Takeaways From Undefeated Papio’s 3-1 Win over Millard South

<p><em><strong>Papillion-LaVista's Norah Sis attacks between the block of Millard South's Laci Abendroth (6) and Elyse Globe (9) during Tuesday night's match. (Photo by Berk Brown).</strong></em></p> <p>OMAHA - Undefeated and top-ranked Papillion-LaVista improved to 25-0 on the season with a 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 25-11 win over Class A #5 Millard South.</p> <p>Creighton recruit Norah Sis led the way for the Monarchs with 20 kills while Washburn recruit Chloe Paschal had 15 and Logan Jeffus had nine. South Dakota recruit Brooklyn Schram had 45 assists and as a team, Papillion-LaVista had 13 ace serves.</p> <p>Maddie MacTaggart led Millard South with 17 kills and Paige Fixemer had 15 and Laci Abendroth added six kills and three blocks. Sam Steele had 21 digs and Makayla Fleming had 38 assists.</p> <p>Here is a look at the three biggest takeaways from the match.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>1.) Papio's focus on being more balanced is working</strong></span></p> <p>All preseason and into the first part of the season, I talked about how Papillion-LaVista was focused this year on being more balanced offensively. Today, Papio sits at 25-0 and the undisputed top team in the state. With basically the same line-up last season, the Monarchs were 15-8 on Oct. 2. The glaring change has been its more diverse offense.</p> <p>Last season, Papio got 69.1% of its kills from Sis and Paschal. This season, the percentage was 53.2 coming into the match against Millard South. Against the Patriots last night, Sis and Paschal combined for 60.3 percent of the kills - a little higher than the season average but still well below last year's number. The emergence of Jeffus as an attacking threat and emphasis on getting more swings for Erica Broin and Morgan Hickey has paid huge dividends and it showed again last night.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>2.) Don't compare 2019 Monarchs to 2014 edition</strong></span></p> <p>It's almost unavoidable to think about the 2014 Papillion-LaVista team that went 40-0 through the regular season as the 2019 team starts to creep up on that number at 25-0. This is a completely different kind of team with a totally different kind of athletes on it. The 2014 team might have actually had more talent on it - Katie Stephens and Elena Melendez on the outside, Priscilla O'Dowd and Sydney Fitzgibbons in the middle, Steph Gaston on the right side, Jess Peters setting and Ellie McDonnell patrolling the back row. </p> <p>But as I watched the match last night unfold, one of the glaring things to me was the this group of Monarchs plays with such a calm demeanor. The 2014 squad lost only six sets all year before falling 3-1 in the state finals to Omaha Marian. That team got tight, got nervous, didn't play sure of its self when Marian came out and punched it in the gut that night.</p> <p>This Papillion-LaVista team has lost seven sets on the year and has come within a hair's-inch of getting knocked off a couple times - including being down 0-2 to come back and beat Elkhorn South. The team just seems unflappable. They never play to high and they never get low. They just move on to the next point and that just might be the most impressive thing about the Monarchs this year. Even when both the first and second sets were tight down the stretch against Millard South, the Monarchs never flinched and close out each of the set. When Millard South took the third set, the Monarchs regroup and came out and won the fourth one 25-11 - no problem.</p> <p>It really wouldn't be fair to compare 2019 Papillion-LaVista to 2014, because this is a whole new group of kids with a brand new legacy to write. This is a pretty special team that deserves to stand on its own without any comparisons. </p>