Thursday Night Roundup: Skutt Sweeps Shamrocks, HAC Final Set

OMAHA – Columbus Scotus has pulled off a couple high profile upsets this year, but Skutt Catholic made sure the Skyhawks wouldn’t be the next victim on its senior night.

Skutt Catholic used a balanced offensive attack en route to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-14 win over Scotus. Skutt improved to 26-8 with the win while Scotus fell to 16-10.

Freshman Nebraska recruit Lindsay Krause led the Skyhawks with 11 kills while Lily Heyne added nine kills and six blocks and Megan Skovsende had nine kills and three aces. Sydney McDermott finished the night with five kills.

For Columbus Scotus, which owns wins over teams like Grand Island Central Catholic, Lincoln Lutheran and Stanton, Elley Beaver led the way with seven kills and three aces. Bailey Lehr had five kills and Courtney Kosch and Shania Borchers each had four.

Scotus will next be in action in the Class C1-6 subdistrict tournament next week with its semifinal opponent most likely to be David City Aquinas. Skutt Catholic competes this weekend in the River Cities Conference Tournament. 

Class A #2 Lincoln Southwest def. Class A #10 Grand Island 25-14, 25-22, 25-8

Lincoln Southwest got 16 kills from Jaden Ferguson and dive apiece from Taytem Coleman, Caitlin Dirks and Paige Silverberg in its win over Grand Island in the semifinals of the Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament. Callie Kohl added four ace serve from the Silver Hawks and Katie Siefkes had 13 digs while Rachel Walker had 32 assists.

Alexa Blasé led Grand Island with 12 kills and Sydney Wald had six. Haleigh Hoos had 18 digs for the Islanders and Katie Ellis had 22 assists.

Class A #8 Lincoln Southeast def. Lincoln East 25-19, 25-22, 25-16

Melanie Brecka had 17 kills while Lincoln Southeast also got nine from both Cecily Liphardt and Brittany Wulf to defeat Lincoln East in the semifinals of the Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament. Maddie Renn added 15 digs for the Knights and Cassidy Plooster had 29 assists and 17 digs.

For Lincoln East, Erin Morgan had 11 kills while Atley Carey, Brooke Peltz and Ana Thacker each added five. Brooke McCartney added a team-high 11 digs for the Spartans and Harley Edic had 28 assists.

Class A #7 Lincoln Pius X def. Class B #5 Grand Island Northwest 29-31, 25-23, 25-16, 25-11

The Thunderbolts rebounded after a tough loss in the first set behind 16 kills each from Delaney Humm and Anna McLain while Carly Rodaway added 13 and Morgan Christiansen added 10 in the win over Grand Island Northwest.

Lindsay Nottlemann added four aces and 42 digs for Pius X and Gracie Gokie had 56 assists.

Kennedy Hovie had 10 kills to lead Northwest while Whitney Jensen had nine. Megan Bartz had four ace serves and Taryn Mayfield had a team-high 19 digs. Bartz also had 21 assists and Sydney Simmons added 13 for the Vikings.

Class B #7 Waverly def. Class B #10 Bennington 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 15-13

Waverly scored the final two points of the fifth set to hold off the Badgers in a battle of Class B contenders. Bailey Jeffers, a freshman, led the Vikings with 14 kills while Tyza Hoos had 13 and Kelsey Perrotto had 10. Annika Evans had 45 assists and 31 digs for Waverly and Eran Rose-Gronewold added 28 digs. 

Michaela Bartels led the badgers with 14 kills while Allie Dew and Kaysen Aksamit each had 11 and Ellie Rupprecht had nine. Bryn Stansberry had 31 digs for Bennington and Grace Jensen had 51 assists.

Class C-1 #2 Wahoo def. Platteview 23-25, 25-11, 25-17, 25-14

Elly Larson slammed 23 kills and had 14 digs to lead Wahoo past Platteview. Kyla Swanson added 14 kills, three aces and two blocks and Lillie Mann had eight kills. Morgan Marotz had eight aces and eight digs while Maddie Larson had 14 digs and Kinsley Tingelhoff had 50 assists.

Class C-2 #3 Nebraska Christian def. Broken Bow 25-20, 18-25, 25-17

Nebraska Christian remained undefeated on the season by downing Broken Bow 2-1 behind 15 kills from Claire Ostrand and nine from Katelynn Halstead. Carsyn Ostrand had 28 assists and 10 digs for the Eagles. 

Debora Crippa had 12 kills for Broken Bow and Majesty Valasek had 10. Jory Lowe had 25 digs and Kirsten Staab had 26 assists for the Indians. 

Class C-2 #1 Hartington Cedar Catholic def. Wayne 25-19, 25-19, 25-11

Jada Cattau had 13 kills to pace Hartington Cedar Catholic to a sweep of Wayne. Anna Reifenrath added seven kills for the Trojans while Maddie Wieseler had seven blocks and Brianna Miller added 4 1/2. Madalyn Arens had 14 digs and Ashley Hamilton added 13 digs with a team-high 18 assists.

Freshman Lauren Pick led Wayne with nine kills and Kylie Hammer added six. Ashton Boyer had 13 digs and Allyson Avery added 21 assists.

Class C-2 #2 Stanton def. Class C-1 #1 North Bend 25-16, 25-21

Stanton got 10 kills apiece from Bree Burtwistle and Jessie Brandl while Hannah Heppner added nine as the Mustangs defeated previously unbeaten North Bend in straight sets.

Jaiden Hartl had a team-best nine digs and Jasmine Kment had eight for Stanton while Burtwistle added 15 assists and Makenna Espinoza had 13.

Class C-1 #10 Omaha Concordia def. Class C-2 #5 Archbishop Bergan 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 25-19

Jacksonville State recruit Taylor Pribyl tied a career high with 19 kills and Haley Alharithy added 10 as the Mustangs defeated Centennial Conference foe Bergan in four sets.

Gabby Armour and Elise Volk each added eight kills for Concordia while Bridget Backer had 18 digs and Sami Clarkson had 55 assists and 11 digs.

For Bergan, Lexie Langley had 17 kills and Haley Kempf added 12. Freshman Lauren Baker added eight kills for the Knights. Allie DeGroff had five aces and Meghan Dahlhauser had a match-best 21 digs. Allison Dieckmann had 36 assists.