Random Bits of History & Player Lists for 2016 State Tourney

Omaha Marian and Papillion-LaVista have now competed in the state tournament 31 times each, tying them for the record for most times in the state tournament. By making state this year, Ogallala has tied Columbus Scotus for third place on the list with 30 appearances. Grand Island Central Catholic is fifth with 29 trips.

Omaha Marian and Grand Island Northwest are each making their 16^th consecutive trip to the state tournament, which is tied for the fourth-longest streak of all time. Bellevue West (1987-2006) and Lincoln Pius X (1995-2014) each did it 20 straight years and Columbus Scotus (1989-2006) did it 18 times in a row. Kearney Catholic is making its 12^th straight trip and Ogallala is in its 11^th straight state tournament.

Among the teams in the state tournament this year, Hastings St. Cecilia and Omaha Marian have won the most state titles – with each taking home the championship seven times.

Kearney Catholic can win its fifth-straight state title this year, which is something only four other teams in state history have accomplished. Bellevue West and Shickley each won six straight state titles while Columbus Scotus and Republican Valley won five straight.

Omaha Marian is going for its fourth-straight Class A state title. Only Bellevue West has ever won that many Class A championships in a row and the T-birds did it twice, winning four in row from 2003-2006 and six in a row from 1992-1997.

If Omaha Marian reaches the Class A state final, it would tie Bellevue West for the most appearances in the Class A finals with 13 total. If Papillion-LaVista can make the Class A final, it would be the 12^th trip to the championship for the Monarchs.

Kearney Catholic has played in six straight state finals and if the Stars reach the Class C-1 championship this year, it would be the second-longest streak in state history, behind Columbus Scotus’ state-record 14 straight trips to the finals.

The last time a team from outside the Metro Conference won the Class A championship was 1998 when Lincoln Northeast defeated Papillion-LaVista 15-9, 13-15, 15-7.

No team from Lincoln has reached the Class A championship match since 2001 when Papillion-LaVista defeated Lincoln Northeast 15-10, 15-17, 15-4.

Since 1989, the Class A title has been won by one of five schools, either Omaha Marian, Papillion-LaVista, Papillion-LaVista South, Bellevue West or Lincoln Northeast.

The last Class B team to go undefeated and win the state championship was Omaha Gross during a 31-0 season in 1999.

In Class C-1, five of the last seven state championship matches have gone to five sets.

Based on what I was able to find in looking through old stats and on MaxPreps, there are at least five seniors at the state tournament with more than 1,000 career kills. There are probably more that I was unable to get stats for, but the five are:

Madison Jurgens of Diller-Odell with 1,413 (she also has 1,514 assists)
Averey Yaksich of Omaha Concordia with 1,284
Kalli Brester of Howells-Dodge with 1213
Tara Callahan of Brady with 1,163
Maddie Knobbe of Guardian Angels CC with 1035

There are 20 players in the state tournament that are committed to Division I schools. They are:

Kathleen Medill, 6-foot-1, Sr., MH, Lincoln Pius X – Air Force
Taliyah Flores, 5-foot-8, Jr., OH, Papillion-LaVista South – North Dakota
Maggie Mullen, 5-foot-4, Jr., Libero/DS, Omaha Marian – Louisville
Lily Heim, 6-foot, Jr., Setter, Omaha Marian – SMU
Sarah Wing, 6-foot-1, Jr., MH, Omaha Marian – Iowa
Emma Grunkemeyer, 6-foot-2, Soph., MH, Millard North – Iowa
Jordan Daniels, 5-foot-7, Sr., Libero/DS, Millard West – Air Force
Steph Gaston, 6-foot-5, Sr., RS, Papillion-LaVista – Creighton
Melanie Brecka, 6-foot, Jr., MH, Lincoln Southeast – Missouri-Kansas City
Brooke Heyne, 5-foot-10, Sr., OH, Skutt Catholic – Kansas State
Alli Schomers, 5-foot-11, Sr., Setter, Skutt Catholic – Missouri-Kansas City
McKenna Kirkpatrick, 6-foot-1, Sr., MH, Skutt Catholic – South Carolina Upstate
Grace Nelson, 5-foot-9, Sr., Libero, Elkhorn – Ball State
Claire Mountjoy, 5-foot-6, Sr., DS/OH, Elkhorn – Omaha
Mallory Yost, 6-foot-1, Sr., MH, Gretna – UTEP
Jaela Zimmerman, 6-foot-2, Jr., OH, Malcolm – Creighton
Hayley Densberger, 5-foot-9, Sr., DS/OH, Malcolm – Nebraska
Jadyn McCartney, 6-foot, Sr., OH, Chadron – Northern Colorado
Madison Jurgens, 5-foot-10, Sr., Setter/RS, Diller-Odell – South Dakota
Fallon Stutheit, 6-foot-1, Soph., MH, Johnson-Brock – Nebraska

