Top-Ranked Papillion-LaVista Wins Epic Battle with Elkhorn South 3-2
Creighton recruit Norah Sis of Papillion-LaVista, left, tips over the block of Madi Woodin and Nebraska recruit Rylee Gray of Elkhorn South during Thursday night’s match. Photo by Berk Brown. PAPILLION – In what can only really be described as…
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Continue ReadingCreighton recruit Norah Sis of Papillion-LaVista, left, tips over the block of Madi Woodin and Nebraska recruit Rylee Gray of Elkhorn South during Thursday night’s match. Photo by Berk Brown.
PAPILLION – In what can only really be described as one of the most intense and memorable regular-season, best-of-five matches in a long, long time, top-ranked Papillion-LaVista mounted a comeback for the ages to down #2 Elkhorn South 23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 17-15.
Each set came down to the final few points in a thrilling match that went back-and-forth all night. Elkhorn South, 7-1, looked to get a huge break late in the second set when – after winning the first set – a rotation error on the Monarchs negated a set-tying kill by Norah Sis and instead gave the Storm a 24-22 lead in the set. Setter Madi Woodin then followed with an ace as Elkhorn South took a 2-0 lead in a stunning and quick change of events at the end of the set.
Papillion-LaVista, 10-0, regrouped afterward and Sis came out on fire in the third set. After Elkhorn South had just pulled ahead 15-14 on a kill from Rylee Gray, Sis answered with consecutive kills – she had eight in the set – and Chloe Paschal added another to put Papio up 15-13 and the Monarchs never trailed again in the set, winning 25-20.
In the fourth set, Elkhorn South held a 21-19 lead late, but a kill by Sis and consecutive ace serves from Ashlee Fettin got Papio ahead 22-21. The Monarchs eventually got a setter dump from South Dakota recruit Brooklyn Schram and Paschal – who is headed to Washburn – won a joust at the net to give the Monarchs a 25-22 win in the set.
In a fanatical fifth set, a kill from Sis tied the score at 13-13, but a Monarch service error gave Elkhorn South match point at 14-13. Sis tied the match again, however, with a kill on the outside to make it 14-14. Another Monarch service error gave the Storm its second match point, but a huge block by Schram and Erica Broin again tied the match at 15-15.
Papio got its first match point at 16-15 when middle Logan Jeffus – who tied a career high with 12 kills in the match – put down an Elkhorn South overpass. The match ended when a Monarch pass looked like it was going to drift into trouble at the net, but Schram went up above the net and deflected it off the Elkhorn South block and onto the floor, which sent the Papio bench and the Monarch student section rushing onto the court and gave the top-ranked team a 3-2 victory.
Sis had 27 kills on the night – the second-highest total in her career – for the Monarchs while Paschal finished with 13 and Jeffus had 12. Schram had 52 assists in the match.
For Elkhorn South, Rylee Gray finished with 24 kills and eight blocks. Not only was it a career-high kill total for Gray, but it was also the first time in her career she topped the 20-kill mark. Ibi Green finished with 18 kills and Kylie Weeks had 12. Madi Woodin had 60 assists and 19 digs while Estella Zatechka had 40 digs. Katie Galligan and Brilee Wiesler each had 12 digs and Wieseler added seven kills.