Balanced Attack Leads Elkhorn South Past Millard South
Elkhorn South’s Rylee Gray hits around the block of Millard South’s Paige Fixemer during Thursday’s match. Elkhorn South won 3-1. Photo by Berk Brown. ELKHORN – Technically, Ibi Green is a right-side hitter for Elkhorn South, but on Thursday night…
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Continue ReadingElkhorn South’s Rylee Gray hits around the block of Millard South’s Paige Fixemer during Thursday’s match. Elkhorn South won 3-1. Photo by Berk Brown.
ELKHORN – Technically, Ibi Green is a right-side hitter for Elkhorn South, but on Thursday night against Millard South, she played the role of closer in helping lead the #2 Storm to a 25-20, 27-25, 21-25, 25-17 victory over the #8 Patriots.
Green, a Nebraska-Kearney recruit, had a match-high 22 kills on just 33 swings, as Elkhorn South improved to 3-0 on the year while Millard South dropped to 4-3.
In set one, it was Nebraska recruit Rylee Gray that set the tone early with three kills and three blocks that pushed the Storm out to an 8-3 lead. Another Gray kill eventually got Elkhorn South’s lead to 21-13 and a kill from Kylie Weeks finished it off at 25-20.
In a back-and-forth second set, a kill by Weeks put Elkhorn South up 15-14, but Millard South responded with a 6-0 run to take a 20-15 lead on an ace serve from Kenley Montagne. However, the Storm answered with a 5-0 run soon after with Weeks and Green each having two kills in the run to put Elkhorn South back up 22-21.
And Elkhorn South hitting error gave Millard South set point at 24-23, but Green smashed home an attack to tie it at 24. A kill from Millard South’s Maddie Madej gave the Patriots another set point at 25-24, but a kill and block from Gray and a setter dump from Madi Woodin gave the Storm a 27-25 win.
The third set was also a tight affair throughout, but a kill and ace serve from Army recruit Paige Fixemer put Millard South up 21-16. Green then slammed three straight kills for Elkhorn South and an ace serve from Weeks cut the Patriot lead to 21-20, but a kill from Maddie MacTaggart and block by Laci Abendroth fueled a 4-1 run by the Patriots to close the set out 25-21.
Millard South jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in the fourth set and its lead stood at 9-7 after a Fixemer kill before Elkhorn South started to pull away. With the score tied at 15, Weeks had a kill and Green added two more in a row to make it 18-15. While a Fixemer kill ended that run, Elkhorn South would then go on a 7-1 run to end the set with Green having three kills in that stretch – including the match winner.
Weeks finished the match with 15 kills and two aces while Gray had 15 kills, 10 blocks and an ace. Brilee Wieseler added five kills, an ace and 15 digs and Woodin finished with 52 assists, three kills and an ace. Estella Zatechka had 33 digs and three assists and Katie Galligan had 12 digs and an assist.
Fixemer led Millard South with 18 kills, two blocks and three ace serves while MacTaggart had 13 kills and Abendroth had six kills and four blocks. Makayla Fleming had 43 assists, two kills and a block.