Howells-Dodge tops Wakefield and Logan View

The Howells-Dodge Jaguars had no troubles with Wakefield and Logan View last week, downing the Trojans 3-0 at home Tuesday night, and the Raiders 3-0 on the road Thursday night.

Howells-Dodge downed Wakefield 25-11 in set one, 25-12 in set two, and 25-10 in set three.

Sam Brester posted 13 kills while Kalli Brester had 11 kills and 13 digs. Jessi Brester totaled 9 kills while Tessa Brester dished out 28 set assists.

The Jaguars took care of Logan View 25-13 in the first set, 25-14 in the second set, and 25-20 in the third set.

Sam Brester and Kalli Brester recorded 14 kills apiece while Sam Brester notched 9 digs. Tessa Brester registered 30 set assists.

Howells-Dodge handled their business the way they needed to. These were two very impressive and dominating wins for the Jaguars.

Howells-Dodge (9-1) hosts Lutheran High Northeast (10-5) Tuesday night.

The Eagles went 2-1 at the Ord Invite on Saturday, knocking off Wayne and O'Neill 2-0, but losing 2-0 to Grand Island Central Catholic.

Lutheran High Northeast is a really good team who has lost to some juggernauts.

The Eagles' losses have come to North Bend Central, Hartington Cedar Catholic (twice), Stanton, and GICC.

Lutheran High Northeast has quality wins over GACC, Pender, Wisner-Pilger, and Wayne.

This match figures to be tough for the Jaguars. I don't see the Eagles being a pushover for Howells-Dodge in any way.

I feel this match is going to be very tight and close. The Jaguars are definitely capable of winning, but I think this is a match that has 5 sets written all over it.

These are the types of matches Howells-Dodge has to win if they want to make state though.

The Jaguars will no doubt face tough competition in sub districts so this match should help prepare Howells-Dodge for what lies ahead.

The Jaguars have to come out and play their hearts out the whole time Tuesday night.

Howells-Dodge has to play with guts, toughness, tenacity, fire, and grit.

The Jaguars have to be lethal, yet smart with their offensive attacks.

Howells-Dodge has to be fired up and excited for this match. The Jaguars have to take the fight to Lutheran High Northeast, and play aggressive volleyball.

Howells-Dodge also has to want it more than the Eagles.

Stanton 5-0 in last five matches

Stanton continues to roll as the Mustangs defeated Norfolk Catholic and Boone Central/Newman Grove 2-0 at the Norfolk Catholic Triangular on Thursday, and beat Hartington Cedar Catholic, Twin River, and Battle Creek 2-0 at their own tournament on Saturday.

The Mustangs downed the Cardinals 25-10 in set one and 25-15 in set two.

Jessie Brandl finished with 7 kills and 9 digs while MacKenzie Brandl notched 8 digs. Bree Burtwhistle added 17 set assists.

Stanton beat the Knights 25-17 in the first set, and 25-11 in the second set.

Jessie Brandl registered 7 kills and 9 digs while Katie Brandl totaled 7 digs. Burtwhistle dished out 14 set assists while Makenna Espinoza had 10.

The Mustangs swept the Braves 25-23 in set one and 25-20 in set two.

Jessie Brandl compiled 10 kills and 14 digs while MacKenzie Brandl notched 17 digs. Burtwhistle recorded 19 set assists.

Stanton downed the Titans 25-18 in the first set, and 25-22 in the second set.

Burtwhistle posted 12 kills, 13 digs, and 12 set assists while Jessie Brandl totaled 7 kills and 10 digs. MacKenzie Brandl recorded 13 digs while Espinoza notched 11 set assists.

The Mustangs took care of the Trojans 25-15 in set one, and 25-18 in set two.

Burtwhistle had 10 kills and 11 digs while Jessie Brandl notched 9 kills and 10 digs. Hannah Heppner added 8 kills while MacKenzie Brandl recorded 15 digs. Espinoza chipped in 10 set assists.

