Four of the five Lawrence-Nelson losses on the season have come to state-tournament qualifiers with the exception being a 2-1 loss to a good Friend team in early September. Despite some really nice wins on the year and a healthy 27-5 record, Lawrence-Nelson does not have a win on the year against the team still playing.
Diller-Odell is likely thankful to find itself on the opposite side of the bracket from Johnson-Brock as the Griffins have split four matches with the Eagles this year. The other two losses Diller-Odell got this year (against HTRS and Sterling) came in a three-day stretch when the Griffins were severely crippled with injuries and sickness. When the Griffins are healthy and on their game, teams have a hard time beating Diller-Odell, as Class C-2 #1 Freeman can attest since the Griffins handed the 30-1 Falcons their only loss of the year in the MUDECAS tournament championship.
Lawrence-Nelson Raiders
Record: 23-4
Strength of Schedule in D-1: 17th out of 57 schools
Head Coach: Michelle Harrington
Seed: 6
NPV Ranking: 2
Conference: Twin Valley
Trips to State: Making 7th appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 1
Record at State: 6-6
Team Kill Leader: Kelsey Menke, 5-foot-8, sr., MH – 272
Team Block Leader: Menke – 45
Team Dig Leader: Harlie Himmelberg, 5-foot-3, sr., libero – 454
Team Assist Leader: Alyssa Miller, 5-foot-6, sr., setter – 756
Dundy County-Stratton Tigers
Record: 20-13
Strength of Schedule in D-1: 40th out of 57 schools
Head Coach: Stephanie Williams
Seed: 8
NPV Ranking: Not ranked
Conference: Republican Plains
Trips to State: Making 1st appearance
Last Time at State: N/A
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 0-0
Team Kill Leader: Aubrey Frederick, 5-foot-10, jr., OH – 379
Team Block Leader: Grace Frederick, 5-foot-11, fresh., MH – 82
Team Dig Leader: Aubrey Frederick – 342
Team Assist Leader: Emily Jones, 5-foot-5, jr., setter – 531
Heartland Lutheran Red Hornets
Record: 25-7
Strength of Schedule in D-1: 38th out of 57 schools
Head Coach: Carli Lindeman
Seed: 7
NPV Ranking: Not ranked
Conference: Goldenrod
Trips to State: Making 1st appearance
Last Time at State: N/A
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 0-0
Team Kill Leader: Elizabeth Bergdolt, 6-foot, jr., MH – 232
Team Block Leader: Bergdolt – 115
Team Dig Leader: Sydney Schmitt, 5-foot-7, sr., OH – 250
Team Assist Leader: Claire Hiegel, 5-foot-11, sr., setter – 375
Emerson-Hubbard Pirates
Record: 30-2
Strength of Schedule in D-1: 27th out of 57 schools
Head Coach: Kendra Boden
Seed: 1
NPV Ranking: 5
Conference: Lewis & Clark
Trips to State: Making 3rd appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 1-2
Team Kill Leader: Kylie Belt, 6-foot, sr., MH – 394
Team Block Leader: Shelby Utech, 6-foot, sr., MH – 63
Team Dig Leader: Abby Drieling, 5-foot-7, sr., OH – 357
Team Assist Leader: Payton Blanke, 5-foot-6, sr., setter – 642
Howells-Dodge Jaguars
Record: 23-9
Strength of Schedule in D-1: 3rd out of 57 schools
Head Coach: Neil VanLengen
Seed: 4
NPV Ranking: 8
Conference: East Husker
Trips to State: Making 3rd appearance
Last Time at State: 2013
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 1-3
Team Kill Leader: Kalli Brester, 5-foot-7, jr., OH – 305
Team Block Leader: Samantha Brester, 5-foot-7, jr., MB – 103
Team Dig Leader: Kalli Brester – 321
Team Assist Leader: Shelby Hegemann, 5-foot-9, sr., setter – 363
Diller-Odell Griffins
Record: 29-4
Strength of Schedule in D-1: 15th out of 57 schools
Head Coach: Kandice Jurgens
Seed: 3
NPV Ranking: 4
Conference: Pioneer/Mudecas
Trips to State: Making 2nd appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 2-1
Team Kill Leader: Madison Jurgens, 5-foot-10, jr., setter/RS – 401
Team Block Leader: Madison Hajek, 5-foot-9, jr., MH – 110
Team Dig Leader: Bailey Schroeder, 5-foot-6, sr., OH/setter – 315
Team Assist Leader: Schroeder – 549
Bertrand Vikings
Record: 27-2
Strength of Schedule in D-1: 28th out of 57 schools
Head Coach: Lisa Mason
Seed: 2
NPV Ranking: 1
Conference: Republican Plains
Trips to State: Making 7th appearance
Last Time at State: 2014
State Titles: 0
Record at State: 5-7
Team Kill Leader: Mollie Kaps, 5-foot-10, sr., MH – 298
Team Block Leader: Haley Dannehl, 5-foot-9, sr., MH – 70
Team Dig Leader: Kaps – 230
Team Assist Leader: Kaitlyn Ryan, 5-foot-7, soph., setter – 702
Johnson-Brock Eagles
Record: 22-9
Strength of Schedule in D-1: 2nd out of 57 schools
Head Coach: Tera Stutheit
Seed: 5
NPV Ranking: 3
Conference: Pioneer
Trips to State: Making 6th appearance
Last Time at State: 2008
State Titles: 1
Record at State: 6-5
Team Kill Leader: Fallon Stutheit, 6-foot, fresh., MB – 280
Team Block Leader: Stutheit – 76
Team Dig Leader: Makayla Damme, 5-foot-2, jr., libero – 334
Team Assist Leader: Brynn Westenburg, 5-foot-6, soph., setter – 880