MaxPreps 2014 Nebraska state volleyball tournament preview

For the better part of a season and a half, Class D-1 volleyball power St. Mary's (O'Neill) has been unbeatable.

But none of that will matter as much if the Cardinals come up short in their next match, a Class D-1 quarterfinal tussle against eighth-seeded St. Francis (Humphrey) Thursday to open the Nebraska State Volleyball Tournament being held at various sites around Lincoln.

Winners of 64 out of 65 matches over the past two seasons, the Cardinals fell 2-1 to eventual Class D-2 state runner-up Stuart at home Sept. 30, 2013. The Cardinals have since won 52 straight matches, rightly earning the favorites tag this weekend.

View the MaxPreps Nebraska girls volleyball playoff brackets

McKenzie Connot’s squad utilizes balance when in attack mode, with five Cardinals clubbing at least 135 kills each for the season, making Nebraska’s second-smallest classification’s top-ranked team tough to defend.

Senior Krissy Krotter leads the way with 262 kills on the year. Juniors Sydney Hupp (220), Riley Sibbel (171) and Emily Pongratz (138) hammered home a collective 529 kills, while senior Tracy Chvala contributed 137 kills.

The Flyers (16-11) may not be as easy of an out as one might think. Led by head coach Dean Korus, who took over the reigns again after a four-year hiatus, St. Francis has won nine of its last 11 matches.

Korus earned more than 400 wins in 26 seasons as head coach, while guiding the Flyers to 18 state tournament appearances and D-1 titles in 2000, 2004 and 2005. St. Francis also earned runner-up honors in 1993, 1994, 2006 and 2007 under Korus’ guidance.

Kaili Hackerott leads the way for St. Francis with 226 kills, while Holly Podliska and Kaitlynn Sjuts added 139 and 136 kills, respectively.

Other undefeated teams heading to Lincoln hoping to finish the current season with a clean slate are Class A top-ranked Papillion-LaVista (40-0), Class C-2 top-ranked Crofton (27-0) and Class C-2 second-ranked Freeman (Adams) (30-0).

Class C-1 Kearney Catholic (30-1) joins the Cardinals as defending champions that are favored to repeat. In Class A, third-ranked Marian (Omaha) hopes to go back-to-back and fourth-ranked Norris (Firth) (28-5) vows to do everything it can to bring home the hardware in Class B for the second-straight season.

Third-ranked St. Cecilia (Hastings) (29-4) is three wins away from a second C-2 title in a row, while Class D-2’s second-ranked Giltner is striving to be the cream of the crop once again in Nebraska’s smallest classification.

Of the 12 finalists from a year ago, everybody is back this year except Bruning-Davenport/Shickley and Minden. Class A looks to have the most balance in its field, with all eight qualifiers finishing in the top eight spots in MaxPreps’ final rankings going into this weekend’s volleyball extravaganza.

Millard South (Omaha) (26-12) is the lowest-ranked big school team with the No. 8 ranking. Pius X (Lincoln) (20-19), ranked ninth, was granted Class B’s lowest ranking, while Ashland-Greenwood (13-17) rounds out the C-1 field with a No. 37 rating.

Eleventh-ranked Southern Valley (Oxford) (25-8) in C-2, eighteenth-ranked St. Francis (Humphrey) (16-11) in D-1 and nineteenth-ranked Crawford (22-5) in D-2 are the lowest-ranked teams in each of their respective classifications.

While consolation matches in Nebraska’s four smallest classifications are scheduled for Saturday, Classes A and B will not compete in a third-place match this year.

Using the Freeman Rankings below, we project how the field of 48 plays out, as six champions will be crowned following Saturday’s action. If you read on there are tidbits of information from state tournament history.

Class A

Quarterfinals

No. 2 Lincoln Southeast (33-4) over No. 7 Lincoln North Star (22-9)
No. 3 Omaha Marian (34-7) over No. 6 Papillion-LaVista South (25-15)
No. 1 Papillion-LaVista (40-0) over No. 8 Millard South (26-12)
No. 4 Millard West (28-6) over No. 5 North Platte (30-5)

Semifinals

No. 2 Lincoln Southeast (34-4) over No. 3 Omaha Marian (35-7)
No. 1 Papillion-LaVista (41-0) over No. 4 Millard West (29-6)

Championship
No. 1 Papillion-LaVista (42-0) over No. 2 Lincoln Southeast (35-4)