Head Coach Tracy Kuester-Burtwhistle on the win over Hartington Cedar Catholic. "It was nice to play HCC again in a championship match in a tournament.  They are a very good competitive team, that blocks exceptionally well, plays great defense and makes great choices attacking the ball.  All areas of the game that we worked on this past week to improve our level of play, so as a team it was nice to come out with a win against HCC."

Kuester-Burtwhistle adds winning this tournament was a big deal. "Winning this past week end continues to gives us momentum our program is striving for. We set goals every season, we check them off and we missed one goal so far this year!  From that missed goal we learn and make adjustments. This tournament win gives us a boost of confidence playing together as a team and staying the course, great things will happen."

The Mustangs made adjustments following a second place finish in the Wakefield Tournament. "After the Wakefield Tournament we talked about our weaknesses as individual players and a team, and implemented a plan this past week during practice to focus on those areas we could immediately improve on. Play defense first, serve aggressively, run our offense and attack the ball, which they demonstrated at every match on Saturday. Are we at our potential - no, however this team is willing to take those extra reps at practice to improve:)"

Stanton (13-2) takes on Pender (5-4) and Wisner-Pilger (4-3) in the Wisner-Pilger Triangular on Tuesday.

The Pendragons won 3-1 at Wakefield last time out while the Gators lost 3-0 at home to North Bend Central in their last match.

Kuester-Burtwhistle discusses the keys to beating both teams. "Stay our course, control what we can control and continue to learn from our errors and build our mental toughness. Make a mistake - move on, and continue to make adjustments quicker during the match, build our teams trust - I'm In = All In!"

The Mustangs are playing about as well as anyone right now, and I look for Stanton to continue to roll Tuesday night.

Pender and Wisner-Pilger are tough teams though so the Mustangs have to be ready to play just like they were on Thursday and Saturday.

You can bet the Pendragons and Gators will give Stanton their best shot so the Mustangs have to be ready to go blow for blow with both squads.

Stanton is very capable of beating both teams, and given the way the Mustangs have been playing lately, and how good they are, they should beat both teams.

I don't look for either match to be easy, but I look for Stanton to be too strong for both teams and prevail in the end.

The Mustangs have high expectations for this season like they always do, and I look for Stanton to take another step in the right direction in achieving their goals.

This team is on a roll right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if they continue their winning ways on Tuesday, and continue this current run they are on at the moment.

West Point-Beemer 2-1 in last three matches

The West Point-Beemer Cadets are 2-1 in their last two matches, downing Schuyler 2-0, but losing 2-0 to Twin River, at the Twin River Triangular last Thursday night before downing Tekamah-Herman 3-0 on the road Tuesday night.

The Titans downed the Cadets 26-24 in set one and 25-10 in set two.

West Point-Beemer beat the Warriors 25-17 in the first set, and 25-19 in the second set.

The Cadets defeated the Tigers 29-27 in set one, 25-19 in set two, and 25-17 in set three.

I think West Point-Beemer is playing good volleyball right now. The Cadets were very competitive in all three of their last three matches even though they struggled in set two against Twin River.

Speaking of the Titans (8-1), West Point-Beemer (2-2) plays them in the Stanton Tournament on Saturday.

Twin River won 3-1 at Fullerton on Thursday, and has won at least five matches in a row.

I think the Cadets probably feel they can play with the Titans and let one get away last time though.

I look for West Point-Beemer to at least win a set against Twin River this time, if not pull an upset.

Both teams are playing at a high level right now, and the first match of any tournament is always big.

The Cadets have to come ready to play.

Getting off to a fast start and finishing is going to be critical for West Point-Beemer, in my opinion.

That first set is going to be big for both teams I think. The winner will definitely have the upper hand in the next set.

The Cadets have to play their game, and have confidence in themselves.

This is a quality West Point-Beemer team, and the Cadets have to keep working hard and working together as a team.

