GACC 3-4 on the season so far

The GACC Volleyball team is 3-4 so far this season, losing 2-0 to North Bend Central, but beating Allen 2-0 at the Northeast Nebraska Tournament last Thursday, topping Tekamah-Herman 2-1, Wakefield 2-0, and losing 2-0 to Lutheran High Northeast at the tournament on Saturday, falling 3-2 at Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family Tuesday night, and losing 3-1 at home to Boone Central/Newman Grove Thursday night.

The Bluejays lost set one 25-6 and set two 25-9 to North Bend Central.

Kali Stratman notched 7 set assists.

GACC won sets one and three over Allen, 25-19, while dropping set two 27-25.

Riley Throener had 14 kills and 10 digs while Ally Plagge totaled 9 digs. Stratman dished out 31 set assists.

LHNE downed the Bluejays 25-10 in the first set, and 25-20 in the second set.

Plagge contributed 12 digs and Stratman registered 10 set assists.

GACC topped the Trojans 25-14 in set one, and 25-20 in set two.

Brooklyn Bailey posted 14 digs while Hanna Knobbe and Megan Brunsing notched 7 apiece. Stratman totaled 15 set assists.

The Bluejays lost set one to Tekamah-Herman 26-24 before taking sets two and three 25-21 and 25-16.

Throener put down 10 kills and added 12 digs while Bailey recorded 7 kills. Plagge led the way in digs with 14 while Stratman totaled 29 set assists.

GACC took set one from the Bullldogs, 25-23, lost set two 25-15, won set three 25-23, and lost set four 25-20, and set five 15-2.

Throener and Bobbie Ortmeier compiled 11 kills each while Bailey posted 10 kills and 13 digs. Brunsing added 10 digs while Throener and Knobbe notched 8 apiece. Stratman registered 34 set assists.

The Cardinals dominated the first set, winning 25-14. GACC battled back to take the second set 25-22. Boone Central/Newman Grove swept sets three and four 25-21 and 25-18.



Throener had 13 kills and 13 digs while Plagge registered 39 digs. Brunsing and Knobbe compiled 21 and 15 digs, respectively while Stratman contributed 11 digs and 24 set assists.

Head Coach Paul Steuter said the effort was there, but the Cardinals just did a few things better than they did. “I can’t fault the girls for effort. They put it all out there on the floor tonight. I thought that was good to see,” Steuter said. “Out of system balls, I thought we didn’t handle well and we couldn’t get back into system as easily as what Boone Central/Newman Grove did. They did a great job of staying better in system than our girls did. But again, I can’t fault their effort.”

The Bluejays (3-4) host Wayne (2-4) Tuesday night.

The Blue Devils lost to North Bend Central, Wisner-Pilger, and Fremont Bergan at the Northeast Nebraska Tournament on Saturday.

Wayne has been beaten by some good teams, and is a better team than their record would indicate I would say.

I don't see this match being easy for GACC whatsoever. The Bluejays have been sort of up and down so far this season, and are still trying to find their way I would say.

Throener needs to continue to light things up for GACC, and Bailey, Knobbe, Plagge, Stratman, Brunsing, and Ortmeier need to continue to step up and be factors as well.

The Bluejays need Throener, Bailey, and Ortmeier to all have good matches recording kills in the same match.

All three have done well at various times this season with Throener being the most consistent, but I think GACC could become a consistent threat and power if all three of these girls get on the same page and produce at the same time.

The Bluejays aren't off to too bad of a start though, and I feel GACC will only get better and stronger as the season goes on.

The Bluejays will definitely be battle tested come the postseason because of all the C-1 and C-2 teams they play, in my opinion.

I look for GACC to play better Volleyball at the end of the season than they are playing right now.

Focusing on the immediate future though I feel the Bluejays have a chance to knock off the Blue Devils Tuesday night.

GACC has played well at times this year and has really struggled at others so it really depends on which Bluejay team shows up Tuesday night.

GACC did well against Tekamah-Herman and Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family, and if the Bluejays can play like that in this match on Tuesday, then I think GACC has a chance to knock off Wayne and even their record back up at .500.