Lincoln-The Guardian Angels Central Catholic Volleyball team came back from big deficits in both the first and last sets to stun Lutheran High Northeast 3-2 at the State Tournament in Lincoln Thursday night.
The Bluejays trailed 23-14 in set one only to rattle off 11 straight points and win set one 25-23. The Eagles responded by winning set two 25-22 before GACC took set three 25-20. LHNE won set four 25-13 to force a fifth set. GACC trailed 13-7 in the final set, but scored 8 straight points to win 15-13.
Maddie Knobbe poured in a match-high 28 kills and added 9 blocks and 9 digs for the Bluejays while Riley Throener notched 9 kills and 7 digs. Ally Plagge registered 19 digs while Lisa Gatzemeyer totaled 18. Kali Stratman recorded 13 digs and 41 set assists.
Gatzemeyer scored 11 straight points for the Bluejays at one point....and Head Coach Kate Hagemann got a little choked up during the post game interview about the S and W Welding Player of the Game.
"I've never been more proud of a kid. Lisa I thought just played phenomenal behind the service line. And man she kept some balls alive for us. A lot of balls that weren't even hers that she was just making reads on and getting to them. Two years ago she was my student manager. And now she's the starting defensive specialist on a team that's playing in the semifinals. And she's why you coach. She's just that type of kid so I'm really proud of her."
Hagemann on the win.
"That's just what high school sports should be about. I mean that's a lot of fun. I think that we rode the ups and downs, and we never gave up. And we got really tough in tough situations. And that's everything you want out of your team, and we did it at the right time."
GACC fell 3-1 to Johnson-Brock in the State Semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday.
The Bluejays won set one 26-24 before the Eagles took set two 25-19, and sets three and four 25-17.
Knobbe paced GACC with 18 kills, 9 blocks, and 11 digs while Throener had 8 kills. Stratman notched 16 digs and 31 set assists while Plagge totaled 11 digs. Gatzemeyer and Allie Knobbe posted 10 and 7, respectively.
The Bluejays took the first two sets from Elgin Public/Pope John in Saturday's third place match at Lincoln Southeast, winning set one 25-23, and set two 25-22. The Wolfpack bounced back to win set three 25-21, set four 25-13, and set five 15-10.
Maddie Knobbe poured in a match-high 28 kills and 12 digs with Plagge totaling 18 digs. Allie Knobbe compiled 12 digs while Stratman contributed 10 digs and 47 set assists.
I thought it was a pretty good season for GACC. The Bluejays would of liked to have gone farther in the state tournament I'm sure, but the win over Lutheran High Northeast is something these players, coaches, and fans will remember for the rest of their lives for sure.
GACC wraps up the season at 18-12.
It was sort of an up and down year for the Bluejays, whose biggest wins came against Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family, Homer, Battle Creek, Wisner-Pilger, Wayne, Hartington Cedar Catholic, Clarkson/Leigh, and Cedar Bluffs.
GACC wasn't as dominant as they have been in recent years, but still pretty good.
Maddie Knobbe led the team with 444 kills this season while Plagge led the team in digs with 319. Stratman had a team-high 725 set assists.
The Bluejays say goodbye to Maddie Knobbe, Gatzemeyer, Jamie Plagge, Emily Reeson, and Tessa Simonsen.
GACC returns some talent in Throener, Allie Knobbe, Ally Plagge, Stratman, and Maddie Bracht.
The Bluejays lose their team leader and best player in Maddie Knobbe though.
Someone is going to have to step up and help fill the void left by her.
Her production and leadership will be missed without a doubt. She carried this team this year, and without her, GACC would have really struggled, in my opinion.
The good news for the Bluejays is they have a whole offseason to figure something out in terms of replacing her.
It's important for these girls to work really hard from now until August, and lift and play the sport of Volleyball often.
I'm sure a lot of these girls play other sports like basketball, and that's wonderful, but devoting proper time to Volleyball in the offseason is important.
The returning players and newcomers have to be committed and devoted to working hard and improving this offseason.
No comments:
Post a Comment