Regan Taubenheim of Lincoln Pius X hits against the block of Papillion-LaVista South's Jessica Hendrix (10) and Moe Bianchi (6) during Thursday's first round match.
LINCOLN - After completion of the first round of the 2016 NSAA State Volleyball Championships on Thursday, we are down to just 24 teams remaining in the hunt for six state championships.
There was at least one upset in each of the six classes on Thursday, but nothing that you would consider shocking. While all six of the defending state champions are still alive, it took both Kearney Catholic and Hastings St. Cecilia five sets to advance.
Here is a recap of all the day's action in the first round. The championship semifinals get underway starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Class A
Papillion-LaVista South got the Class A schedule started with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-22 win over Lincoln Pius X.
The Titans were pretty much in control of the match the entire way and got 10 kills from Sophie Hendrix while Taliyah Flores had nine and 18 digs. Moe Bianchi had six blocks and Mara LeGrand finished with 30 assists.
Abigail Noel led Pius X with 13 kills and 17 digs while Kathleen Medill had 10 kills and four blocks. Lindsay Nottleman had a team-high 19 digs and Brittany Ohnoutka had 30 assists.
Omaha Marian started its quest for a fourth-straight Class A title with a 25-14, 25-21, 25-15 win over Lincoln Southwest.
Emily Bressman led Marian with 13 kills and Jaden Ferguson paced Lincoln Southwest with eight.
Millard North advanced to the semifinals with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-16 win over Millard West.
Elise Baumann had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs to lead Millard North while Ashley Bush had eight kills to lead the Wildcats.
In the final match of the night in Class A, Papillion-LaVista defeated Lincoln Southeast 25-10, 25-18, 25-20. No stats were available for this match.
Class B
Omaha Skutt kept its hopes for an undefeated season alive with a 23-25, 25-17, 25-9, 25-14 win over Aurora.
Kansas State recruit Brooke Heyne had 16 kills and 14 digs for Skutt while Jasa Scheierman led a balanced Husky attack with eight kills.
Fifth-seeded Omaha Duchesne knocked off #4 seed Elkhorn 22-25, 25-15, 25-23, 28-26 for the first state tournament win in program history.
Julianna Kalil had 21 kills and 10 digs for Duchesne while Lauren Edet also had a double-double for Elkhorn, finishing with 20 kills and 23 digs.
Gretna got a 25-14, 23-25, 25-13, 25-21 win over Platteview behind 23 kills from Lauren Leapley. Sabrina Starks led Platteview with 12 kills.
Grand Island Northwest got eight kills, three blocks, four ace serves, 21 digs and 21 assists from all-stater Kylie Broich in a 25-16, 25-27, 25-18, 25-9 win over Sidney.
Kelsey Knight led Sidney with 12 kills and 26 digs.
Class C-1
Malcolm showed why it is undefeated on the year by sweeping second-seeded Chadron 25-13, 25-18, 25-11 for its first state tournament win in school history.
Creighton recruit Jaela Zimmerman led the way for Malcolm with 17 kills while Alexandria Nobiling had nine to lead Chadron.
It took a miraculous comeback, but Kearney Catholic kept its hopes for a fifth-straight Class C-1 title alive with a 25-22, 12-25, 14-25, 25-12, 15-13 win over Ogallala. In the fifth set, the Stars were down 13-12 before scoring the final three points to win.
Jordan Streit and Kylie Thiele each had 14 kills for Kearney Catholic and Anna Squires added 13 and six blocks. Amanda Kroeger led Ogallala with 19 kills.
Top-seeded Bishop Neumann got 18 kills from Kelsie Cada en route to a 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 win over North Bend Central. Brooke Frederickson led the Tigers with 14 kills.
St. Paul suffered the loss of starting middle Hayley Fox last weekend and that played a significant roll Thursday as Omaha Concordia downed the Wildcats 25-14, 25-16, 25-17.
Averey Yaksich and Taylor Pribyl led Concordia with 11 kills apiece and Leslie Fox had six for St. Paul.
Class C-2
Stanton advanced to the semifinals with a 23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-15 win over Centura.
Jessie Brandl had 25 kills and 13 digs for Stanton while Emily Krolikowski had 15 kills and 17 digs for the Centurions.
Hastings St. Cecilia upset second-seeded Crofton 28-26, 14-25, 25-21, 16-25, 15-7 to keep its hopes for back-to-back titles alive. Lucy Skoch had 23 kills and five blocks for Hastings St. Cecilia and Kelsey Sanger led Crofton with 20 kills.
Doniphan-Trumbull got 16 kills and 11 digs from Makenna Niemoth to take a 25-12, 25-19, 25-19 win over Southern Valley. Lauryn Samuelson led Southern Valley with 11 kills.
Madison Jurgens had 24 kills, nine digs and 26 assists to lead Diller-Odell to a 25-18, 22-25, 25-20, 25-19 win over Harrington Cedar Catholic. Madison Wiesler led the Trojans with nine kills, 10 digs and 12 assists.
Class D-1
Guardian Angels rallied from way down in the fifth set to defeat Lutheran High Northeast 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 13-25, 15-13,
Maddie Knobbe had 26 kills and eight blocks to lead Guardian Angels while Beth Skoglund had 15 kills and 45 assists for Lutheran High Northeast.
Nebraska recruit Fallon Stutheit had 36 kills - the most of any player on the day - to lead Johnson-Brock to a 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15 win over Blue Hill.
Blue Hill was led by Kacey Allen with 14 kills and 10 digs.
Meridian got 25 kills and 21 digs from Rylee Pieper in a 19-25, 25-11, 25-12, 25-15 win over Dundy County-Stratton. DCS was led by Aubrey Frederick's 11 kills.
Liz Selting had 19 kills to lead Elgin-Pope John to a 23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-21 win over Ansley-Litchfield. Falan Ryan and Jesse Shirley had eight kills apiece for Ansley-Litchfield.
Class D-2
Cortney Arkfeld had 24 kills to lead Wynot to a 23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 15-6 win over O'Neill St. Mary's. Brianna Bauer had 16 kills for the Cardinals.
Exeter-Milligan defeated Brady 25-15, 25-18, 25-23 as the Timberwolves look to repeat as champions. Hannah Beethe had 12 kills and 13 digs for the Timberwolves while Tara Callahan had 13 kills and five blocks for Brady.
Tayler Klassen's eight kills helped lead undefeated Hampton to a 25-15, 25-10, 25-15 win over Red Cloud. Morgan Nibbe had eight kills to lead Red Cloud.
Jacie Laetsch had 21 kills to help CWC take a 25-18, 25-20, 25-19 win over Potter-Dix. Dawson Sharman had eight kills to lead Potter-Dix.
