Key Matches This Week: Class B

Grand Island Northwest and Beatrice   Grand Island Northwest and Beatrice will start their season this Saturday at Beatrice. Grand Island Northwest has been a team who has put together powerhouse teams in the past but they haven’t been able to win a state title since 2012. They’ve came into the state tournament multiple times with a higher seed, but have been knocked out before the title match. They made it to the championship match a year ago, but fell to top seeded Omaha Skutt who won back to back titles. The Vikings want nothing more than to redeem themselves this year and finally get back to the top of class B. Beatrice lost the class B kills leader in Marriah Buss from a year ago. Buss moved to Lincoln and is now playing with Lincoln Lutheran. If Beatrice wants to have a good season they’re going to need all of their hitters to be productive in order to have a successful season. Northwest should come out on top in this match but it should be a great season opener for both teams.   Seward and Lakeview   The Seward Bluejays are coming off a 3 set win against class A Lincoln East from this last Saturday. They will be playing Lakeview on Thursday night at Seward. Seward has an extremely scrappy back row and that will be frustrating for Lakeview and other Seward opponents this season. Seward is definitely a team who can make an appearance at the state tournament this season. They already have the defense to back them up, but as long as they got some effective hitters in the front row they can thrive and have themselves a great season. Seward should for sure be a team on everyone’s radar in class B.   Aurora and York   Aurora is coming off a loss against Norris from last Thursday that went to 5 sets. Aurora will play against York at home on Thursday night. Aurora has made it to the class B state tournament the last 2 years, so you can bet that they want to make it back to state again this year. Aurora was the only team to take a set from defending class B champions Omaha Skutt last year. Aurora returns senior setter Tanner Ohlson and senior outside hitter Brooke Williams who had over 500 digs and put down 275 kills for the Huskies a year ago. York is coming off a 4 set loss to Columbus so you know they want to have a better match against Aurora. Aurora should be the one to come out on top though in this matchup.   Waverly and Ashland-Greenwood   The Waverly Vikings will start their season on Tuesday night at Ashland-Greenwood. Waverly missed the state tournament a year ago and would like to have a great start to their season. The Vikings are ranked #9 in the preseason top 10. They have scrappy defense but will need to find ways to put the ball away with their lack of size for this season. Waverly returns senior libero Adison Kerchal who had 491 digs last season. Waverly also returns setters Kennedy Vanscoy and Annika Evans. Vanscoy will be a setter to look out for this season, especially since she helped her Nebraska ONE 17 Kasai teammates qualify for the USA Girls Junior National Championships this summer in Minneapolis. Waverly and Ashland-Greenwood should put on a great first match of the year on Tuesday night.   Hastings and McCook   Hastings and McCook will both start their season at Hastings on Thursday night. Hastings made their way into the preseason top 10 despite having an 11-19 record a year ago. The Hastings Tigers not only want to make it to state this year, but they want to make it farther than ever before in the state tournament. Hastings has never made it past the first round in the state tournament in school history, but this could be their year. Hastings returns Cecilia Beahm, an outside hitter who put down 386 kills last season. She and the other three other juniors, Kamri Adler, Kyla Rickert and Hope Kohmetscher hope to make history this year, and it all begins on Tuesday night for the Tigers.