State Champs Quarterfinals Recap: Class D2

It’s time to put together a big recap of all the action from day two of the state championship quarterfinals. We're starting with the first of Thursday's participants, Class D2! Let’s go.   (1) Falls City Sacred Heart vs. (8) Exeter-Milligan These two volleyball programs have found plenty of success over the years, regardless of what class they’ve been in. A meeting between Sacred Heart and Exeter-Milligan just feels right. Thursday’s battle featured some solid play from both teams. Unsurprisingly, the Irish leaned on their senior leader, Erison Vonderschmidt. She’s one of the most unique players on the court this week. Ever seen a left-handed six-rotation middle blocker who can pass? That’s what Vonderschmidt brings to the court. This talent and leadership helped lift Sacred Heart to a 25-20 victory in the first set. This was followed by a 25-16 win in the second frame as other Irish hitters began to heat up. London Nachtigal and Taylor Frederick brought some veteran leadership to the front row, and senior setter [player_tooltip player_id="58809" first="Rachel" last="Magdanz"] helped tie everything together. Exeter-Milligan fought hard and kept right with the top seed throughout the third set. Emma Olsen made a big impact of her own as a senior setter, and Malorie Staskal made some big plays in multiple phases of the game. Jozie Kanode was also a factor in scooping up balls along the endline. After a deuce fight went down to the wire, FCSH scored an ace on match point to take a 29-27 win in the third and move on to the next round. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Falls City Sacred Heart survives in the third set to take the sweep! 29-27 in the finale. <a href="https://t.co/GBJEFu5iNr">pic.x.com/GBJEFu5iNr</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1456278207326572544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>   (2) Humphrey St. Francis vs. (7) Anselmo-Merna We’ve seen a couple of tricky 2-7 matchups already in this tournament, and the meeting between Humphrey St. Francis and Anselmo-Merna was no different. In fact, it was the underdog that got on the board first. The Coyotes boasted a strong combination of gritty backcourt defense and efficient offense, and it helped them get ahead. Senior middle blocker Jaide Chandler was always a scoring threat when she was in the front row. Kirsten Myers and RayLee Downing helped her out by consistently delivering the ball on target in serve receive. After a 25-22 decision in favor of Anselmo-Merna, the two seed fought back. The Flyers had plenty of offensive options of their own. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="152092" first="Kylee" last="Wessel"] is a lethal option on the outside, and Kaylee Stricklin can terminate in a variety of spots. Kelly Pfeifer is another attacker to know from this group. The bounceback from St. Francis was an emphatic one, as they took the second 25-14. Another push from the Coyotes was coming, though, and suddenly the second-seeded Flyers found themselves down 2-1 in the count. With the pressure rising, the experience and talent of Humphrey St. Francis took over. The Flyers started to force some errors with their tough serving and intimidating block. This was a recipe for a comeback, and it ended in a 15-9 victory in the deciding tiebreaker. The upset bid fell just short. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Comeback! Humphrey St. Francis was on the ropes down 2-1 against Anselmo-Merna, but the two seed fought back to win in five. <a href="https://t.co/uTnHc8X43v">pic.x.com/uTnHc8X43v</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1456285823918280715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>   (3) Maywood-Hayes Center vs. (6) Diller-Odell This is about as fascinating of a 3-6 matchup as you can get. Going into this contest, I had very few inklings or assumptions on what we might see. Here are some of the constants. With [player_tooltip player_id="59202" first="Karli" last="Heidemann"] sidelined for the Griffins, other key players had to step up. Luckily, Diller-Odell showed some good depth Thursday. [player_tooltip player_id="58819" first="Madelyn" last="Meyerle"] is a major force for Diller-Odell in every phase of the game. She plays stout backcourt defense and has a whip of an arm in the front. [player_tooltip player_id="152905" first="Lilly" last="Swanson"] also had a solid showing on the championship stage. However, Maywood-Hayes Center did a lot to show why they earned the three seed in this year’s tournament. The Wolves run an offense that’s tough for opposing middles to read, and they have attackers that can capitalize on gaps in the block. Olivia Hansen has a quick arm and was able to terminate in the middle and on the right. Alexis Wood was another important component of the offense and was even comfortable running the double quick with Hansen. The opening set started out tight before MHC pulled away to win it 25-16. Things were deadlocked again in the second, this time for almost the entire set. Once again, though, the Wolves dialed up the offense they needed to go up 2-0. Of course, the defending champions would not go away quietly. Diller-Odell’s pin offense and passing began to flourish and lifted the Griffins to a 26-24 win to stay alive. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> The defending champs are still alive! Diller-Odell was up 24-21, squandered three set points, but persevered to win the third 26-24. Maywood-Hayes Center still up 2-1. <a href="https://t.co/1AIo5sXdm9">pic.x.com/1AIo5sXdm9</a> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1456312334637543426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> From there, though, the three seed asserted themselves. Maywood-Hayes Center led throughout the fourth set and claimed another 25-16 decision to move on to the semifinals.   (4) Stuart vs. (5) Wynot This 4-5 contest was bound to produce some close volleyball. We got exactly that. Stuart got on the board first with a strong 25-16 start. Senior hybrid hitter Lexi Schroder was terminating with impunity, as she has done for much of the season. She is also a key cog in the Broncos’ serve receive. Sydney Estill and Sarah Wallinger joined the party with some authoritative swings of their own. The Blue Devils clawed their way back into the match. Karley Heimes proved over and over why she is the lifeblood of this Wynot team. She can hammer the ball with tremendous range and is not going to shy away from passing. Amber Lawson and Allison Wieseler were two other big pieces of the offense, and they helped the Blue Devils to a mirror-image 25-16 win of their own. Like many of the matches we’ve seen lately, the momentum swung some more. Stuart looked sharp as they won the third 25-21, but Wynot came right back to force a fifth. With a ton of juice on the Blue Devil side, the five seed locked up a 15-9 win in the tiebreaker to move on in the D2 bracket.