Class B

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Omaha Skutt Catholic (34-5) over No. 9 Lincoln Pius X (20-19)
No. 6 Elkhorn (24-9) over No. 7 Grand Island Northwest (26-6)
No. 3 Aurora (29-7) over No. 4 Firth Norris (28-5)
No. 2 Elkhorn South (24-10) over No. 5 Gretna (26-6)

Semifinals

No. 1 Omaha Skutt Catholic (35-5) over No. 6 Elkhorn (25-9)
No. 2 Elkhorn South (25-10) over No. 3 Aurora (30-7)

Championship
No. 1 Omaha Skutt Catholic (36-5) over No. 2 Elkhorn South (26-10)

Class C1

Quarterfinals

No. 2 Omaha Concordia (32-1) over No. 6 Grand Island Central Catholic (25-7)
No. 3 Ogallala (29-5) over No. 8 Wahoo (30-3)
No. 1 Kearney Catholic (30-1) over No. 37 Ashland-Greenwood (13-17)
No. 5 Columbus Scotus (20-8) over No. 11 Chadron (29-4)

Semifinals

No. 2 Omaha Concordia (33-1) over No. 3 Ogallala (30-5)
No. 1 Kearney Catholic (31-1) over No. 5 Columbus Scotus (21-8)

Consolation
No. 3 Ogallala (30-6) over No. 5 Columbus Scotus (21-9)

Championship
No. 1 Kearney Catholic (32-1) over No. 2 Omaha Concordia (34-1)

Class C2

Quarterfinals
No. 1 Crofton (27-0) over No. 11 Southern Valley (25-8)
No. 4 Guardian Angels Central Catholic (29-4) over No. 5 Cairo Centura (22-8)
No. 2 Freeman (30-0) over No. 6 Sutton (27-5)
No. 3 Hastings St. Cecilia (29-4) over No. 9 Elmwood-Murdock (25-5)

Semifinals

No. 1 Crofton (28-0) over No. 4 Guardian Angels Central Catholic (30-4)
No. 2 Freeman (31-0) over No. 3 Hastings St. Cecilia (30-4)

Consolation
No. 3 Hastings St. Cecilia (30-5) over No. 4 Guardian Angels Central Catholic (30-5)

Championship
No. 1 Crofton (29-0) over No. 2 Freeman (32-0)

Class D1

Quarterfinals

No. 2 Ansley-Litchfield (31-1) over No. 8 Brady (21-8)
No. 5 Axtell (28-3) over No. 9 Cedar Bluffs (26-3)
No. 1 O’Neill St. Mary’s (31-0) over No. 18 Humphrey St. Francis (16-11)
No. 3 Diller-Odell (27-6) over No. 4 Emerson-Hubbard (28-4)

Semifinals

No. 2 Ansley-Litchfield (32-1) over No. 5 Axtell (29-3)
No. 1 O’Neill St. Mary’s (32-0) over No. 3 Diller-Odell (28-6)

Consolation
No. 3 Diller-Odell (28-7) over No. 5 Axtell (29-4)

Championship
No. 1 O’Neill St. Mary’s (33-0) over No. 2 Ansley-Litchfield (33-1)

Class D2

Quarterfinals
No. 2 Giltner (24-4) over No. 19 Crawford (22-5)
No. 3 Exeter-Milligan (24-7) over No. 10 Wynot (21-9)
No. 1 Stuart (27-5) over No. 16 Mullen (19-10)
No. 6 Bertrand (26-4) over No. 7 Lawrence-Nelson (22-7)

Semifinals
No. 2 Giltner (25-4) over No. 3 Exeter-Milligan (25-7)
No. 1 Stuart (28-5) over No. 6 Bertrand (27-4)

Consolation
No. 3 Exeter-Milligan (25-8) over No. 6 Bertrand (27-5)

Championship
No. 1 Stuart (29-5) over No. 2 Giltner (26-4)

