Game of Throne: Senior Setter Leads Millard South Past Omaha Northwest

OMAHA - There may not have been dragons nor any epic battles between the Lannisters and Strarks at Omaha Northwest Monday night, but make no mistake, it was undoubtedly a game of Throne.

Millard South senior Paxton Throne did a little bit of everything, finishing the night with 12 kills, 13 assists and three ace serves in guiding the Patriots to a 26-24, 25-16, 25-22 win over Omaha Northwest. Millard South improved to 4-11 with the win while Omaha Northwest dropped to 14-5 with the loss.

Omaha Northwest entered the night with the seventh-highest wildcard point total in Class A, but left the match still looking for its first win over a non-OPS Class A school. Last week the Huskies were swept by 4-6 Omaha Westside and they also have been swept by Class B undefeated Gretna twice and Class B Platteview, which is 11-2.

Northwest's combination of Jaden Wrightsell and Parsila Dike gave the Huskies a shot at jumping ahead of the Patriots with their strong play at the net, and a Dike kill had Northwest up 15-12. Millard South, however, then went on a 9-2 run behind five Throne kills and an ace serve from Marly Gallegos to take a 21-17 lead.

Two Wrightsell kills sandwiched around a pair of ace serves from Addi Schramm tied the set at 21-21, but Throne ended the streak when she hammered down an overpass and then followed with an ace serve to put the Patriots up 23-21. Northwest fought off two match points, however, as Dike got kills on both to tie the set at 24-24.

But, once again, Throne proved to be a thorn for Northwest with a dump kill and a Kelsey Olson block gave Millard South a 26-24 win in the first set.

In the second set, a service error and three straight Northwest hitting errors kick started a 6-0 run that ended with a Stinson kill and ace serve from Hanna Hopkins to put Millard South up 13-5 as Northwest never got close than five points in the rest of the way as the Patriots closed out the set 25-16.

The third set was tight throughout. The difference came with the score tied 14-14 and Millard South used a quick 3-0 spurt behind a Northwest service error, kill by Jaisee Stinson and block by Ali DeVries to go up 17-14 and never trailed again in winning the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.

Throne had a team-high 12 kills for Millard South while Madi Stearns added eight and Stinson had six. As a team the Patriots had 11 ace serves, led by Throne and Shaylie Brown with three apiece.

Wrightsell led Northwest with 15 kills on the night and Dike finished with 11. Schramm had a match-high 25 assists for the Huskies.

Millard South def. Omaha Northwest 26-24, 25-16, 25-22

Millard South (4-11)

Marly Gallegos - 1 kill, 2 aces, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Jaisee Stinson - 6 kills, 1 ace, 0 blocks, 6 assists.
Paxton Throne - 12 kills, 3 aces, 0 blocks, 13 assists.
Claire Larson - 1 kill, 0 aces, 1 block,  0 assists.
Shaylie Brown - 0 kills, 3 aces, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Ali Devries - 0 kills, 0 aces, 2 blocks, 0 assists.
Allie Kerns - 4 kills, 0 aces, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Madi Stearns - 8 kills, 0 aces, 1 block, 1 assist.
Kelsey Olson - 1 kill, 0 aces, 1 block, 0 assists.
Hanna Hopkins - 0 kills, 2 aces, 0 blocks, 5 assists.

Team Totals – 33 kills, 11 aces, 5 blocks, 25 assists.

Omaha Northwest (14-5)

Kassidy Goertz - 0 kills, 0 aces, 0 blocks, 1 assist.
Parsila Dike - 11 kills, 0 aces, 1 block, 2 assists.
Taylor Eckley - 0 kills, 2 aces, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Emma Peters - 2 kills, 1 ace, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Jaden Wrightsell - 15 kills, 1 ace, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Addison Schramm - 1 kill, 4 aces, 0 blocks, 25 assists.
Jadai Burns - 1 kill, 0 aces, 1 block, 0 assists.
Sydney Vann - 1 kill, 0 aces, 0 blocks, 0 assists.
Madison McAllister - 2 kills, 0 aces, 0 blocks, 0 assists.

Team Totals – 33 kills, 9 aces, 2 blocks, 28 assists.