Scrappy Seniors Leave their Mark at the D-2 State Championship

Erica Twarling

November 25, 2024 @ 09:30 PM

The Leyton Warriors left Dalton, Nebraska with a perfect 33-0 record as they began the 361 mile trek to Lincoln for the State Volleyball Tournament to try and capture their first ever State Title. The villages of Dalton population 315 and Gurley population 213 are consolidated for the Leyton Warriors. The clever consolidated name comes from the -ton in Dalton and the -ley in Gurley to create the Leyton Warriors. Height wise they were not a particularly tall team, but they sure could play amazing floor defense.    This was on display in their State Championship loss to Shelton. Despite the 25-18, 26-24, 25-16 loss to the Shelton Bulldogs the Warriors hung in there with some amazing rallies and frustrating opposing hitters at times. In the end the Warriors had a hard time slowing down [player_tooltip player_id='275970' first='Erin' last='Gegg'] who finished with 24 kills and [player_tooltip player_id='253923' first='Jalyn' last='Branson'] with 16 kills respectively for the Bulldogs. Let's take a look at some of these scrappy seniors who came home with a State Runner-Up Trophy for the Leyton Warriors.   Libero 5'1” Kaydence Haupt led the Warrior defense with 465 digs and tallying up a career total of 1,170 digs. She was a great leader on the floor and almost always got a hand on the ball. Haupt did a fantastic job of covering her hitters. She was able to extend plays with her hustle and command on the floor. Her serve receive also kept the Warriors in system with only 33 receive errors out of 323 receptions. Haupt also chipped in 33 ace serves in her senior campaign.   Outside hitter 5'5” [player_tooltip player_id='728392' first='Shawnee' last='Gamble'] was a balanced player for the Warriors all season. She hammered 313 kills and had 314 digs. Gamble also had 65 ace serves. She had a great jump float serve that teams struggled with. To go along with her overall volleyball skills she brought a ton of energy and competitiveness on the floor. She too got a hand on a lot of balls and would chase down balls anywhere. Loved her quick arm and wrist to rack up those kills for the Warriors!   A great team has a setter that plays defense first and that is what Zaili Benish brought to the Warriors this past season. Zaili had huge stats as well while having 282 digs, and 781 set assists. Benish played with such smooth defense, you would think she is a libero. She has great hands and a nice jump set. Benish did a great job of being a leader on the floor this year both vocally and athletically.    [player_tooltip player_id='728397' first='Sydney' last='Fortune'] was 3rd in digs with 293 and also hammered away 118 kills when swinging too. She had a sneaky dump set that would throw off defenses as well. She almost hit the 1,000 dig mark by racking up 995 digs in her career as a Warrior.    These seniors left a great impact on what it takes to be gritty and play stout floor defense and just fell short of the ultimate goal of a gold medal. They should be proud of bringing home the Runner-Up Trophy for their school while finishing with a 35-1 record. There were some outstanding rallies during the Championship match that really extended points. They will leave a lasting impact on the future players and community members of Dalton and Gurley. It was great to see small school players make a big impact on Nebraska High School Volleyball!

The Leyton Warriors left Dalton, Nebraska with a perfect 33-0 record as they began the 361 mile trek to Lincoln for the State Volleyball Tournament to try and capture their first ever State Title. The villages of Dalton population 315 and Gurley population 213 are consolidated for the Leyton Warriors. The clever consolidated name comes from the -ton in Dalton and the -ley in Gurley to create the Leyton Warriors. Height wise they were not a particularly tall team, but they sure could play amazing floor defense.