The following players have not committed to Division I schools yet, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they are by the time the 2017 high school season starts next fall:

Emily Bressman, 5-foot-10, Soph., OH, Omaha Marian
Maddie Wiedenfeld, 6-foot-2, Jr., MH, Omaha Marian
Emmy Grant, 6-foot-1, Soph., MH/RS, Millard North
McKenna Ruch, 6-foot-1, Fresh., MH, Millard North
Jordan McCormick, 5-foot-10, Soph., Libero/OH, Millard West
Lily Heyne, 6-foot-1, Soph., OH/MH, Skutt Catholic
Lauren Edet, 5-foot-10, Jr., OH, Elkhorn
Emma Worthington, 5-foot-10, Soph., Setter, Omaha Duchesne
Taylor Pribyl, 6-foot-2, Soph., OH, Omaha Concordia
Kelsie Cada, 6-foot-1, Soph., OH, Bishop Neumann
Kristin Lux, 6-foot-1, Jr., MH/OH, North Bend Central
Mary Nibbe, 6-foot-2, Soph., Setter, Red Cloud

Every year you can guarantee that college coaches are in all the gyms for the state tournament, scouring the final matches of the high school season for those hidden gems. And, every year you can guarantee that coaches find them. Here is a list of players that are seniors that have not committed yet (as far as I know at least) that I think can make an impact at the next level (we’re talking NAIA, D3 & 2-Year schools here):

Maddie Krajewski, 5-foot-3, Libero, Papillion-LaVista
Aletra Long, 5-foot-11, OH, Lincoln Southeast
Nikki White, 5-foot-5, DS, Skutt Catholic
Heather Bills, 6-foot-1, RS, Elkhorn
Jaisa Russell, 5-foot-8, Utility, Gretna
Caitlin Makovicka, 5-foot-10, MH, Bishop Neumann
Carson Poppe, 5-foot-10, Setter, Doniphan-Trumbull
Makenna Niemoth, 5-foot-8, OH, Doniphan-Trumbull
Lucy Skoch, 6-foot-2, MB, Hastings St. Cecilia
MacKenzie Brandl, 5-foot-5, Libero, Stanton
Liz Selting, 5-foot-9, OH, Elgin-Pope John
Jaime Troester, 5-foot-8, Setter, Hampton
Hailey Luzum, 5-foot-6, DS, Exeter-Milligan
Taylor Coleman, 5-foot-11, Setter, O’Neill St. Mary’s

Here are a group of players that don’t get quite as much love as they deserve but will have a major impact on how things turn out this weekend:

Abigail Noel, 5-foot-7, Sr., OH, Lincoln Pius X
Mara LeGrand, 5-foot-9, Soph., Setter, Papillion-LaVista South
Kaitlin Siefkes, 5-foot-4, Jr., Libero, Lincoln Southwest
Mary Wolfe, 5-foot-11, Sr., RS, Omaha Marian
Madison Johnson, 5-foot-11, Sr., RS, Millard North
Bridget Petersen, 6-foot, Sr., MH, Millard West
Mary Martincik, 6-foot, Soph., MH, Papillion-LaVista
Megan Dobbs, 5-foot-5, Sr., Libero, Lincoln Southeast
Keri Oswald, 5-foot-8, Sr., S/RS, Aurora
Sydney McDermott, 6-foot-1, Soph., RS, Skutt Catholic
Kamryn Schuler, 5-foot-9, Soph., OH, Gretna
Payton Jung, 5-foot-10, Soph., MH, Sidney
Kelsey Placke, 5-foot-11, Sr., MH, Grand Island Northwest
Sami Clarkson, 5-foot-11, Soph., Setter, Omaha Concordia
Brooke Frederickson, 5-foot-11, Jr., OH, North Bend Central
Alexandria Nobiling, 5-foot-9, Sr., OH, Chadron
Paige Vitosh, 5-foot-9, Sr., OH/S, Diller-Odell
Jessie Brandl, 5-foot-7, Soph., OH, Stanton
Emily Korlikowski, 5-foot-11, Jr., MH, Centura
Erin Johnson, 5-foot-5, Jr., Setter, Meridian

The amount of young talent right now in Nebraska is off the charts. Here are players that are going to be mega-stars in the state in the years to come that very well may use the 2016 state tournament as their stage for bursting onto the scene: