The Neligh-Oakdale volleyball team celebrated parents night on Tuesday night during its annual Pink Out event.
The Warriors have three seniors — Haley Kerkman, Kristen Snodgrass and Ayspen Tarker. Tuesday marked their final home match of the sesaon. Neligh-Oakdale picked up a four-set win over Creighton on Tuesday night as the Warriors celebrated both a Pink Out and parents night.
“We had girls all over the court. I can’t say enough about their fight,” said coach Hannah Hoefer. “We were down a couple of times, and they weren’t getting frantic. They regained focus and never lacked in hustle.” The Warriors utilized a balanced attack with its hitters. Haley Kerkman put down a 13 kills while both Shelby Pitzer and Amanda Dietz powered another 12 kills each. Trinity Kurpgeweit added another seen kills on the night. Kurpgeweit and Paige Furstenau picked up 14 digs in the win. Running their 6-2 offense, Kerkman put up 25 set assists and Claire Whitesel had 19. The Warriors will be back in action Thursday as they travel to top-rated Ewing (19-0). They’ll then play in the Wisner-Pilger tournament on Saturday. “The girls are very up for these challenges. In the past, the girls may not have wanted big games, but they want to play and see where we compare to these solid teams.” Creighton 23 23 25 21 Neligh-Oakdale 25 25 22 25 Neligh-Oakdale: Paige Furstenau 1k, 14d, 1sa; Trinity Kurpgeweit 7k, 3a, 14d; Brooke Frey 2k, 1b, 2d; Amanda Dietz 12k, 2d; Shelby PItzer 12k, 6d; Haley Kerkman 13k, 1a, 1b, 10d, 25sa, Aubrie Klabenes 2k, 2d; Claire Whitesel 1a, 3d, 19sa; Kristen Snodgrass 1k, 3a. Both the Elkhorn Valley and Crofton girls golf teams wrapped up their seasons at Monday's C-3 District Tournament at Norfolk Country Club.
Battle Creek won the team district title with a score of 426. Norfolk Catholic was second, Hartington Cedar Catholic was third and West Holt was fourth. All four teams qualified for next week's state tournament. Anna Kassmeier of Norfolk Catholic won a three-way playoff against Ireland Billoft of HCC and Sydney Erickson of Pierce to claim the individual district title. The Lady Falcons placed eighth as a team with a team score of 543. Crofton's Delayne Sudbeck placed 15th individually. EV senior Kimberly Frey led the Lady Falcons with a 25th-place finish. Other EV placers included Erica Brown in 35th, Journey Werner in 43rd, Angel Qualset in 44th and Kristy Nierodzik in 54th. The state girls golf tournament begins Monday and wraps up Tuesday at North Platte. A solid defensive effort guided the Neligh-Oakdale junior high football team to a 36-6 victory over Elkhorn Valley last week.
The Warriors forced three turnovers and had a shutout going until two minutes remained in the contest. N-O's offense did plenty of damage in the first quarter, jumping out to a 22-0 lead. Austin Rudolf took the opening kickoff back 60 yards, setting up a two-yard rushing touchdown by Aiden Kuester. Kuester found Bryson Gadeken for the two-point conversion, putting the Warriors ahead 8-0. On N-O's next two possessions, Kuester broke free for a 20-yard and 45-yard TD runs. Chase Furstenau extended the Warriors' advantage to 28-0 after a 28-yard scoring pass to Gadeken. On the Falcons' next possession, Kuester tackled the ball-carrier in the end zone for a safety, giving the maroon and white a 30-0 lead at half. Kuester scored the final touchdown for Neligh-Oakdale on a 44-yard scamper in the third. The defense played stellar all game, led by Carson Whitesel's nine tackles and one caused fumble. Furstenau collected an interception and two tackles, Kuester recovered two fumbles, to go along with his eight tackles, Gadeken collected four tackles, while Landon Schrader, Keegan Payne, Gavin Longsdorth, Tanner Martensen, Trysten Coover and Colson Krebs each tallied a tackle in the win. Neligh-Oakdale's Jacob Henry, Martensen, Schrader and Gadeken anchored the offensive line, who allowed the Warriors to record 211 yards of total offense. Kuester led the way with 110 yards on the ground, three rushing touchdowns and 32 yards through the air on four-of-four passing. Whitesel rushed for 36 yards, Furstenau had five yards rushing, 24 yards passing and a passing touchdown, Coover had four yards on the ground and Krebs ran for three yards. Gadeken caught four passes for 32 yards and a score, while Whitesel accounted for two receptions for 24 yards. Neligh-Oakdale (3-0) travels to Orchard to face the Cyclones Monday at 5 p.m. The Riverside football team proved to be too much for the Elgin Public/Pope John squad, as the Chargers rolled to an 80-0 win Friday.
Riverside opened the first quarter with 46 points to take firm control of the contest. The Wolfpack never got their offense going, as EPPJ was held to 107 yards of total offense and turned the ball over four times. Kyle Schumacher led the Wolfpack with 40 yards rushing and 28 yards passing. Cory Romej rushed for 28 yards and Adam Dreger recorded 26 yards of total offense. Schumacher led the defense with seven tackles and R.J. Lierman tallied an interception. Elgin Public/Pope John (1-4) returns to action Friday at Humphrey St. Francis at 7 p.m. A sloppy performance by the Neligh-Oakdale football team, cost the Warriors in their 38-20 loss to Howells-Dodge Friday.
"They're a good football team," commented N-O coach Ron Beacom. "I thought we matched up well and I thought if we played well, we had a real shot at it and we had to limit our mistakes. Unfortunately, we made more mistakes than they did and that was the difference in the game." The Jaguars scored on their opening drive with a 49-yard TD scamper by Josh Brester. N-O answered with a Hunter Charf one-yard touchdown plunge to cut the deficit to two. H-D scored 22 unanswered points to claim a 30-6 advantage late in the second quarter. The Warriors got back in the scoring column with a 10 play, 47-yard drive ending in an Andrew Herley score from three yards out to end the half. The defenses took over in the third quarter as neither team scored in the third. Following a turnover on downs by H-D, Charf found Garret Belitz for an 11-yard touchdown pass, to cut the deficit to 10 with under 10 minutes remaining in the game. Each team exchanged turnover on downs and interceptions before the Jags sealed the game with a four-yard TD run by Dylan Horejsi with two minutes remaining. Miscues plagued N-O throughout the game. The Warriors turned the ball over twice, botched numerous snaps and allowed Charf to be sacked six times. “I don't fault our kids because I thought they played hard and at times I thought we out played them (H-D)," Beacom said. "But give them (H-D), they have a nice team, they use their kids well, they know their personnel and they took advantage of what their personnel can do. When you play a team like that, you can't make more mistakes than they do." Herley rushed for just over 50 yards and a score. Charf recorded a rushing and passing touchdowns, while Austin Rice recorded 67 yards receiving and had an interception on defense. Horejsi led H-D with 126 yards rushing and two TDs. Darrin Pokorny went 12-of-15 for 161 yards and two scores and Luke Rocheford caught five passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns. Horejsi had 100 yards rushing at halftime, but the Warriors shutdown the run game in the second half to give themselves a chance to rally. “The biggest thing was we told the kids on the backside they had to play down the line," Beacom noted. "They bring a lot kids to the point of attack when they run their sweep. You do a good job at the point of attack, if you stand them up and your kids on the backside make the tackle while he's dancing and looking for his crease. I thought our kids on the backside did a better job of playing down the line and making those tackles from the backside so he couldn't go anywhere." Howells-Dodge (3-2) travels to Elkhorn Valley Friday at 2:30 p.m. Neligh-Oakdale (2-3) hosts Madison Friday at 3 p.m. “It doesn't matter who's on their jersey, you have to play against a faceless opponent," Beacom concluded. "Every team is going to have an athlete that can make a play and a lineman that's pretty tough up front. It comes down to we're going to play a certain way on every down, regardless of who's across from us. If we do that, we can compete with just about anybody." The Elkhorn Valley football team fought hard against ninth-ranked (in Class D-1) Lutheran High Northeast Friday at Memorial Park Field, but lost to the Eagles, 60-24.
"What's not lost in this is their (EV) effort," stated Elkhorn Valley mentor Brendan Dittmer. "It's not a part of us to want to quit. These boys play pretty hurt sometimes and normally I'd take them out, but they gutted it out and played hard. I'm more proud of this team for being different than previous Elkhorn Valley teams. We only had 12 guys go out and when we had a guy go down and were down to 11, these guys took a lot of pride in being a different team. It's a feeling in the locker room and they are playing for each other." The Falcons fell behind early after LHNE scored three quick touchdowns to claim a 20-0 lead. Josh McFarland got Elkhorn Valley on the board with a four-yard TD run. The Eagles responded with two unanswered scores to extend their lead to 36-6. McFarland collected his second rushing touchdown on a five-yard score on the next drive. The two teams exchanged scores before LHNE scored on a late second-quarter drive to take a 52-24 lead into the locker room. The Falcon defense stiffened up in the second half, giving up just one score and forcing three turnovers in the second half. "We talked mostly at halftime about defense," Dittmer said. "They did a good job and outside of one pass play, we stopped the run a lot better than we did in the first half. I was proud of our adjustments and our effort." McFarland led the offense with 76 yards rushing and two scores. Ollendick passed for 181 yards and ran for a TD. Miller caught six passes for 113 yards. Brock Schaecher added 72 yards of offense and recorded an interception and fumble recovery on defense. "We have some weapons on offense and we fully expected to move the ball," Dittmer noted. "We used different things with motion and our running game got going and that helped us. In the second half, Lutheran High made some adjustments and stopped our running games and we couldn't get the passing game going as well." LHNE scored on all but one drive with the starters. Jaxson Kant and Kalvin Watts each rushed for more than a 100 yards and two scores. Kant threw for more than 170 yards and three TDs and Ben Genhardt had more than a 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Lincoln High Northeast (4-1) hits the road to face Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Friday at 7 p.m. Elkhorn Valley (2-3) hosts Howells-Dodge Friday at 2:30 p.m. "Building into next week, this is possibly the best team in the district," Dittmer concluded. "They (EV) know they have a fighting chance when we put up points. We just have to figure out the defensive end. We have to figure out how to play on both ways, how to get the ball back on defense and how to be able to go down the field and be an eight to ten-play team, Moving forward, we're going to take the confidence from previous weeks, know we can do it on offense and get better." One local coach was so happy with his team’s efforts that he was doing cartwheels after Thursday’s cross country meet in Atkinson.
Neligh-Oakdale and Elkhorn Valley runners participated against some of the top competitors in the state at the West Holt Invitational. In fact, the girls and boys champions, Rylee Rice and Ben Arens, both of Ainsworth, set new meet records Thursday. There were 75 girls and 112 boys from 22 schools in the invite. The top 20 in each race earned medals. And the Warrior and Falcon runners proved that they are among the best. Neligh-Oakdale’s Emma Bixler and Cole Belitz once again led the way for the Warrior teams, both shattering the school’s records for the Atkinson course. Ironically, both of the broken records were their own. Bixler ran a 20:52 for a 6th place finish, eclipsing her previous record of 21:31, which she set last season. Belitz earned 3rd place in the boys race with a time of 17:53, crushing his old record of 18:28 from 2017. Also placing for the Warriors was Griffin Claussen, who sprinted his way to 18th place in a time of 18:56. “This was the first time in over two decades that we’ve had two medalists in this boy’s race,” N-O Coach Rick Eickholt said. “And they’ve added teams, competitive teams, over the last couple of years.” This was why the Warrior coach was spotted doing cartwheels at the end of the medal ceremony. “There was just loads and loads of talent on both the girls and boys sides,” he said. “We challenged Griffin today to run towards the top of the pack, and his 18th place finish is the first time in two decades that we’ve had two medalists in the boy’s meet here.” Elkhorn Valley’s Hunter Bennett was just seconds off the Falcon course record, which he set last season. Bennett was clocked at 18:05 as he dashed to a 6th place finish. He holds the EV school record for the West Holt course with last season’s time of 18:02. In the girls race, Bixler was joined by Neligh-Oakdale’s Hailey Bixler, who ran a 26:08 for 