More Liberos to Follow after Nebraska’s State Championships

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've covered a lot of players from this year's six title-winning squads in Nebraska. Now, it's time to broaden our scope and check out the rest of the tournament field.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I camped out at the state tournament from the moment it started in the quarterfinal round, and it was hard not to be captivated by the level of talent at the event. Nebraska's prep volleyball players and teams know how to put on a show on the biggest stages, and that trickles all the way down to the smallest towns and communities.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>So, let's take a tour of the vast array of standouts we saw in Lincoln. Liberos are up first--always a fitting place to start in the Cornhusker State.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Outstanding Runners-Up</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After all our talk on state champions over the past week, it's worth giving a shoutout to some of the talented athletes whose teams finished runner-up in the Devaney Center.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Where do you even start with this group? It's quite a list. In Class A, Omaha Westside senior libero <strong>Daniela Gologan</strong> represented her team well in its first-ever appearance in a state title match. Gologan racked up 25 digs in four sets amid the fiery onslaught from Papio South's pin hitters. Stout floor defense was perhaps an undervalued part of Westside's success, and Gologan was in the middle of it all.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='152865' first='Summer' last='Bojanski'] of Archbishop Bergan is another name that has been on my radar for a while. The junior libero just keeps showing up on the big stages, helping the Knights to yet another appearance in a state championship match. Bojanski's court vision stands out against some of the best attackers that Nebraska has to offer, and I'd expect a repeat performance in her senior campaign next fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gothenburg boasted a veteran standout at libero in senior Emily Cornwell. The Swedes were consistently among the best ball control teams in Class C1 this year, and Cornwell was the anchor to that backcourt success. We saw some incredible hustle plays from Cornwell in this year's championship match. It's the kind of effort that definitely put the state on notice as Gothenburg, like Omaha Westside, made its first-ever appearance in the finals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1589011227787034624?s=20u0026t=Iel1BK1ubSA_TsHODceIQw","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1589011227787034624?s=20&amp;t=Iel1BK1ubSA_TsHODceIQw </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Class B runner-up Elkhorn North will lose some impactful seniors from this year's squad, but junior libero [player_tooltip player_id='109595' first='Haylee' last='Wolf'] is one of the vital contributors who will return next season. That's good news for a Wolves program that has made a meteoric ascent in just three years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":246988,"width":477,"height":313,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/11/FgwjJJhXgAUYzGx-crop-1639x1076-1668623465.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-246988" width="477" height="313"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mauch serves for Bennington in the 2022 Class B state championships.</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Around the Map</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Talented liberos could be found in every corner of this year's championship bracket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This feature has mentioned a lot of seasoned veterans, but we also so a great group of underclassmen in Lincoln. Sophomore <strong>Karlyn Francis</strong> stepped in for Papillion-La Vista this season and provided some excellent passing and floor defense for the Monarchs. Likewise, Millard West gets a lot of its in-system passes from sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='155037' first='Sierra' last='Pokharel'], who looked incredibly comfortable in her debut season with the Wildcats. And, while we're in Class A, Omaha Marian's [player_tooltip player_id='155038' first='Melody' last='Mayer'] is another 2025 athlete who looks poised to take the reins of the Crusader defense next fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Still, it might be fair to characterize this year's state championship defensive specialists as a veteran-laden group. Junior libero [player_tooltip player_id='104976' first='Anna' last='Borner'] really found her stride with DC West this season and could be poised to make a return trip to Lincoln in 2023. Other Class of 2024 standouts, like Lincoln Southwest's [player_tooltip player_id='124953' first='Teagan' last='Little'], Norris' [player_tooltip player_id='152864' first='Mallorie' last='Meyer'], and Bennington's [player_tooltip player_id='109590' first='Olivia' last='Mauch'], are collectively making next year's senior class the best group of Nebraska liberos we've seen in a while.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->