Small-Town Focus: Class D1 and D2 Tournament's Breakout Players

Small-town stars always emerge at Nebraska's state tournament.   Nebraska's hidden gems were a persistent focus of our 2024 in-season coverage. That objective gets a huge boost when the state's best rural programs converge in Lincoln for the NSAA State Volleyball Championships. This year's tournament placed several new names on our radar, and we're ready to share a few here.   Class D1 and D2 get some time in the spotlight for this one.    Diller-Odell's strong setter tradition continues. Beekman dished the Griffin offense this year and was a big part of the team's upset victory in the district finals. She finished the regular season with nearly 800 assists and led a balanced onslaught against the undefeated Roughriders in the quarterfinals. Beekman has another year to showcase her skills with one of Nebraska's best small-town volleyball programs.     Springer keeps proving herself on Nebraska's biggest prep stage. She piloted last year's Cambridge squad to a runner-up finish in Class D2, and the junior setter didn't waver as the Trojans moved to Class D1. In addition to her 680 pre-tournament assists, Springer was also a high-volume attacker and reached triple-digit kills in the front row. This aggressive style made Cambridge much more difficult to defend, and the Trojans are poised to remain in the postseason hunt next fall.     We're continuing our run of setters, but this one carries the banner for the Class of 2028. Tuttle operated half of Exeter-Milligan/Friend's two-setter offense and was a consistent asset from the back row. She embraced the pressure of postseason volleyball as the Bobcats made their unexpected run to the Class D1 championship match. EMF loses on of its senior setters from this year's squad but can lean on Tuttle to keep the momentum going.     Like EMF, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley thrived in a two-setter offense and deployed a wide array of dynamic athletes. Schlegl fits this bill perfectly, as she made her mark as a setter and an attacker in the BDS offense. She led the team with over 500 assists while also compiling nearly 100 kills in the 2024 campaign. The Eagles have been perennial championship contenders in the small-town scene, and versatile athletes like Schlegl keep leading the charge.     Hartington Cedar Catholic's multi-faceted offense got a huge boost from the sophomore class this fall. Bernecker has shown enough range to play in the middle or on the right side, and she has excelled in both roles. The emerging sophomore generated several key block touches as the Trojans sparred with Superior in the Class D1 semifinals. Cedar Catholic keeps finding ways to reach the tournament field, so expect Bernecker to pop up in Lincoln again.     We honed in on Roelle's all-around game as Leyton made its run to the Class D2 championship match. The junior outside hitter showed a ton of range on the left side and helped the Warriors win their all-out slugfests in the D2 tournament. This was especially apparent in the quarterfinals when Leyton rallied from 0-2 down to defeat Meridian in five sets. Roelle registered a double-double and kept her team's historic winning streak alive.     Let's bring Meridian into the mix. The Mustangs were on the cusp of a massive 1-versus-8 upset, and Filipi helped set the tone in the back row. She affected the ball-control phase as a passer and an assertive server, giving Meridian an early advantage against the top-seeded Warriors. These contributions often won't show up on the box score, but we got a full glimpse at how impactful Filipi can be.     Simmons could wear a lot of different hats during her prep tenure with Amherst. She's listed as a middle-setter hybrid, and she collected a handful of assists with the Broncos this year. Her attacking role took precedence for most of 2024 with Amherst getting triple-digit kills out of their first-year athlete. We'll see what subsequent years reveal about Simmons' path.     Oligmueller has been here before. She was part of Wynot's 2023 postseason efforts but took the starring role as a junior. The hard-hitting middle blocker led Wynot with over 300 kills in the regular season while also racking up 40 aces. Moreover, the Blue Devils wielded an elite blocking unit that looked to Oligmueller to anchor the operation. This will be a can't-miss senior in next year's small-town championship race.

Small-town stars always emerge at Nebraska's state tournament.

Nebraska's hidden gems were a persistent focus of our 2024 in-season coverage. That objective gets a huge boost when the state's best rural programs converge in Lincoln for the NSAA State Volleyball Championships. This year's tournament placed several new names on our radar, and we're ready to share a few here.

Class D1 and D2 get some time in the spotlight for this one.