48th place, and Sydney Olson, who crossed the finish line in 29:28 for 65th. “Emma ran a really good race,” Eickholt said. “And we targeted ahead of time, between 5th and 7th, is what we had talked about. I think only two of the runners that finished in front of her today are actually runners from our district, so that’s a real positive. Again, I thought Hailey and Sydney ran very well again today too.” In the boys race, Belitz and Claussen were Neligh-Oakdale’s top finishers, followed by Ashton Higgins in 46th (20:35), Christian Carothers in 49th (20:39), Thomas Johnson in 57th (20:43), Cameron Wilkinson in 61st (20:59), Isaias Juarez in 74th (21:51) and Jose Luna in 78th (21:57). “On the boys side, our whole boys team really stepped it up today,” Eickholt said. “We looked at the boys race and initially, we kinda talked and even Cole mentioned maybe 6th or 7th or possibly even 8th. And he finished 3rd, so that was amazing. And the whole rest of the team, I kind of verbally challenged a couple of them today to do certain things and they really stepped up and ran well.” The coach said it was one of their best team performances in recent years. “I can’t remember a boys team effort that I’m more proud of than what the boys did today,” he said. “It might have to go all the way back to the last time that the boys won the NENAC meet when we went in as a 3rd or 4th seed and pulled off a little bit of an upset to win the meet. We just ran real well today, all the way up and down the line, especially some of our younger kids. We ran as a pack throughout the race which helped us. Again, I’m very, very proud of their efforts today.” The Warriors placed 6th in the boys team standings. Falcon coach Janet Rood was still smiling long after her runners had crossed the finish line. “We are super excited because we had one senior high and one junior high runner place, and everybody had really good times,” Rood said. Bennett picked up 6th in the high school boys race and Tristian Smith earned 10th in the junior high boys division. Rounding out the 8th place EV boys team were Damian Smith in 42nd (20:27), Brandon Evans in 44th (20:30), Walter Furstenau in 54th (20:41), Reed Bennett in 55th (20:41), Colten Rystrom in 71st (21:37), Conner Klein in 99th (24:00) and Dylan Wright in 105th (24:51). “I think my freshmen are competing really well against the other freshmen here because most of my freshmen were in the top third,” Rood said. “One junior even had a good PR here today. I’m just super excited today.” Neligh-Oakdale and Elkhorn Valley will travel to Bassett on Friday for the Niobrara Valley Conference meet. Neligh-Oakdale picked up a pair of wins Thursday night during a road trip to Pender, capping a 5-1 week.
The Warriors defeated the host 25-22, 21-25, 25-22 before dominating Emerson-Hubbard, 25-5, 25-18 as nearly all players saw court time. The Warriors move to 13-3 on the season as they prepare for their most challenging week thus far. Neligh-Oakdale will host Creighton on Tuesday before traveling to 19-0 Ewing on Thursday. The Warriors end the week at the Wisner-Pilger tournament on Saturday. The Elkhorn Valley volleyball team went 1-1 Thursday night at the O'Neill St. Mary's tri-match with Chambers/Wheeler Central.
the Lady Falcons cruised to a two-set triumph over St. Mary's, 25-16 and 25-12. EV dropped its match to CWC in three sets, 19-25, 25-14 and 25-15. In two combined matches, Hannah Ollendick led the way with 19 kills, four blocks and 15 digs. Sierra Rystrom recorded 12 kills, four aces, two blocks and 18 digs, Amber Miller collected 29 digs and 26 assists, Olivia Nall tallied six kills and 26 digs and Haley Fleetwood accounted for 28 digs. Elkhorn Valley (12-6) travels to Osmond Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The Elgin Public/Pope John volleyball team went toe-to-toe with two quality opponents Thursday and ended up splitting its two matches.
The Lady Wolfpack fell to ninth-ranked (C-2) Battle Creek in three sets, 25-17, 24-26 and 25-16. Allyson Wemhoff led the way with five aces, two blocks, 12 digs and nine assists. Haley Zegers contributed six kills and 11 digs, Anna Heilhecker tallied 15 digs, Harlie Bode had three blocks and Kaylee Martinsen added eight kills. EPPJ picked up a three-set victory over Boone Central/Newman Grove, 25-20, 23-25 and 25-22. Martinsen recorded seven kills and five blocks, Zegers accounted for five kills, five blocks and six digs, Kayce Kallhoff contributed eight kills, Wemhoff tallied seven digs and 26 assists, Helihecker collected 30 digs and Kirsten Krebs had four blocks. Elgin Public/Pope John (10-8) travels to Humphrey to face St. Francis and O'Neill St. Mary's Tuesday at 5 p.m. A big first quarter and an opportunistic defense propelled the Clearwater/Orchard football team past Stuart, 54-16, Thursday.