This team is capable of winning any match they play on Saturday if they continue to play the way they have.

I look for West Point-Beemer to have a good showing, and give all teams they play on Saturday their best shot.

Logan View loses to Pender and Howells-Dodge

The Logan View Raiders lost 3-0 at home to Pender Tuesday night and 3-0 at home to Howells-Dodge Thursday night.

The Raiders dropped set one to the Pendragons 25-14, and lost sets two and three 25-16 and 25-9.

The Jaguars beat Logan View 25-13 in set one, 25-14 in set two, and 25-20 in set three.

Logan View hosted a couple of tough teams this week. Both losses were to quality opponents.

The Raiders (1-6) host the Logan View Invite on Saturday.

It will be interesting to see if the Raiders can have any success in their own tournament.

Logan View has had a difficult time being competitive this season, but that doesn't mean the Raiders can't get things turned around on Saturday.

Logan View has to come ready to play, and must get off to good starts and finish strong in every match they play.

The Raiders may face some adversity, so Logan View has to be ready to handle it if and when it comes.

I thought the Raiders did a nice job competing with Howells-Dodge in the last set of Thursday's match. Logan View could have easily quit, but they didn't, and I think that's something the Raiders can build on.

These girls just have to have fun, and play smart, but aggressive volleyball.

Logan View has to want to win and be competitive. The Raiders need to continue to improve to keep building their program.

Success has yet to come to Logan View this season, but it can come their way at any given time.

The Raiders just have to keep their heads up, and must keep fighting and battling through their struggles.

These girls just have to believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that brighter days are ahead, because they are.

Pender downs Logan View and Wakefield

The Pender Pendragons won both matches this week, sweeping Logan View 3-0 on the road Tuesday night, and defeating Wakefield 3-1 on the road Thursday night.

The Pendragons beat the Raiders 25-14 in set one, 25-16 in set two, and 25-9 in set three.

Pender downed the Trojans 25-20 in the first set. Wakefield won the second set 25-21 before the Pendragons won the third set 25-17 and the fourth set 25-13.

Head Coach Melissa Hansen says her girls hard a hard time serving the ball. "Within the first I think their first eight or ten points in that second set I think we gave them over half of those points just on service errors. So we had a good talk in between sets about how serving is important in every game, and finally we just said focus on getting your serves over and in. So that's what our main focus was."

Hansen says poor serving nearly cost them the match. "We came out a little I would say off. With this whole weather thing, we didn't really get started out like we usually do. Our routine was a little off. So coming in late I think it threw the girls off, but once we finally got focused and ready to play ball, it came around."

Pender is 5 and 4 after the win over the Trojans. Hansen says three wins in a row is a good sign."I'm excited to see what our future holds. These girls have really come a long way just from the first game. We're finally getting some team unity. Learning to play with one another. I really think that our future could be good."

The Pendragons take on Stanton (10-2) and Wisner-Pilger (4-3) in the Wisner-Pilger Triangular Tuesday night.

The Gators lost 3-0 at home to North Bend Central Tuesday night while the Mustangs downed Boone Central/Newman Grove and Norfolk Catholic 2-0 Thursday night.

Pender is doing good this year, in my opinion, but I think both Wisner-Pilger and Stanton will be tough.

These matches will be good measuring sticks for the Pendragons, in my opinion.

It will be interesting to see if Pender can keep things rolling and pick up a signature win or two.

I feel like the Pendragons have the potential to beat both teams, it's just a matter of going out there and making it happen.

The Mustangs are a really good team, and I would say the Gators are up there too, so I don't see things being easy in either match for Pender.

This is going to be a really tough triangular for the Pendragons, in my opinion.

We will find out how far Pender has come and what sort of improvements they have made over last year.

There's no doubt the Pendragons want to do well in this tournament, but if Pender struggles, I don't think that would show how good Pender really is.

