District volleyball roundup: Eight local teams advance to state tournaments

Saturday was a great day for volleyball in Southeast Nebraska: eight local teams prevailed in their district finals across four classifications in all parts of the state on Saturday, setting the scene for an exciting few days at the state tournament this week in Lincoln.  

Here, we recap all of the district finals won by local teams on Saturday across the state, and we reveal our state tournament coverage schedule live this week in Lincoln on Ol’ Red and KWBE. This story will be updated with coverage plans for later rounds as the tournament progresses. 

CLASS B 

A couple of Saturday’s results were surprises or upsets, but Norris, the #1-seed in Class B, winning over #16-seed Scottsbluff was far from a surprise. In fact, the Titans (35-1) have won all but one match they’ve played in this season, and that loss came on September 21 against Papillion-LaVista South, the #1-seed in Class A.  

Norris is the prohibitive favorite in Class B after routing Scottsbluff in straight sets (25-8, 25-14, 25-8) in the B-1 district final on Saturday morning. Norris hit .299 in the match led by ten kills on .471 hitting from Alli Bornschlegl, and recorded 15 aces as a team, including eight from Kaelynn Lottman alone. The Titans are one of the first teams to take the floor at Pinnacle Bank Arena this week: #1-seed Norris will take on #8-seed Lincoln Pius X on Wednesday at 9 AM. That match will air on KWBE.  

CLASS C2 

Norris isn’t the only Titan team that’s had a strong year so far – Thayer Central is 30-2, and their only losses came to two teams that are in the final eight in the Class C1 field. The Titans were the #3-seed in Class C2 and took down #14-seed Bishop Neumann (20-15) in straights (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) on Saturday evening in Hebron.  

The Titans out-hit the Cavaliers by almost exactly 200 points in the sweep, with the Brueggemann sisters leading the charge offensively, as usual. Ella led all players with 17 kills in just three sets on .405 hitting, while Emma added in ten kills on .171 hitting, and four players recorded a dozen or more digs, impressive balance. Thayer Central is the #3-seed in the state tournament, and will begin their week in Lincoln on Thursday at 7 PM.  

And waiting for them there will be Freeman, which won an all-local matchup on Saturday to set up another one on Wednesday. The Falcons (26-4) were a #7-seed and defeated #10-seed Johnson County Central (23-7) in four sets (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-11) in the C2-7 district final on Saturday afternoon.  

That was actually the fourth meeting this season between the Falcons and the Thunderbirds: Freeman won the first two in 2-0 sweeps before JCC won in five on October 17. Freeman earned the win this time though and will now face Thayer Central for the first time this season on Thursday at 7 PM. That matchup will air on Ol’ Red.  

And finally in Class C2, Johnson-Brock (27-6) booked its place in Lincoln by edging past Crofton (22-7) in five sets (25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11), in a match that was as close as a #8 vs. #9 game probably should be. Taryn Ottemann turned in an impressive 31 kills against only one error (.375 hitting) to pace all players, and the Eagles out-blocked the Warriors 9-4. 

That was the first meeting between the two this year, and it sets up a rematch for the Eagles against an Oakland-Craig team that beat them in their last game before the district final. That game will begin at 5 PM on Thursday with coverage on another local station.  

CLASS D1 

Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (28-4) has been one of the best teams in Class D1 this season, and proved that by pounding Plainview (14-16) in straight sets (25-22, 25-8, 25-12) in the #2 vs. #15-seed matchup on Saturday evening in Bruning. BDS held Plainview to a negative attack percentage (more errors than kills) in the match to book a trip to Lincoln.  

The Eagles have lost only four matches this year, and two of those losses have come to Superior, who could await them in the semifinals on Friday. First, though, #2-seed BDS will take on #7-seed Howells-Dodge at 1 PM on Thursday. That match will air live on Ol’ Red.  

Exeter-Milligan/Friend (20-10) triumphed in the other all-local district final on Saturday evening, topping Tri County (20-13) in four sets (25-18, 25-12, 17-25, 25-20) in the D1-8 final in Milligan. Setter Lily Jeffries steered the Bobcats to a .271 hit percentage with 37 assists, most of which went to Kaydence Haase, who tallied 24 kills on .347 hitting.  

From one predicted tossup to another: EMF is the #5-seed in the state tournament and will take on #4-seed Cambridge (22-10) on Thursday at 3 PM. The first matchup between these two teams this year will air on Ol’ Red.  

And Diller-Odell sprung one of the biggest upsets (in terms of seeding at least) on district final Saturday when the #13-seeded Griffins (19-11) took down #4-seed Nebraska Christian (21-10)  in five sets (26-24, 24-26, 23-25, 31-29, 15-7) in the D1-4 final on Saturday afternoon in Central City.  

The set scores reflect just how tightly contested this match was. All of Diller-Odell's recorded kills were concentrated across four players, three of whom had 20 or more: Myleigh Weers led all players with 24 and Baileigh Vilda added 21 on an impressive .600 clip. Vilda also tied for the team high with 17 digs and Weers led the team with six total blocks.  

Diller-Odell will have a tough test in front of it now: the Griffins are now the #8-seed in this bracket and must face #1-seed Southwest (33-0) on Thursday at 1 PM. That match will air on KWBE.  

CLASS D2 

And finally, #10-seeded Meridian (20-10) pulled off a minor seeded upset by knocking off #7-seed Garden County (25-7) in four sets (25-10, 22-25, 25-18, 25-14) the D2-7 district final hosted by McCook. The Mustangs started strong and finished strong, holding the Eagles to below 15 points in the first and fourth frames.  

Meridian limited Garden County to an .083 hit percentage and won the match despite hitting into 13 blocks. Meridian’s reward is to face top-seeded Leyton (33-0), which was the #2-seed in the district final but moves up to the #1-seed in the state tournament, surpassing Overton. Meridian vs. Leyton airs on Ol’ Red at 9 AM on Thursday.  

 

2024 Nebraska Volleyball State Tournament Broadcast Schedule 

Wednesday, 11/6 

9 AM – Class B - #1 Norris vs. #8 Lincoln Pius X – KWBE 

 

Thursday, 11/7 

9 AM – Class D2 - #1 Leyton vs. #8 Meridian – Ol' Red 

1 PM – Class D1 - #2 BDS vs. #7 Howells-Dodge – Ol' Red 

1 PM – Class D1 - #1 Southwest vs. #8 Diller-Odell – KWBE 

3 PM – Class D1 - #4 Cambridge vs. #5 EMF – Ol' Red 

7 PM – Class C2 - #3 Thayer Central vs. #6 Freeman – Ol' Red 

 

Friday, 11/8  

9 AM – Class D1 - #1 Southwest vs. #5 EMF – Ol' Red 

11 AM – Class D1 - #2 BDS vs. #3 Superior – Ol' Red 

3 PM - Class C2 - #3 Thayer Central vs. #7 Johnson-Brock - Ol' Red

5 PM – Class B - #1 Norris vs. #4 Elkhorn North – KWBE 

 

Saturday, 11/9 

11 AM – Class D1 - #3 Superior vs. #5 EMF – Ol' Red 

1 PM - Class C2 - #1 Lincoln Lutheran vs. #3 Thayer Central - Ol' Red

5 PM – Class B - #1 Norris vs. #2 Skutt Catholic – KWBE