The Cyclones took an early 20-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to touchdown runs by Chris Kester, Jacob Long and Eli Macke. It was a defensive struggle for the next two quarters as each team mustered just eight points each heading into the final stanza. The OC defense played stellar defense in the second half, picking off the Bronco's quarterback, Ethan Sattler, three times. Blake Hoke recorded two interceptions and Macke's pick led to a Kester two-yard TD plunge in the fourth. The green and black outscored Stuart, 26-8 in the fourth to secure its third-straight win. Macke led the offense with 173 yard on the ground and two touchdowns. Long and Kester each added two rushing TDs as well for the Cyclones. Clay Thiele led the defense with a team-best 10 tackles, 3.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. Hoke recorded two interceptions and Macke tallied a pick and a blocked punt for a safety. Clearwater/Orchard (4-1) returns to action Friday against Twin Loup at 7 p.m. at Orchard. The Clearwater/Orchard volleyball team picked up two crucial victories Thursday in the Lady Cyclones home tri-match against Wausa and Niobrara/Verdigre at Clearwater.
"Tonight was a great night for the girls," stated OC mentor Sierra Summers. "They played well and came out with more energy. When we were down they didn't give up and showed they had some fight left. As we move farther into the season I am happy with how we are increasing our level of play when it matters most." OC rallied the defeat Wausa in three sets to open the day.l, 20-25, 25-13 and 25-19. A few big runs by the Lady Vikings guided Wausa to the first set win. Trailing 7-6, the purple and gold went on a 10-3 run to claim an eight-point lead. OC responded with a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to one, but three-straight kills by Esther Nelson reclaimed the momentum and Wausa won the opening set. The Lady Cyclones started the second set with a 7-0 lead thanks to a Katie Stearns ace, a JoCee Johnston block, a Taylor Sanne kill and four Wausa errors. "In the huddle decided we needed to communicate better and start hitting hard through the blocks," commented Stearns. After the Lady Vikings cut the deficit to two, the green and black ended the set with a 15-3 run, tying the match at one set apiece. Both teams scratched and clawed for the early momentum to start a decisive third set. In the first 20 points there was seven ties and five different lead changes. Once again the Lady Cyclones pulled away with eight consecutive points. Johnston and Stearns each recorded three points in the run. "We started playing together as a team and focused on what to do to get better and get the win," Stearns said. Wausa attempted a late comeback, but the deficit was too much as OC won the set and the match. "I thought we played pretty well in the first match," said Wausa coach Greg Conn. "The second set got away from us early in passing, but we came back and we played really strong. Clearwater/Orchard is a good ball club." The Lady Vikings bounced back with a two-set victory over Niobrara/Verdigre, 27-25 and 25-19. "We had to come back in that first set and that says a lot about our kids," Conn continued. "Niobrara/Verdigre has a nice team and they played pretty well. Our character came out and we played well." The first set was a back-and-forth battle between the two Knox County squads. The Lady Cougars pulled away late with a 12-5 run to give N/V set point at 24-21. Wausa answered by scoring six of the next seven points to win the set. "We work really hard to keep our heads up in tough situations like that," spoke senior Paige Nissen. "Last year we had a tough time, but we've focusing a lot of that and we worked together to stay up." The second set started the same as the first, until the Lady Vikings used an 8-2 run to claim a 16-10 advantage. Nissen scored six of the eight points in the run for Wausa. Behind eight kills by Nissen, the purple and gold pulled away to win the set and the match. "We worked together, keep each other up and encourage each other," Nissen added. "We keep the positively flowing. When we get rolling, we try not to let the intensity drop. We try to keep it up and work as hard a swe can." In the final match of the evening, OC