South Court Quarterfinal Chaos

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena had some drama, late game heroics and comebacks. It also put some new faces in the spotlight to keep an eye on the next few years. Let's take a look at some of these fantastic first round matches as we gear up today for Semi-Final Friday! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pinnacle Bank's south court cooked up some epic matches Thursday. To begin the day #2 Skutt faced&nbsp; #7 Gretna. In a David and Goliath match as it looked on paper the Dragons were a young inexperienced team and Skutt had been on the throne for 9 years. It was a back and forth match until the final fifth set where Skutt took over to win 15-5. The Dragons came out with no fear and literally were digging machines in a 30-28 first set win. [player_tooltip player_id='349404' first='Lily' last='Zimmerman'] who had eclipsed 500 digs for the season had a team high 23 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='155044' first='Elle' last='Heckenlively'] was hard to stop with her 23 kills.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The young Dragons really relied on her physicality, leadership and poise throughout the match. [player_tooltip player_id='275935' first='Addison' last='West'] and [player_tooltip player_id='173527' first='Abbie' last='Hagedorn'] then took over the 5th set and the Dragons could not get out of their own way with unforced errors. Skutt prevailed at 28-30, 25-19, 21-25,25-19, and 15-5. So impressed with the Dragons grit during the match. They have a lot of returning starters for next season and the future is bright! #2 Omaha Skutt moves on to face #3 Waverly on Friday at 7:00pm.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Class C had a classic dog fight on the south court as well for the 1:00 pm match between another #2 and #7 seed. This time is was #2 Pierce (27-5) and #7 (24-9) Milford.&nbsp; Milford's [player_tooltip player_id='555495' first='Shayla' last='Rautenberg'] gave the crowd and the state someone to keep an eye on for the next few years. She was an absolute stud under the bright lights of the big stage. She hammered 30 kills for the Eagles. The 6'2” freshman can do it all. She swings from the back row efficiently, the left pin and the middle. Her arm swing and body control as a young player is fantastic. Rautenberg has really grown a lot as a player from the past club season. The Milford student section kept chanting, “You can't stop her!”&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pierce relied heavily on 6'1” sophomore Norah Herian, she has 557 kills on the year. Herian is so athletic and can swing from anywhere as well. She is able to tool shot off of high high hands or hit a down the line shot. Milford had the lead in the 5th set but Pierce clawed and fought its way to the 15-13 win to capture the semifinal spot against Wahoo today. Lots to be proud of for Milford in a great battle as all the sets were tight. Look for the Eagles to be hungry next season!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#3 Waverly (29-7) handled #6 Bennington (21-13) on the south court behind strong serving from [player_tooltip player_id='458123' first='Hallie' last='Lauenstein'] who racked up 4 ace serves and Kinley Burhoop chipped in 2. They were able to keep the Badgers out of system. [player_tooltip player_id='458124' first='Gracie' last='Lauenstein'] had a team high 12 kills and her sister Hallie added 7. The Vikings passed well off the serve of Hayden Liesback who has a killer jump top spin. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='521256' first='Emmalyn' last='Quinn'] had 27 digs in the match. The Lady Vikings will try to knock off 9 time defending State Champion Omaha Skutt Catholic in the semifinals today at 7:00pm.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#2 Westside (29-8) squared off with #7 Grand Island (26-9). Two heavy hitters in Westside's 6'3” [player_tooltip player_id='155047' first='Ashlyn' last='Paymal'] and Grand Island's 6' 0” [player_tooltip player_id='155042' first='Tia' last='Traudt']. It was a back and forth all match with Grand Island playing the spoiler by winning the final 5th set 15-12. Both outsides kept slugging back and forth until finally the Islanders pulled off the upset. The Islanders will face off against #6 seed Elkhorn South (24-9) at 7:00 pm.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is Semi-Final Friday! So much action packed fun! Will there be upsets, who will be Cinderella? Who will survive to Championship Saturday? Stay tuned!&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->