Clarkson/Leigh 2-1 in last three matches

The Clarkson/Leigh Patriots are 2-1 in their last three matches, knocking off Scribner-Snyder 3-1 at home Tuesday night before beating High Plains Community 2-0 and losing 2-0 to Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family at the Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family Triangular on Thursday.

The Patriots downed the Trojans 25-13 in set one. Scribner-Snyder took set two 25-23 before Clarkson/Leigh won sets three and four 25-16.

Hannah Kasik finished with 16 kills while Sydney Folken totaled 10 kills 7 blocks. Sara McEvoy notched 13 digs while Halee Steffensmeier and Paige Moore registered 12 and 11, respectively. Beth Wiese and Cully Cerv registered 7 apiece while Kaegan Held recorded 30 set assists.

The Bulldogs took set one 25-16, and set two 25-14.

Sara McEvoy notched 7 digs while Held posted 8 set assists.

The Patriots knocked off the Storm 25-15 in set one and 25-13 in set two.

Held dished out 23 set assists.

I think Clarkson/Leigh has been playing solid volleyball as of late. The Patriots have taken care of business against teams in D-1 and D-2.

Clarkson/Leigh (4-2) takes on Hartington Cedar Catholic (8-4) in the opening round of the Stanton Tournament on Saturday.

The Trojans have won seven in a row, and won the Wakefield Classic last week.

This is a tough first match for the Patriots, but I think it will be a good, stingy test for Clarkson/Leigh.

The Patriots will be able to find out just how good they are on Saturday when they play Hartington Cedar Catholic.

I feel this match is going to be a good measuring stick for Clarkson/Leigh.

I think it's going to be difficult for the Patriots to win, but anything is possible, and Clarkson/Leigh has to play inspired, optimistic volleyball on Saturday.

The winner gets either Arlington or Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, and so even if the Patriots don't win their first match, I feel they have a good shot to win their second match.

Clarkson/Leigh has to be in it to win it, and must do everything in their power to win every match they play in.

This is a big tournament for the Patriots, and a chance to show everyone they are a program to be reckoned with.

I think Clarkson/Leigh has the potential to at least go 2-1 in this tournament. The field is stacked with some C-1 and C-2 teams so I don't know if the Patriots can win it all, but that has to be the goal.

First serve is set for 11:15 a.m.

Wisner-Pilger falls to North Bend Central

The Wisner-Pilger Gators lost 3-0 at home to North Bend Central Tuesday night.

The Tigers won set one 25-19, set two 25-18, and set three 25-17.

Jayda Oligmueller led the way with 8 kills.

I don't think Wisner-Pilger played bad, I just think North Bend Central is a really good team.

The Gators (4-3) host Stanton and Pender in a Triangular on Tuesday.

The slate continues to be tough for Wisner-Pilger.

Both opponents are good teams, and the Gators will need to be on top of their game to come out on top in both matches.

The good news for Wisner-Pilger though is the Gators will have ample time to prepare for both teams.

I think the extra preparation time will give Wisner-Pilger an edge and advantage.

Stanton has matches before Tuesday though so the Mustangs figure to be in good game shape, and the Pendragons could be too.

I think a long layoff can sometimes work on a team's patience, but as long as the Gators don't get frustrated by the lack of matches before Tuesday, they should be in good shape.

Wisner-Pilger has to play hard, smart, and aggressive in both matches.

The Gators have to take advantage of mistakes by both teams, and turn them into points.

Wisner-Pilger has to take the fight to both teams on Tuesday, and prove they are a worthy team.

The Gators can't back down from either opponent, and have to make life difficult on both foes.

Wisner-Pilger has to have fun, and must enjoy playing the game of Volleyball.

The Gators have to be on top of their game and execute in all facets of the game.

Wisner-Pilger has to do everything in their power to win, but be gracious in defeat should they lose.

Going 2-0 in this triangular would be great for the Gators, but I think Wisner-Pilger could live with going 1-1.