Buss and Williams Expected to Make a Huge Impact For Lincoln Lutheran  

With Marriah Buss moving to Lincoln right before school starts, and Erin Williams turning in her transfer paperwork to Lincoln Lutheran before the end of the last school year, the two should make a huge impact for Lincoln Lutheran’s volleyball team this fall. Buss and Williams have played on the same Nebraska ONE Titanium club team the last two years with Lincoln Lutheran’s setter Hope Leimbach, so the three of them together could be deadly for their class C-1 opponents this coming season.

Buss has high expectations for her new squad, due in large part to the chemistry that is already established.

“I’m expecting a lot for us since we all work together so well,” Buss said. “We have the drive to make it to state and do some big things, we just have to remember not to get side tracked and everything is God’s will.”

Williams shared the sentiment, also citing the state tournament as a goal.

“I expect a lot of positivity and determination from the team and coaches, it’s already been showed in the off season and I think that will help us have a great run to get to state,” she said.

Last year, as a freshman at Beatrice, Buss led class B in kills with 427. Williams was the starting libero at Lincoln North Star the previous two seasons, recording 393 digs as a freshman and 441 digs as a sophomore, leading the Gators as the youngest player in the starting lineup. Williams also helped Lincoln North Star make it to the district finals each year, falling to Lincoln Southeast in 2015 and Millard West in 2016.

Buss and Williams, along with Leimbach, made an impressive run during this last club season with their Nebraska ONE 16 Titanium squad. They helped their club team win the 16 USA division at the Show Me National Qualifier in Kansas City in April for the 2nd straighty year as well as helped the team finish 3rd in the 16 National division at the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships in Minneapolis this year. The team fell to top seeded Vision from Northern California in the national semifinals and Buss was selected to the All-Tournament team with teammate Fallon Stutheit.

On July 30th and 31, Buss and Williams suited up for Lincoln Lutheran at the Top 10 Camp in Kearney, playing huge roles in the team’s success. The team had the best set record out of all of the class C-1 schools, and multiple Class B wins, including one over an Aurora team that advanced to the class B state tournament the last two seasons. Lincoln Lutheran also beat Omaha Concordia, the defending state champions from class C-1.

Lincoln Lutheran coach Sue Ziegler coached the Warriors to a class C-1 state volleyball championship in 2004, then finished as the state runner-up in 2005. Now with the addition of Buss and Williams to this Lincoln Lutheran squad, Lincoln Lutheran definitely has what it takes to win the Class C-1 state volleyball championship in November this year. With Erin’s defense in the back row and Marriah’s attacking in the front row or the back row, this team could be unstoppable this year in class C-1.