East Midlands Conference Pool Play Wrap Up
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The Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament wrapped up on Saturday at Norris High School with the Norris Titans capturing the crown. It was a tune up or more like a crystal ball for the State Tourney in November as Norris, Waverly…
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Continue ReadingThe Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament wrapped up on Saturday at Norris High School with the Norris Titans capturing the crown. It was a tune up or more like a crystal ball for the State Tourney in November as Norris, Waverly and Elkhorn North are all ranked in the Top 5 of Class B currently. Wild Card Points as of October 4th had the teams seeded in this order #1 Norris, #2 Elkhorn North, #3 Waverly, #4 Elkhorn, #5 Bennington and #6 Blair.
Pool A at Norris Middle School, featured #1 Norris, #4 Elkhorn and #5 Bennington. In the first match Norris played Bennington and swept the Badgers in 2 with scores of 25-11, 25-16. Fellow Seniors Ella Waters Ella Waters 6'3" | OH Norris | 2022 State NE and Sydney Jellinek had 11 and 10 kills respectively. Junior Gracie Kircher Gracie Kircher 5'11" | OH Norris | 2023 State NE chipped in 6. Maisie Boesiger Maisie Boesiger 5'5" | S Norris | 2022 State #198 Nation NE had 25 set assists for the Titans in the opening round win.
Elkhorn and Benningotn squared off next and it was a very competitive game with lots of good rallies. Elkhorn came away with the win with scores of 16-25, 27-25, and 25-21. The Antlers had 6 ace serves as a team and Senior Taylor Bunjer Taylor Bunjer 5'10" | OH Elkhorn | 2022 State NE hammered 14 kills and Junior Hayley Wolfe had 13 plus 3 solo blocks. Bunjer is very fun to watch and brings a ton of energy and competitiveness to the floor. She is strong and hits sideline really well.
Elkhorn then faced Norris in the last game of pool play. Norris dominated the first set 25-3 and the Antlers fought back to make the second set a bit more competitive with a 25-16 loss. Senior setter Maisie Boesiger Maisie Boesiger 5'5" | S Norris | 2022 State #198 Nation NE had 6 aces in the win and Waters hammered away 11 kills in the win.
Pool B at Norris High School, featured #2 Elkhorn North and #6 Blair. Elkhorn North struggled serving in the match and had 8 serving errors as they defeated Blair 25-10 and 25-12. Junior Grace Heaney Grace Heaney 6'2" | RS Elkhorn North | 2023 State #33 Nation NE had 11 kills in the match and Kailey Hrbek and freshman Shay Heaney Shay Heaney 6'2" | OH Elkhorn North | 2025 State NE each chipped in with 4. Freshman Shay Heaney Shay Heaney 6'2" | OH Elkhorn North | 2025 State NE was very impressive as a freshman on Saturday. She can jump out of the gym and has a quick arm swing, plus a great serve.
Blair and Waverly followed and the Vikings swept the Bears 25-14, 25-18. In the second set Blair gave Waverly all they could handle as they tied up at 14 then Waverly went on scoring run to close out the match. Senior Bekka Allick Bekka Allick 6'3" | MB Waverly | 2022 State #7 Nation NE led Waverly with 10 kills. Libero Karsen VanScoy Karsen VanScoy 5'4" | DS/L Waverly | 2022 State NE chipped in with 3 service aces.
Then marathon volleyball, as Waverly takes on Elkhorn North. This was an amazing match to watch with two very talented teams. Going into the match you knew it would be epic and it was! Elkhorn North took the first set 25-22 and then Waverly storms back in a grinder for a 36-34 win in the second set and then closed out the match with a 25-21 win to claim a spot in the Championship. For the Vikings they were led by Bekka Allick Bekka Allick 6'3" | MB Waverly | 2022 State #7 Nation NE with 20 kills and 4 ace serves followed by junior Jaelyn Dicke with 11 kills. Elkhorn North was led by Shay Heaney Shay Heaney 6'2" | OH Elkhorn North | 2025 State NE with 15 followed by Grace Heaney Grace Heaney 6'2" | RS Elkhorn North | 2023 State #33 Nation NE with 10 kills, Kiley Nadgwick and Hrbek chipped in with 7 kills. Sophomore Reese Booth Reese Booth 5'7" | S Elkhorn North | 2024 State NE had 35 set assists in the loss. One thing I love watching is Reese Booth Reese Booth 5'7" | S Elkhorn North | 2024 State NE ’s natural ability to lead as just a sophomore and her ability to shake off mistakes and move on to the next play. She is positive and brings a ton of energy to the floor!
After pool play wrapped up then teams played for 1st, 3rd and 5th respectively. Check out those results and analysis in my next article!