Setting the Stage for 2022 Class A State Championships

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Class A districts are complete. It's finally time to look ahead to Lincoln for this star-studded group.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Of course, we can't look ahead without reliving the district action we just saw. Class A has brought us so much brilliant volleyball this year, and that trend carried right into Wednesday's matches to decide the state tournament bracket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's break it down as we count the days until November.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Holding Down Home Court</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It should be no surprise that top-seeded teams found plenty of championship success in Class A districts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We might as well start in A-1, where <strong>Papillion-La Vista South</strong> rolled to a district championship and left no doubts about its worthiness for another #1 seed in the state championships. Wednesday night's district final against Omaha Burke was a testament to Papio South's balance, as middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id='152854' first='Morgan' last='Bode'] led the way with 13 kills and took a lot of the attacking burden off of star pin hitters [player_tooltip player_id='59192' first='Stella' last='Adeyemi'] and [player_tooltip player_id='109585' first='Lauren' last='Medeck']. The Titans are not going away anytime soon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lincoln Southwest</strong> is another team that has epitomized balance this year, and the Silver Hawks will have a chance on the big stage after sweeping Millard North in the A-2 finals. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='83540' first='Alexa' last='Gobel'] will be one to watch for the Silver Hawks, and she paced Class A's second-overall seed with 14 kills against the Mustangs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Meanwhile, <strong>Papillion-La Vista</strong> edged Elkhorn South in a four-set battle to take the A-3 crown. We felt this would be a match to watch, and the Storm did an admirable job of countering Papio's frontcourt firepower in a hostile road environment. In the end, .400+ hitting performances from Papio juniors [player_tooltip player_id='109602' first='Morgan' last='Glaser'] and [player_tooltip player_id='109603' first='Mia' last='Tvrdy'] allowed the Monarchs to secure yet another state tournament appearance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Omaha Westside</strong> looked stout en route to a 3-0 victory over Grand Island in A-4. Senior pin hitters [player_tooltip player_id='103097' first='Samantha' last='Laird'] and [player_tooltip player_id='59208' first='Destiny' last='Ndam-Simpson'] both posted hitting percentages north of .500, and you're going to win a lot of matches with your left sides doing that. Watch out for the Warriors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The much-anticipated A-5 final between <strong>Lincoln East</strong> and Fremont went to the home-standing Spartans. As expected, the Tigers put up quite a fight and raised plenty of eyebrows by dominating the opening set of the contest. Lincoln East stormed back, though, and [player_tooltip player_id='104986' first='Shandy' last='Faalii'] spearheaded the Spartan attack again with 16 kills. The Spartans are finally going back to the state tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Finally, we skip over to A-7 for our final home victor in Class A districts. <strong>Millard West</strong> fought off a scrappy Lincoln Pius X bunch and showed great resilience after the Thunderbolts swiped the opening set 27-25. Senior outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='103095' first='Alanna' last='Bankston'] put together another brilliant outing with a whopping 24 kills on a .370 clip.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Upset</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was quite a revenge match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It wasn't long ago that Gretna swept Omaha Marian to advance to the Metro Conference Tournament semifinals. Fate would bring these two squads back together for a district final on the Dragons' home court. This time, the Crusaders were out for retribution in the must-win match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Omaha Marian</strong> won its way to the state tournament with an incredible five-set win over Gretna in reverse sweep fashion. It could be easy to get discouraged after dropping the first two sets, both by two-point margins. But this is a veteran Marian group that has proven it has the talent to reach the big stage. Senior middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id='59204' first='Amanda' last='Loschen'] led the Crusaders with 16 kills, but Marian deserves a lot of credit for distributing the ball well behind their experienced leader. [player_tooltip player_id='171636' first='Amelia' last='Roth'] chipped in 12 kills, and [player_tooltip player_id='171638' first='Ashley' last='Wilwerding'] tallied 11. A thrilling 15-13 triumph in the final stanza sealed it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Drawing the Bracket</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Class A state tournament bracket has not been released yet, but we have everything we need to piece it together.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Gretna</strong> gets the wildcard nod as the eighth team in the field alongside the seven district winners. We'll have plenty of time to preview all the state championship brackets heading into November, but here are the matchups you can expect:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(1)</strong> Papillion-La Vista South vs. <strong>(8)</strong> Omaha Marian</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(4)</strong> Papillion-La Vista vs. <strong>(5)</strong> Lincoln East</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(3)</strong> Omaha Westside vs. <strong>(6)</strong> Gretna</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(2)</strong> Lincoln Southwest vs. <strong>(7)</strong> Millard West</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->