MaxPreps State Volleyball Tournament Stat Leaders

 Hitting Percentage

1. Priscilla O’Dowd, Papillion-LaVista .493

2. Megan Wickey, Omaha Concordia .485

3. Carley Remmers, Freeman .466

4. Claire Knust, Omaha Skutt Catholic .418

5. Kylie Belt, Emerson-Hubbard .415

6. Hanna Justesen, Elmwood-Murdock .404

7. Shawna Paitz, Ansley/Litchfield .379

8. Maria Wortmann, Crofton .365

9. Breanne Kreikemeier, Guardian Angels Central Catholic .358

10. Kelsey Menke, Lawrence-Nelson .355

Kills

1. Laura McInturf, Southern Valley 557

2. Jamie Hauptman, Millard South 498

3. Raegan LeGrand, Papillion-LaVista South 461

4. Lauryn Hilger, Millard South 456

5. Hanna Justesen, Elmwood-Murdock 439

6. Kiley Hixson, Aurora 438

7. Kylie Belt, Emerson-Hubbard 395

8. Kelsey Green, Elkhorn South 393

9. Madison Jurgens, Diller-Odell 387

9. Allison Kuenle, North Platte 387

9. Katie Stephens, Papillion-LaVista 387

Assists

1. Jess Peters, Papillion-LaVista 1,130

2. Taylor Crandall, Papillion-LaVista South 1,117

3. Ashley Knight, Elkhorn South 1,016

4. Kinsley Tingelhoff, Wahoo 981

5. Allison Penner, Aurora 961

6. Alex Neff, North Platte 949

6. Maren McGuire, Omaha Marian 949

8. Kailee Brown, Lincoln North Star 879

9. Jamie Petz, Guardian Angels Central Catholic 856

10. Savana Quinn, Southern Valley 839

Aces

1. Shelby Lineberry, Cedar Bluffs 97

2. Shawna Paitz, Ansley/Litchfield 71

3. Katie Steuter, Guardian Angels Central Catholic 69

3. Emily Lenners, Freeman 69

5. Morgan Stute, Kearney Catholic 67

6. Madison Jurgens, Diller-Odell 64

7. Maddy Roumph, Cedar Bluffs 63

8. Nicole Keenan, Sutton 61

8. Bailey Tenopir, Cedar Bluffs 61

10. Averey Yaksich, Omaha Concordia 58

10. Madison Myers, Cairo Centura 58

Blocks

1. Mady Roth, Cairo Centura 283

2. Laura McInturf, Southern Valley 197

3. Madison Hajek, Diller-Odell 183

4. Claire Knust, Omaha Skutt Catholic 173

5. Allie Beckmann, Grand Island Northwest 157

6. Priscilla O’Dowd, Papillion-LaVista 150

7. Maddie Stearns, Millard South 149

8. Kelsey Placke, Grand Island Northwest 138

9. Katie Schultis, Diller-Odell 136

10. Casey Krolikowski, Cairo Centura 131

Digs

1. Brooke Hays, Southern Valley 724

2. Brittany Witt, Omaha Marian 639

3. Erin Warren, Papillion-LaVista South 558

4. Brenna Backemeyer, Elmwood-Murdock 544

5. Harlie Himmelberg, Lawrence-Nelson 540

6. Audrey Keim, Millard South 539

7. Mariah Neville, Cairo Centura 528

8. Carlie Mazour, Lawrence-Nelson 521

9. Jaden Thiem, Elkhorn South 456

10. Kiley Hixson, Aurora 445

NSAA State Tournament Leaders

State Tournament Appearances

Columbus Scotus, 29

Omaha Marian, 29

Papillion-LaVista, 29

Grand Island Central Catholic, 28

Ogallala, 28

Lincoln Pius X, 25

Grand Island Northwest, 23

Humphrey St. Francis, 20

Elkhorn, 19

Firth Norris, 19

Consecutive Years at State Tournament

Lincoln Pius X, 20 (1995-2014)

Grand Island Central Catholic, 14 (2001-14)

Omaha Marian, 14 (2001-14)

Kearney Catholic, 10 (2005-14)

Ogallala, 9 (2006-14)

Columbus Scotus, 7 (2008-14)

Most State Tournament Matches

Columbus Scotus, 74

Grand Island Central Catholic, 69

Omaha Marian, 58

Lincoln Pius X, 53

Ogallala, 52

Papillion-LaVista, 50

Grand Island Northwest, 43

Hastings St. Cecilia, 42

Humphrey St. Francis, 39

Guardian Angels Central Catholic, 35

Elkhorn, 33

Most State Tournament Match Wins

Columbus Scotus, 62

Grand Island Central Catholic, 51

Lincoln Pius X, 35

Omaha Marian, 34

Hastings St. Cecilia, 29

Ogallala, 28

Papillion-LaVista, 28

Guardian Angels Central Catholic, 24

Grand Island Northwest, 24

Humphrey St. Francis, 23

Giltner, 22