Elkhorn South Upsets Millard West; Bressman Powers Marian Past Ankeny Centennial

<p>ELKHORN - Elkhorn South, ranked #3 in Class B, used a fast start in the fifth set to upset Class A #2 Millard West Monday night.</p> <p>A pair of aces by senior <strong>Emily Champion</strong> and two kills each from <strong>Logan Connealy</strong> and <strong>Maddie Burt</strong> got the Storm off to a 6-1 lead in the fifth set as Elkhorn South went on to take a 25-20, 20-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-7 win over the Wildcats.</p> <p>After a fairly even first three sets, Millard West looked like it might have the momentum after closing out the fourth set on a 9-4 run. The Wildcats then got on the board first in the fifth set when <strong>Ashley Bush</strong> came up the middle and hammered home a kill.</p> <p>Connealy answered right back with Elkhorn South and Burt added another kill in the middle for the Storm to put them up 2-1. A Champion ace and another Burt kill made it 4-1 and forced Millard West into a timeout. Another Connealy kill and another ace by Champion made it 6-1 before a kill by Millard West’s <strong>Hailey Petersen</strong> ended the run.</p> <p>Millard West eventually chipped away at the lead and got within 7-6 on a kill by Wayne State recruit <strong>Jordan McCormick</strong>. Elkhorn South, however, scored the next three points on a Connealy kill, a Wildcat hitting error and an impressive play when Burt slammed back an attempted setter dump to put the Storm up 10-6.</p> <p><strong>Mackenzie Saitta</strong>, who recently committed to Tennessee-Chatanooga, had two kills and a block late to help Elkhorn South pull away and Saitta and <strong>Rylee Gray</strong> combined for a block on match point to win it.</p> <p>Connealy ended the night with 14 kills while Saitta and Gray each had 13 and Burt had nine. Gray also added four blocks while libero <strong>Riley Newton</strong> was nails in the back row for the Storm with 36 digs. Champion had three aces and 29 assists for the Storm and Emily Bay added 22 assists.</p> <p>For Millard West, Bush finished with a match-high 16 kills and McCormick had 13. <strong>Gabi Nordaker</strong> and<strong> Jada Key</strong> each had eight. <strong>Bree Green</strong> had three aces and 26 assists for the Wildcats and <strong>Sydney Daniels</strong> had three aces and 22 assists. <strong>Jaiden Centeno</strong> and <strong>Maggie Sempeck</strong> had had 19 digs for Millard West.</p> <p><span style="color: #0000ff;"><b>Class A #1 Omaha Marian def. Ankeny Centennial 23-25, 27-25, 27-25, 25-23</b></span></p> <p>Creighton recruit <strong>Emily Bressman</strong> had one of the best matches of her career as the junior OH had 25 kills and 29 digs to lead the Crusaders to a tight 3-1 win over Ankeny Centennial, which is ranked #3 in Class 5A in Iowa.</p> <p>Wyoming recruit <strong>Hailey Zuroske</strong> added 14 kills while <strong>Maddie Wiedenfeld</strong> had 12 kills and four blocks and <strong>Sarah Wing</strong> added eight kills. Setter <strong>Lily Heim</strong> had a monster night for the Crusaders, finishing with 59 assists, 13 digs and five kills. </p>