Bressman’s Late Heroics Lead Elite 18 MOAB to Title

Maddie Weidenfeld of Nebraska Elite 18 MOAB hits against the block of Premier 16 Gold’s Gabi Nordaker (8) and Brooklyn Schram (4) during Sunday’s semifinal match. (Photo by Berk Brown)

Emily Bressman was named the Class A Player of the Year for 2017 by Prep Dig Nebraska and it appears the Creighton recruit is starting the club season right where she left off at Omaha Marian in the fall.

Bressman had two kills and a block in Nebraska Elite 18 MOAB’s 5-0 run to end the match as it took a 19-25, 25-23, 16-14 win over Premier 18 Gold in the championship match of the Mizuno Premier Showcase 17-18 Gold Division Tournament on Sunday in Omaha.

Bressman finished with a match-high 14 kills for Elite 18 MOAB while Kate Bilyeu of Omaha Marian added 10 kills for Elite. Sydney Fitzgibbons of Papillion-LaVista led Premier 18 Gold with 13 kills, two blocks and an ace serve while Taliyah Flores of Papillion-LaVista South had 11 kills and an ace.

North Bend’s Brooke Fredrickson – who had six kills and two blocks – delivered an ace serve for Premier 18 Gold that put it up 14-11 in the third set as the host team looked to close out the first major Great Plains Region tournament of the season.

A Bressman kill on the outside and a Premier hitting error got Elite within 14-13 and then the 5’10 Bressman came up with a huge solo block on Premier’s 6’4 Clara Lamb to tie the match at 14-14. Another Bressman kill made gave match point to Elite at 15-14 and 18 MOAB won the title on a double-contact call, although Fort Calhoun’s Rylee Marshall had a solo block on the exchange that would have won it for Elite regardless.

Fitzgibbons got off to a hot start in the first set, recording three kills and a block to help Premier take an early 4-2 lead and 18 Gold never trailed in taking the first stanza 25-19.

In fact, Premier never trailed in the match until a kill by Bressman late in the second set gave Elite an 18-17 lead. The second set would be tied at 18, 19 and 20 until Elite’s Maddie Wiedenfeld broke a 20-20 tie with a kill and Sarah Wing followed with an ace block that made it 22-20. The teams then traded side outs until Bressman’s kill at 24-23 gave Elite the second-set victory.

In the third set, Premier extended its lead from 7-6 to 10-7 on kills by Frederickson and Flores and an ace serve from Kenzie Michalek and later got it to 12-8 on a block by Fitzgibbons. Following a timeout, Bressman delivered a backrow kill for Elite and 18 MOAB then got an ace serve from Bilyeu and a combo block from Wiedenfeld and Wing to cut the Premier lead to 12-11.

A kill by Fitzgibbons and the ace by Frederickson got Premier to 14-11 before Elite rattled off the final five points.