Round 1 - Elm Creek brings back entire team in 2020

TEAM: ELM CREEK BUFFALOES CLASS: C2 LOCATION: South Central Nebraska in Buffalo County NSAA TEAM ENROLLMENT (female, grades 9-11): 42 CONFERENCE: Fort Kearny Conference COACH: Brandi McCarter Onto the Sun Regional of the 2020 Nebraska Prep Dig Team Series is a matchup between D1 BDS and C2 Elm Creek in the first round. To hear more about your favorite team, hop over to our Twitter feed @nebhsvolleyball to vote them to the second round until 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 23! UPDATED <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/05/Nebraska-Prep-Dig-Team-Series-Bracket-4.pdf">Nebraska Prep Dig Team Series Bracket</a> As we continue through the bracket, the Fort Kearny Conference proves to house many high ranking teams that challenge each other all season long. The Elm Creek Buffaloes finished third in the conference behind Pleasanton and Overton, two state-qualifying teams. With a 19-10 record and making it to the second round of districts, the Buffaloes look to control what they can control to add more checkoffs in the win column in 2020. The statistics prove that the Buffaloes focus on the all-important serve pass game. In 2019 the ace serves record was broken three times by different players and finally held by senior Whitney Bauer at 60. Elm Creek served 91.9% as a team. In addition, four players had over 230 serve receptions and six players had over 100 digs during the season Without a senior on the roster in 2019, the entire team will return in 2020. Coach McCarter emphasizes to control what they can control, “These ladies had a very successful season last year, looking at their only losses being to some pretty impressive teams, most of whom were eventual state qualifiers. We returned a group of Juniors who have been playing together for quite a few years, going clear back to club ball, losing our strongest OH last season. We aren’t real big, and we’re used to that, so we always focus on areas of the game we can control. This team had a great season at the service line, three of the girls broke a serving record throughout the season. We also focused a great deal on defense, working on reading hitters and recognizing blocks, knowing we were going to face some big opponents all season. I felt for our size we did a great job attacking and blocking!” Coach sums up the season and looks to the fall, “Overall, I couldn’t have been more proud of the effort and drive this team had. We were small but mighty against some of the above squads and regardless, they gave it everything they had! I look forward to building off of what we accomplished last season and taking it up another notch this fall!” [caption id="attachment_94157" align="aligncenter" width="800"] 2019 Elm Creek Buffaloes[/caption] Returning players: ⇒Whitney Bauer | 2021 | 5’6 Setter | UNCOMMITTED <a href="http://www.hudl.com/profile/8761325">HUDL Highlights</a> 2019 Awards: OWH, LJS, Kearney Hub Honorable Mention, Academic All-State 2019 Stats: Digs/Set, Total: 2.4, 197 Assists/Set, Total: 5.6, 451 Whitney on becoming an all-around player, “I started my freshman year as a setter in a 5-1. In my sophomore year, I continued to set in a 5-1 and received the honor of being a team captain. Most of my junior year we ran a 5-1 with me as the setter, but towards the end of the season the dynamics of our opponents caused us to move to a 6-2. This allowed my coach to use me as a setter, hitter, and blocker. This also allowed me to show my versatility as a volleyball player while helping the team.” ⇒Abby Bauer | 2021 | 5’6 OPP | UNCOMMITTED, but definitely looking 2019 Awards: OWH Honorable Mention 2019 Stats: Kills/Set, Total: 1.4, 114 ⇒[player_tooltip player_id="78629" first="Ashley" last="Brown"] | 2021 | 5’9 OH | UNCOMMITTED and looking! <a href="https://www.hudl.com/v/2CNyzX">HUDL Highlights </a>Club: South Central Nebraska 2019 Awards: OWH, LJS, Kearney Hub Honorable Mention, 1st Team Fort Kearny Conference 2019 Stats: Kills/Set, Total: 3.2, 263 Serving Percentage: 91.3 Digs/Set, Total: 4.4, 356 Receptions/Set, Total: 3.9, 318 Ashley on her team bond, “We are such a flexible and hard-working team, you could put us in a new rotation 5 minutes before a game and we would be able to connect in our new positions. I think this is because we have played together for many years now and know what works for us and what doesn’t.” ⇒Maci McCarter | 2021 | 5’6 OH | UNCOMMITTED <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/9979173/Maci-McCarter">HUDL Highlights </a>Club: Nebraska Volleyball Academy 2019 Awards: OWH, LJS, Kearney Hub Honorable Mention, 3rd Team Fort Kearny Conference 2019 Stats: Digs/Set, Total: 4.4, 359 Receptions/Set, Total: 4.1, 334 Maci looks forward to her senior season, “I want to enjoy the time I get on the court this year and improve as an athlete overall. I’d like to be more aggressive as an outside and continue to use spot serving to my advantage.” ⇒Haley Stone | 2021 | 5’9 MH/OPP 2019 Stats: Blocks Total: 34 ⇒Morgan Sindt | 2021 | 5’6 S/OPP 2019 Stats: Serving Percentage: 97.9 Digs/Set, Total: 2.1, 168 Assists/Set, Total: 1.6, 131 Morgan looking forward to 2020, “With not losing any seniors I feel like our team is going to come back stronger than ever this year. I’m excited for the freshman coming up and what they are going to bring to our team.” ⇒Avery Sindt | 2022 | 5’10 MH <span data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Last year we did not lose any starters so we will have the same team this year. I am looking forward to that and just growing our team chemistry that we already have. "}" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":515,"3":{"1":0},"4":{"1":2,"2":16776960},"12":0}">"Last year we did not lose any starters so we will have the same team this year. I am looking forward to that and just growing our team chemistry that we already have." ⇒Samantha Knapp | 2021 | 5’6 DS 2019 Stats: Serving Percentage: 92.7 Digs/Set, Total: 2.9, 237 Receptions/Set, Total: 2.9, 236 ⇒Skylar Gronewold | 2022 | 5’6 Libero 2019 Stats: Serving Percentage: 91.4 Digs/Set, Total: 2.8, 209 Receptions/Set, Total: 3.0, 231 Want more information on the Elm Creek Buffaloes? Vote for them on Twitter @nebhsvolleyball to push them to round 2!