Classic Cinema: Class B Match Ups

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at the Quarterfinal matchups for the Nebraska State Tournament on Wednesday November 6th at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The #2 Seed Omaha Skutt Catholic will be looking to claim their 10th State Title in a row. The #1 Seed Norris Titans are looking to play spoiler after an outstanding season at 35-1 with their only loss coming against Class A State Qualifier #1 Seed Papillion LaVista South. The #3 Seed Waverly Vikings and the #5 Seed Bennington Badgers are an intriguing matchup in the first round as well. Here is a look at the Class B Bracket:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#1 Seed Norris (35-1) takes on #8 (16-24) Lincoln Pius X. These two squared off just a week ago in the Sub District Final with the Titans sweeping 25-9, 25-18, 25-22. The Titans have been really playing well and captured their 19th straight win against the Scottsbluff Bearcats in the District Final last Saturday. The veteran squad has been firing on all cylinders. Leading the way is Long Beach State commit [player_tooltip player_id='155030' first='Anna' last='Jelinek'] who has hammered 404 kills this season. Jelinek is talented with the shots she takes. She can do a great line shot or a fast cut shot or a sneaky roll shot to the donut. Jelinek can also tool off high hands as she has great jumping ability.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior Libero [player_tooltip player_id='189328' first='Rya' last='Borer'] has had an outstanding senior campaign and is averaging 5.3 digs per set. Along with that she has tallied 490 digs for the season. The 6-2 has been humming for the Titans as [player_tooltip player_id='189326' first='Harper' last='Gable'] and [player_tooltip player_id='155031' first='Zoe' last='Rademacher'] have stepped in to fill in for injured sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='458117' first='Malorie' last='Boesiger']. Lincoln Pius X will rely heavily on 6'1” Senior Middle [player_tooltip player_id='189362' first='Faith' last='Venable'], who has hammered 510 kills this year. Pius' record is deceiving since they primarily play a Class A schedule. Their notable win this year was against a talented Fremont team in mid October.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#2 Seed Skutt Catholic (30-9) takes on #7 (25-17) Gretna. This is an intriguing matchup, due to the fact that Gretna is very young, but plays with no fear. This a rematch of the Sub District Final where the Dragons fell to the Skyhawks 3-0. The Dragons built their youth around 5'10” Senior veteran [player_tooltip player_id='155044' first='Elle' last='Heckenlively'], a Northwest Missouri State Commit who came off of an injury early in the year. She is so athletic, dynamic and a leader on the floor. Heckenlively has accumulated 234 kills this past season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Furthermore she has some young guns around her that have really played an integral part in their successful season. Freshman Outside [player_tooltip player_id='575235' first='Logann' last='Dostal'] takes huge swings on the pin. She is explosive and has racked up 352 kills. Another 1-2 punch player is lefty [player_tooltip player_id='575234' first='Koco' last='Janssen'] at the opposite pin who has hammered 339 kills. Koco is so powerful and explosive on the right side, she is hard to stop. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Skutt has 6'1” North Carolina commit [player_tooltip player_id='275935' first='Addison' last='West'], who has a .344 hitting percentage and has racked up 394 kills. She is lengthy and takes big swings. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='173527' first='Abbie' last='Hagedorn'] also takes huge swings and is very powerful on the pin. She has 282 kills for the season, but has been really impressive at the service line with 51 aces. Obviously Skutt is experienced at the State Tournament and that could pay dividends in that first round.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#4 Elkhorn North (27-10) takes on #5 (25-10) seed York.&nbsp; York knocked off a talented Seward team and went west to beat Gering for the District Final. Elkhorn North is a young team with a new setter, same last name as last year but this year it is [player_tooltip player_id='275901' first='Hayden' last='Booth']. The 5'8” junior has 1088 set assists and great hands with a beautiful jump set. She has two great attackers to feed the ball to with Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='445956' first='Reagan' last='Wallraff'] and Senior Shay Henney. Wallraff leads the Wolves with 628 kills and Henney is second with 328.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>York has Senior Outside [player_tooltip player_id='462564' first='Cynley' last='Wilkinson'], who brings a ton of firepower and energy on the floor. She has hammered 354 kills. York can be scrappy behind Libero Lainey Portwine who has 377 digs for the Dukes. York has a pair of lengthy freshmen in [player_tooltip player_id='572604' first='Harley' last='Wardyn'] and [player_tooltip player_id='662829' first='Sydney' last='Jacobsen'] that could cause issues with the Wolves front row.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#3 Waverly (29-7) battles EMC foe #6 Bennington (21-13). These teams met previously with Waverly prevailing in a 5 set thriller. The Lady Vikings are very young with only one senior in Renae London who is 3rd in kills with 200. Hallie and Gracie Launstein are both powerful and explosive hitters. Hallie leads the team with 368 and Gracie with 329. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5 '9 " MiKinley Moser is one of the best setters in the state and has 989 set assists and 129 kills on the season. She has amazing court sense and distributes the ball well. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='521256' first='Emmalyn' last='Quinn'] has been steady in the back court at Libero with 533 total digs, averaging about 5 digs per set. She shines on serve receive and has a great serve as a lefty tallying 30 ace serves this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bennington is led by Hayden Liesback who can jump out of the gym and is a pure athlete. She has a lethal jump top serve and has racked up 79 aces. She has tallied 428 kills this season. Junior Defensive Specialist [player_tooltip player_id='187703' first='Evynn' last='Olsen'] does a great job of picking up anything that comes her way. She is particularly strong with anything short and in front of her. She has racked up 358 digs so far this season. Would not be shocked if this match up comes down to the wire in the 5th set.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It will be a great couple of days of volleyball! Keep tabs on these talented teams! See you at Pinnacle Bank Arena!&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->