State Tournament Recap: Day 1

<p>LINCOLN - There were very few upsets but a lot of big-time performances on the opening day of the Nebraska state volleyball tournament. </p> <p>Here is a recap of all the crazy action from the first day.</p> <p>In Class A, Omaha Marian cruised to a first-round sweep over Lincoln Southeast behind 11 kills from <strong>Emily Bressman</strong> and 10 from <strong>Lauren Isenberg</strong> while <strong>Melanie Brecka</strong> had 11 kills and three blocks to pace the Knights. Marian will face Papillion-LaVista South in the semifinals as the Titans held on to beat Lincoln Pius X in five sets. <strong>Taliyah Flores</strong> had 25 kills while <strong>Peyton Schendt</strong> added 18 and <strong>Moe Bianchi</strong> had 10. <strong>Delaney Humm, Anna McLain</strong> and <strong>Lauren Taubenheim</strong> each had 14 kills for Pius and <strong>Morgan Christiansen</strong> had 12 and 8 blocks.</p> <p>Papillion-LaVista got 15 kills from <strong>Chloe Paschal</strong> and 12 from freshman <strong>Norah Sis</strong> in its sweep of Millard West. <strong>Ashley Bush</strong> led the Wildcats with 11 kills while <strong>Jada Key</strong> and freshman <strong>Elise Gilroy</strong> each had eight. Millard North finished the night with a 3-1 win over Lincoln Southwest. <strong>Eve Fountain</strong> led the defending state champs with 18 kills and <strong>Emmy Grant</strong> had 11 to go with eight blocks. <strong>Jaden Ferguson</strong> led Southwest with 11 kills. </p> <p>In Class B, we have recap stories on the last two matches of the night, but in the first quarterfinals, Omaha Duchesne swept Seward behind 11 kills from <strong>Julianna Kalil</strong> and 10 from <strong>Mayah Delgado-Walker</strong>. <strong>Camryn Opfer</strong> had 11 kills for the Bluejays. Grand Island Northwest swept Ralston in the other quarterfinal match behind 12 kills and four blocks from <strong>Kennedy Hovie</strong> while<strong> Taylor Skiles</strong> led Ralston with 12 kills.</p> <p>In Class C-1, Lincoln Lutheran swept Ord behind 22 kills from <strong>Marriah Buss</strong> while Grand Island Central Catholic got 25 kills from <strong>Megan Woods</strong> in a 3-1 win over defending Class C-1 champs Omaha Concordia. <strong>Taylor Pribyl</strong> had 22 kills for the Mustangs. In the other quarterfinals, North Bend defeated Malcolm 3-1 behind 19 kills from <strong>Brooke Frederickson</strong> and 18 from <strong>Kristin Lux</strong>. <strong>Jaela Zimmerman</strong> led Malcolm with 25 kills. Meanwhile <strong>Madilyn Larson</strong> and <strong>Elly Larson</strong> each had 13 kills for Wahoo in its sweep of Minden. <strong>Jensen Rowse</strong> led the Whippets with 13 kills. </p> <p>In Class C-2, top seeds Stanton and Hartington Cedar Catholic each advanced while Superior upset Centura behind 32 kills from <strong>Kalynn Meyer</strong> and Nebraska Christian downed Ponca. </p> <p>In D-1, BDS got past Clarkson-Leigh while two-time defending champion Johnson-Brock swept Bertrand behind 19 kills from <strong>Fallon Stutheit</strong> while Meridian swept Elkhorn Valley and Blue Hill downed Heartland in four sets.</p> <p>Exeter-Milligan got 28 kills from <strong>Katherine White</strong> to knock off Mead in five sets in Class D-2 while Hyannis defeated 3-1. Ewing swept Mullen and Humphrey St. Francis defeated Red Cloud in five sets.</p>