KEARNEY — Going into the District C1-7 volleyball championship against Ogallala, the theme for Lincoln Lutheran was “Finish.†The No. 6 Warriors carried it out, surviving a scrappy Indian squad with a 25-17, 19-25, 25-18, 25-13 win Saturday.
It was bumpy two-hour match for Lutheran, which won the first set handily but received a preview of how the next set would go.
“We came out and executed our game plan really well in that first set,†Lutheran coach Sue Ziegler said. “At the very end of it we had them 24-11, and I thought we gave them a sort of momentum shift going into the second set, which they really stuck it to us.â€
Despite the Warriors' best efforts, nothing went their way. Balls at the net would fall on their side and the timing between players was off.
“Oh, there was so many of those that would land on top of the net and then roll down on our side,†Ziegler said. "We got into that net and we didn’t make some of the big plays like they did.â€
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The third set didn’t look any better for Lutheran when Ogallala shot out to an 8-0 lead.
Then, suddenly, things changed.
The Warriors got into a groove, going on a 17-6 run to take a 17-14 lead.
“I think our serving was a little tougher,†said Ziegler. “I said we needed to be a little more aggressive on the service to get them out of system.â€
The Warriors won that set, finishing a 25-10 run. In addition, they established the presence of junior outside hitter Kaitlyn Oxley, who notched four of her 12 kills plus an ace serve in the big run.
Oxley was a major difference for Lutheran, becoming the third offensive option behind Abby Wachal and Abi Wohlgemuth.
“I was very impressed with Kaitlyn’s performance today,†Ziegler said. “… She has a very high hitting percentage, and we told her we needed another one of those performances today.â€
The Indians never recovered after that. The Warriors jumped out to an 8-1 lead in set four and didn't look back, locking up a spot in the state tournament for the fourth straight year and getting a chance to repeat as C-1 champions.
Wachal led all players with 13 kills, while Wohlgemuth had 12. Jenna Curtis led Ogallala with eight kills. The Warriors outhit the Indians, finishing with 53 team kills to 30 for Ogallala.
And as Ziegler and Lutheran look toward the state tournament, it’s all about keeping that competitive fire.
“Our team has the ability to play with any team in C-1," Ziegler said. "There are a lot of incredible teams in our class and on any given day it’s anybody’s ballgame, but we’re just hoping that we come out strong and play with fire.â€