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

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.

A pair of aces by senior Emily Champion and two kills each from Logan Connealy and Maddie Burt 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.

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 Ashley Bush came up the middle and hammered home a kill.

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 Hailey Petersen ended the run.

Millard West eventually chipped away at the lead and got within 7-6 on a kill by Wayne State recruit Jordan McCormick. 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.

Mackenzie Saitta, who recently committed to Tennessee-Chatanooga, had two kills and a block late to help Elkhorn South pull away and Saitta and Rylee Gray combined for a block on match point to win it.

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 Riley Newton 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.

For Millard West, Bush finished with a match-high 16 kills and McCormick had 13. Gabi Nordaker and Jada Key each had eight. Bree Green had three aces and 26 assists for the Wildcats and Sydney Daniels had three aces and 22 assists. Jaiden Centeno and Maggie Sempeck had had 19 digs for Millard West.

Class A #1 Omaha Marian def. Ankeny Centennial 23-25, 27-25, 27-25, 25-23

Creighton recruit Emily Bressman 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.

Wyoming recruit Hailey Zuroske added 14 kills while Maddie Wiedenfeld had 12 kills and four blocks and Sarah Wing added eight kills. Setter Lily Heim had a monster night for the Crusaders, finishing with 59 assists, 13 digs and five kills.