Southwest Conference Tournament Results

<p>The Whippets were crowned the champions of the SWC Tournament on Saturday. They did not breeze through the tournament as the eventual champions, but fought and won two tight 3-set matches and then conquered the Swedes in the final. Minden faced Cozad in the first round and narrowly escaped the consolation bracket by winning the third and deciding set 33-31. In the semi-final round, the Whippets faced Ogallala after being beat by them twice already this season. This meeting ended differently as Ogallala couldn't close out the third set and Minden prevailed 25-20. Finally, Gothenburg met the momentum-holding Whippets in the final, and could not recover after losing the first set. Minden won the championship in two sets.</p> <p>In other notable matches, Gothenburg defeated Broken Bow in the opposite semi-final match. Broken Bow's Debora Crippa then led the Indians to a three set victory with 19 kills against Ogallala for third place. As expected, the tournament was anyone's to take as games commenced Saturday morning. Momentum, toughness, and the ability to make plays in crucial times led the Whippets to the top, but narrowly, as Ogallala, Gothenburg and Broken Bow were all points away from holding championship plaque. </p> <p>Players worth mentioning:</p> <p>Minden: <strong>Jensen Rowse</strong> a leftside hitter for the Whippets had 46 kills on the day while senior middle hitter <strong>Emma Ryan </strong>had 26.</p> <p>Gothenburg: <strong>Gracie Stienike </strong>and <strong>Arleigh Costello</strong> both had 24 kills on the day as middle hitters.</p> <p>Broken Bow: <strong>Debora Crippa</strong>, leftside hitter had 46 kills on the day for the Indians and setter <strong>Kirsten Staab</strong> had 64 assists.</p> <p>Ogallala: <strong>Dianna Reed, </strong>senior leftside, had 30 kills in Ogallala's three matches.</p>