Patriots Get Sweep Over Surprising Omaha South

OMAHA - Millard South left Omaha South with a 25-14, 25-18, 25-20 victory over the Packers Thursday night, but the score doesn't tell the full story of what is happening at Omaha South.

The loss dropped Omaha South to 12-13 on the season while the Patriots moved to 7-10 with their third-straight win.

For Omaha South, though, pushing Millard South in all three sets was another small victory along the path to one of the school's best volleyball seasons ever. You have to go back to the 1980s to find an Omaha South team that has been this competitive and talented. The Packers' 12 wins matches the most they have ever had in a single season this century, and there is still a week left in September.

"For a girls sport to step-up and build and keep getting better and better is something that I hope to establish here," first-year coach Julianne Fant said. "I think we have a good start.

"We have to work on our girls' confidence. I think a lot of it comes down to them being confident in themselves and knowing that they deserve wins. It's a lot of fun to watch when they all come together."

Omaha South's Alicia Hogan and Jennifer Jimenez got the Packers off to a hot start in the first set with each having a kill and a block to lead their team to a quick 5-0 lead. A kill by Millard South's Madi Stearns followed by an ace serve from Allie Kerns gave the Patriots their first lead at 11-10 and it also helped kick-start a 13-1 run that saw the lead grow to 21-11 on the third ace serve of the stretch by Jordan Harre. A Kerns block ended the set at 25-14 for the Patriots.

It was Millard South that got off to a good start in the second set as the Patriots went up 13-7 on a kill by 6-foot-1 senior Maddie Price. A block by Millard South setter Jaisee Stinson made it 20-10 Millard South, but Omaha South 5-9 freshman Sasha Sinecio caught fire to bring the Packers back.

Omaha South would go on a 6-1 run with Jimenez having an ace serve and Sinecio four kills in the stretch as get to within 21-16 late. A couple hitting errors proved costly for the Packers and Stearns finished off the set at 25-18 with a kill for Millard South.

A strong defensive effort for Omaha South led by libero Leah Huerta made the third set tight the whole way and the Packers were able to tie it at 20-20 on a kill by Hogan. Stearns, however, answered with a kill and ace serve and that was followed by two kills from Kerns and a setter dump by Stinson as the Patriots took the set 25-20.

Stearns led Millard South with 11 kills and two ace serves while Kerns had nine kills a block and three aces. Paige Fixemer added five kills and Alli DeVries had four the Patriots while Stinson finished with 28 assists.

Omaha South was led by Hogan's nine kills while Jimenez added three kills and three blocks while Sinecio had seven kills. Alyssa Marsh-Contreras added four kills and Galy Barrientos had two while Wendy Sinecio dished out 22 assists and had a kill.