On the Radar: Lincoln Northeast

We’ve seen Millard South come out of nowhere and make their way into the top 10 of the class A ratings. Now we have to look out for an emerging team from north Lincoln. Lincoln Northeast seems to be a team on everyone’s radar after their performance at the LPS Classic tournament on Friday and Saturday.

The Rockets made Lincoln Southwest drop their first set of the year in pool play on Friday night. Northeast took the first set from the Silverhawks, then dropped the next 2. I think this was a wake up call, not only for Lincoln Southwest, but for all of the other teams in the tournament.

Lincoln Northeast is extremely scrappy, and that’s why other teams in class A need to look out for them this season. Despite not making the gold bracket at the LPS Classic, Northeast proved that they belong in the top 10 in class A. Last year the Rockets went 17-20 on the year, but we can expect that they will turn it around this season.

The Rockets return sophomore Logan Gronewold, and seniors Makenna Kirk, Camden Blowers, Molly Houser and Hannah Ochsner who all played key roles for the team last year. Kirk led the Rockets last year with 399 kills as a junior. Kirk, Blowers and Ochsner all started out their club careers together through the Lincoln based Nebraska ONE volleyball club and played together through middle school and most of high school. This connection helps tremendously during the high school season. Hannah’s little sister Holly Ochsner is now the starting libero for the Rockets, so having a sister connection on the court is special for this squad as well.

Teammates Makenna Kirk and Hannah Ochsner got to end their club volleyball careers together at the USA Girls Junior National Championships in Minneapolis in July. Now they probably want nothing more than to end their high school volleyball careers together at the class A state volleyball tournament in November.

Lincoln Northeast for sure has the defense in the back row to get to state this year, now they just need to get all of their offensive weapons going on a consistent basis to beat higher ranked teams. They’re going to have to make their way through conference play first, then get through districts or get the wild card to advance to state. It’s going to be a battle for every team trying to get to state in class A this year, but Lincoln Northeast should be ready for the challenge.