surged past N/V in two sets, 25-23 and 25-13. "," After the Lady Cyclones took a five-point lead, the Lady Cougars rallied with a 5-0 run capped off by a Makenna Guenther kill. The two teams continued to battle for momentum, but OC sealed the win with a Johnston kill. Tied at six in set two, the Lady Cyclones scored seven of the next nine points, taking a 13-8 lead. Following a N/V rally attempt, OC used a 7-0 run to pull away. Johnston tallied five of the seven points with two blocks and three kills. "We were getting more constant and had some really good servers takes them out of their serve receive," Johnston recalled. Julian Tuttle ended the match with a kill for the Lady Cyclones' third win in seven days over the Lady Cougars. "It's pretty difficult (to beat a team multiple times) because they're a really good team," Johnston noted. "Once you start playing them, they figure out your weaknesses and it's difficult to overcome that sometimes." Johnston led the Lady Cyclones with 21 kills, 15 blocks and eight digs. Avery Cheatum collected nine kills and 15 digs, Stearns recorded six aces and nine kills and Tuttle accounted for 15 digs and 47 assists. Niobrara/Verdigre (1-15) welcome Winside to town Tuesday. Clearwater/Orchard (12-8) hosts a quad matches Thursday against Chambers/Wheeler Central and Elgin Public Pope John with Wausa (4-9). "We're a team that is up and down, but these kids work hard," Conn said. "I love them to death and down the road it is going to pay dividends for us. I like where we are." "(We got) two great wins tonight for the girls," concluded Summers. "We came out ready to play and did what was needed to get two more wins. Next week brings new challenges and we are more than ready to battle." The Elgin Public/Pope John volleyball team split its two matches Tuesday at the Lady Wolfpacks' home tri-match in Elgin.
EPPJ defeated Osmond in two sets, 25-13 and 25-9. Seven different Lady Wolfpack players recorded at least one kill in EPPJ's balanced attack. Harlie Bode led the team with seven kills, Kaylee Martinsen recorded four kills and two aces, Haley Zegers collected five kills and a block, Kayce Kallhoff had three kills and a block Anna Heilhecker pitched in 13 digs and Allyson Wemhoff added 17 assists. EPPJ dropped a hard fought match to Central Valley, 27-25 and 25-19. Kallhoff and Bode each tallied seven kills, Zegers accounted for five kills, two blocks and nine digs Wemhoff collected two aces and 19 assists and Heilhecker accumulated 18 digs. Elgin Public/Pope John (9-7) hosts another tri-match Thursday at 5:30 p.m. with Battle Creek and Boone Central/Newman Grove. It was a total team effort that led the Elkhorn Valley volleyball team to a three-set triumph over West Holt Tuesday.
The Lady Falcons won 26-24, 25-16 and 26-24. Five different players recorded at least two kills in the match. Amber Miller led the way with eight kills, six aces, a block, 15 digs and 16 assists. Hannah Ollendick collected nine kills, two aces and 24 digs, Olivia Nall had six kills, 15 digs and seven assists and Sierra Rystrom added five kills and 13 digs. Elkhorn Valley (11-5) travels to O'Neill Thursday for a tri-match with St. Mary's and Chambers/Wheeler Central at 5:30 p.m. The Clearwater/Orchard volleyball team split its two matches Tuesday night at Niobrara.
"Tonight we didn't click like we usually do," spoke OC coach Sierra Summers. "Our level of play was down from the usual. We hope to come back with better play and continue in a more positive way." OC dropped a two-set match to Boyd County, 25-18 and 25-14. JoCee Johnston recorded 10 kills and two blocks to lead the Lady Cyclones. Julian Tuttle collected 18 assists, Taylor Sanne pitched in four kills, Katie Stearns had three kills and Avery Cheatum added seven digs. OC bounce back for a two-set triumph over Niobrara/Verdigre, 25-15 and 25-14. Johnston recorded 14 kills and two blocks, Cheatum accounted for eight kills, Stearns tallied five kills, and three aces, Sanne added three aces and Tuttle contributed five digs and 23 assists. Clearwater/Orchard (10-8) hosts Wausa and Niobrara'Verdigre in a tri-match Thursday at 5 p.m. The Neligh-Oakdale volleyball team had an up-and-down night Tuesday evening at its home tri-match with Plainview and Bloomfield.
