State Championship Finals Recap: Class D2, D1, and C2

<p>It’s championship Saturday! Time to close out another incredible high school season.</p> <p>Obviously, we’ll have full recaps of all the action as we crown six new state champions. We’re starting with the first three classes to see the floor in the Devaney Center: Class D2, D1, and C2!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Class D2</strong></span></p> <p><strong>(1) Falls City Sacred Heart</strong> vs. <strong>(2) Humphrey St. Francis</strong></p> <p>A big 1-2 matchup got us started on championship Saturday.</p> <p>It was the second-seeded Flyers that got out to a fast start in this one, as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="152092" first="Kylee" last="Wessel"]</strong> and <strong>Kelly Pfeifer</strong> scored at will from the pin. <strong>Kaylee Stricklin</strong> also got involved, as she’s done throughout the postseason.</p> <p>It was a first set that was middle-heavy on both sides, in fact, as <strong>Erison Vonderschmidt</strong> went on a tear for the Irish. The Flyers did not relinquish their lead, though, and took a 25-23 win in the opening set.</p> [caption id="attachment_164601" align="alignright" width="422"]<img class="wp-image-164601" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/11/vonderschmidt-300x206.jpg" alt="" width="422" height="290" /> Vonderschmidt attacks in the middle for the Irish.[/caption] <p>St. Francis built another early led in the second set after winning the first, but Sacred Heart battled back. <strong>Taylor Frederick</strong> had some key swings on the left pin, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="58809" first="Rachel" last="Magdanz"]</strong> produced in just about every statistical category. The top seed won the second set 25-17 with Vonderschmidt’s dozen kills paving the way.</p> <p>In the third set, the Flyers by taking another lead and not letting go this time. Wessel and Pfeifer both reached double-digit kills, and St. Francis got some tough serving from their entire lineup. The two seed went up 2-1 with a 25-17 win.</p> <p>Falls City Sacred Heart had not faced this kind of deficit in the tournament, but the Irish weren’t going to yield. Vonderschmidt reached the 20-kill mark and <strong>Olivia Eickhoff</strong> continued her efficient morning. After a 25-19 victory for the Irish, a fifth set would decide the Class D2 champion.</p> <p>The heart of the Irish was on full display in the finale. Sacred Heart’s block stepped up to put the top seed ahead, and their grasp did not waver. Vonderschmidt’s 27th kill of the match gave the Irish a 3-2 win to bring the Class D2 trophy back to Falls City.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Class D1</strong></span></p> <p><strong>(1) Howells-Dodge</strong> vs. <strong>(3) Archbishop Bergan</strong></p> <p>It was a hard-fought, challenging road to the championship match for both of these teams, but Saturday presented an opportunity to make it all worthwhile.</p> <p>Unsurprisingly, the score was tight for much of the opening set. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="58770" first="Ellie" last="Baumert"]</strong> put down some thunderous balls on the outside, but <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="152097" first="Kaitlyn" last="Mlnarik"]</strong> always had an answer on the Bergan side. The Knights’ block soon began to heat up as Kennedy Bacon inserted herself into the match. Behind a couple of big scoring runs, the three seed to a 25-18 victory in the opener.</p> <p>After a disappointing first set, the top seed started to find their groove. <strong>Carly Bayer</strong> provided some big blocks to fire up her team, and <strong>Blair Fiala</strong> continued to move the ball around nicely. The Jaguars claimed a 25-14 second set to tie the match.</p> <p>The back-and-forth trend of this entire tournament continued as Archbishop Bergan quickly seized an advantage in the third set. Howells-Dodge narrowed the gap, though, and some tough serves brought the Jaguars right back in it. After a deuce battle, the top seed emerged with a huge 26-24 win to go up 2-1.</p> <p>Archbishop Bergan jumped out to a big lead in the fourth, as just about every other team in the tournament that has gone down 2-1 has done. But, like the previous set, Howells-Dodge clawed their way back into the set with a comeback near the midway point. [player_tooltip player_id="58770" first="Ellie" last="Baumert"] thumped her serves to get the hard-hitting Knights offense out of system. A flurry of crucial plays at the net gave Howells-Dodge the advantage and they capitalized with 25-21 win and a Class D1 championship.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Another big comeback in the fourth set wins it for Howells-Dodge!<br /> <br /> The Jaguars win 3-1 and claim the Class D1 title. <a href="https://t.co/oSYbUioqrN">pic.x.com/oSYbUioqrN</a></p> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1457049069793079299?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Class C2</strong></span></p> <p><strong>(1) Oakland-Craig</strong> vs. <strong>(6) Sutton</strong></p> <p>Plenty of orange- and red-clad fans came to Lincoln for this one. Just another Class C2 title match with a lot of intrigue.</p> <p>The #1 seed got out to a quick early start behind the two-headed monster of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="58776" first="Bailey" last="Helzer"]</strong> and <strong>Brandi Helzer</strong>. These sisters have given the Knights an incredible attacking tandem that can absolutely take over a match. There’s few rotations that Oakland-Craig’s opponents can exploit.</p> <p>A 25-21 first set went to the Knights. The following stanza had a similar progression, with <strong>Maycie Johnson</strong> also chipping in to the Oakland-Craig offense.</p> <p>Sutton had some nice responses, and <strong>Alivia Huxoll</strong> carried out her typical routine of stuffing any balls that came her way. <strong>Reagan Vavricek</strong> took many of the tough swings for the Fillies and made the most of it.</p> <p>Even still, Oakland-Craig made a lot of the clutch plays when the score was even. The Knights surged ahead for a 25-20 triumph in the second set to go up 2-0.</p> <p>This deficit wouldn’t intimidate Sutton, as they’ve climbed back from unenviable positions all tournament. <strong>Lily McCroden</strong> had several key kills as Sutton held a lead late in the must-win third set.</p> <p>However, with Sutton up 24-22 and having a chance to extend the match, C2’s #1 team made their move. <strong>Laryn Johnson</strong> keyed up a couple nice serves after the sideout and gave the Knights match point. They eventually converted at 26-25 and locked up the 3-0 win to take the C2 championship.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Oakland-Craig has done it!<br /> <br /> The Knights fought off two Sutton set points to win the third 27-25 and secure the sweep for the C2 title! <a href="https://t.co/Yruor0ew5j">pic.x.com/Yruor0ew5j</a></p> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1457077283278184455?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>