Thursday Night Roundup: Skutt Makes Statement; Millard North Scores Upset

OMAHA – Here is a recap of the best matches and performances from Thursday night’s volleyball action around Nebraska. As a reminder, recaps and statistics can’t be included if that information has not been uploaded to MaxPreps by Noon the day after the match. Class B #1 Skutt Catholic def. Class B #2 Omaha Duchesne 25-21, 25-12, 25-20 On a night Omaha Duchesne had marked on its schedule as an opportunity to make a statement, it was two-time defending Class B champion Omaha Skutt which sent a message. Skutt refused to let the standing-room only (or, perhaps more accurately, sitting alongside the court only) crowd rattle it and controlled the match from start to finish in the sweep. A service run by Megan Skovsende helped Skutt jump to a 8-2 lead in the first set and helped set the tone for the night. Duchesne never led in the first set and led just briefly early in the second set. The Cardinals did have a lead of 8-6 in the third set but the SkyHawks answered with three straight points and never trailed again. Lily Heyne led a balanced Skutt attack with 10 kills while Sydney McDermott had nine and Lindsay Krause added eight. Delaney Saucier had four kills and 27 assists for the SkyHawks. Mayah Delgado’s nine kills led Duchesne while Caroline Ortman and Emma Worthington each had seven. Worthington also added 18 assists. Class A #8 Millard North def. Class A #2 Millard West 25-23, 24-26, 16-25, 25-13, 15-8 Millard North got 13 kills from McKenna Ruch, 12 from Allie Kerns and 11 from Eve Fountain in a five-set upset of Millard West. Paige Holdsworth had eight kills and 12 digs for the Mustangs and Emmy Grant had eight kills and 3 1/2 blocks. Millard North also got 29 digs from Madison Evans and 54 assists and 16 digs from Izzy Lukens. Class A #5 Papillion-LaVista South def. Class A #4 Lincoln Pius X 25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18 The Titans got 23 kills and 18 digs from Taliyah Flores and 16 kills and three blocks from Peyton Schendt in a 3-1 win over Pius X. Moe Bianchi added eight kills and five blocks for Papio South and Ashlyn Dierks had 12 digs. Mara LeGrand had 44 assists and 13 digs for the Titans. Class A #7 Lincoln Southeast def. Grand Island 25-20, 25-21, 25-18 Melanie Brecka had 14 kills and five ace serves and Cecily Liphardt had 10 kills to lead Lincoln Southeast past the Islanders. Maddie Renn had 22 digs for the Knights and Cassidy Plooster had 37 assists. For Grand Island, Alexa Blasé had 15 kills while Katie Ellis had 17 digs and 25 assists. Class A #10 Kearney def. Lincoln North Star 25-18, 25-13, 25-17 Kearney moved to 16-10 on the season with a sweep of Lincoln North Star. Claire Vanderbeek had 15 kills and Bailee Sterling added 13 for the Bearcats while Addie Palser had 25 digs and Adison Wood finished with 38 assists. Lincoln East def. Class A #9 Millard South 25-18, 25-12, 25-21 Erin Morgan had 11 kills and 12 digs to lead Lincoln East to an upset of Millard South. Atley Carey and Ana Thacker each added seven kills for the Spartans while freshman Brooke McCarney had 23 digs and Alex Lemke had 38 assists. Claire Larson led Millard South with 12 kills and 14 digs while freshman Kenley Montagne had 10 kills for the Patriots. Sam Steele had 24 digs for Millard South and Jaisee Stinson had 30 assists. Class B #9 Waverly def. Class B #3 Elkhorn South 14-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-11 Waverly became the first Class B team to down Elkhorn South this season as the Vikings rallied from a 0-2 deficit to win in five sets. Kelsey Perrotto had 15 kills while Bailey Jeffers added 12 and Tyza Hoos and Mollie Grosshans each had 11 for the Vikings. Eran Rose-Gronewold had 29 digs and Kennedy Vanscoy had 10 while Annika Evans added 46 assists and 19 digs. Logan Connelly had 19 kills and 19 digs for Elkhorn South and Rylee Gray had nine kills and two blocks. Riley Newton had 14 digs for the Storm and Emily Bay had 27 assists while Emily Champion had 21. Class C-2 #5 Archbishop Bergan def. Class C-1 #10 Columbus Scotus 26-24, 25-20, 25-19 After getting upset in the Centennial Conference quarterfinals last week, Archbishop Bergan bounced back with a sweep of conference foe Scotus. Haley Kempf ad 15 kills and five blocks for the Knights while Lexie Langley had 14 kills and 14 digs. Meghan Dalhauser had 17 digs for the Knights and Allie Degroff finished with 14 digs and eight kills. Allison Dieckmann had 35 assists for Bergan. Class C-1 #9 Lincoln Christian def. Class C-1 #7 Omaha Concordia 25-22, 23-25, 26-24, 10-25, 15-9 Lincoln Christian used a quick start in the fifth set to take a win over Centennial Conference rival Concordia. Taylor Pribyl led Concordia with 14 kills while Haley Alharithy had nine. Bridget Backer had eight ace serves and 18 digs while Elise Volk had a team-high 19 digs for the Mustangs. Sami Clarkson finished the night with 44 assists and eight kills. Class C-1 St. Paul def. Class C-2 #4 Centura 25-13, 25-19, 25-20 St. Paul won its second straight LouPlatte Conference championship in dominating fashion with a sweep of Centura. Hayley Fox led a balanced St. Paul attack with 15 kills while Brooke Poppert had 11, Bailey Lukasiewicz 10 and Josie Jakubowski nine. Bailey Lukasiewicz also had 23 digs while Paige Lukasiewicz added 20 and Grace Jerabek had 42 assists. Emily Krolikowski had 10 kills and three blocks for the Centurions while Brooklyn Hostetler had nine kills. Sam Simdorn had 13 digs for Centura and Amber Baldwin had 19 assists.