"It was one of those nights we came out and competed, but we got beat because we didn't make adjustments," stated N-O mentor Hannah Hoefer. "Plain and simple, they (Plainview) started picking up what we were throwing and we didn't make the adjustments on the court." The Lady Warriors opened the night with a two-set victory over the Queen Bees, 25-11 and 25-22. It was all N-O to open the match, as they scored 21 of the first 26 points on its way to a 16-point win. The Lady Warriors struggled to start the second set, committing 13 errors and trailed 16-12 in the set. N-O chipped away at the deficit and claimed its first lead at 22-21 on a Claire Whitesel ace. Two Haley Kerkman kills and a Bloomfield error secured the win for the maroon and white. In N-O's final match of the evening, the Lady Warriors fell to Plainview in three sets, 21-25, 25-22 and 25-19. The first set was a back-and-forth battle between the two squads. The lead changed on three different occasions and was tied five different times, but the host team pulled away for a four-point win. A hot start propelled the Lady Pirates to a 25-22 win in set two. In a decisive third set, Plainview jumped out to an 11-4 advantage. After a 5-0 run by N-O cut the deficit to two, the Lady Pirates scored 12 of the next 14 points to pull away. A late 6-1 run by the Lady Warriors was not enough as Kylie Mosel ended the match with a kill. "We need to continue to practice hard," Hoefer noted. "We haven't had a practice where all 12 varsity girls have come together and built that team chemistry we are lacking right now. We're hoping to continue to play each game to build confidence. Ultimately, what matters is at the end of the season. We're going to learn from this loss so we can better ourselves at the end of the season." In the second match of the evening, Plainview defeated Bloomfield in two sets, 25-17 and 25-11 Both teams battled for the early momentum, but the Lady Pirates pulled away to win the first set. Errors plagued Bloomfield in the second set, as the Queen Bees committed 16 errors in the final set to drop the match. A key to the Lady Pirates' sweep was their service game. Plainview recorded 20 aces in the two matches. Andrea Haase led the team with 27 kills, two aces and a block. Mosel tallied 21 kills and Kaitlyn Dougherty had seven aces. Bloomfield was led by Brooklyn Eisenhauer with 11 blocks, 13 digs and three kills.. Jaiden Johnson accumulated two aces and three kills and Brynn Bargman recorded five kills in the two combined matches. Kerkman and Amanda Dietz each tallied 15 kills and three blocks to lead N-O. Plainview (6-8) goes to Hartington-Newcastle Thursday. Bloomfield (1-9) hits the road to face Santee and Boyd County, at Boyd County, Tuesday at 6 p.m Neligh-Oakdale (12-3) travels to Pender for a tri-match with Emerson Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Thursday's tri-match will be the Lady Warriors' fifth and sixth matches in four days "We talked about that (N-O's busy week) on Sunday that we didn't want a busy week to be an excuse," Hoefer concluded. "We can handle that by going two-set matches and it plays out in our favor that it's not as hard if we go out and get the job done. We're not using the busy week as an excuse because at the end of the season, you'll have busy weeks. If you want to go farther in the conference tournament, you'll have busy weeks. We're going to keep pushing through each set and get the job done quicker." Neligh-Oakdale rebounded from a tough home loss last week to grab a pair of victories Monday night on the road.
The Warriors kicked off a busy six-match week with wins over St. Mary's and Stuart in O'Neill. Neligh-Oakdale swept both matches, defeating St. Mary's 25-15, 25-20 and then Stuart 25-13, 25-15. In the other match, St. Mary's def. Stuart 25-22, 25-16. Neligh-Oakdale will host a triangular on Tuesday as the Warriors take on Bloomfield at 5 p.m. and Plainview at 7 p.m. The Elgin Public/Pope John volleyball team went 2-0 at the Plainview Tournament Saturday.
The Lady Wolfpack swept West Holt in their opener, 25-21 and 25-23. Kayce Kallhoff led the way with three kills, two blocks and 10 digs. Haley Zegers recorded four kills, five digs, two blocks and an ace. Kirsten Krebs accounted three kills, two aces and two blocks and Allyson Wemhoff had two blocks, an ace and 12 assists. EPPJ defeated host squad Plainview in two sets, 25-16 and 25-14, to end the day. Zegers contributed four kills, two assists, five blocks and eight digs, Krebs tallied six kills, Anna Heilhecker recorded 11 digs, Wemhoff accumulated 14 assists, whileHarlie Bode, Kallhoff, Grace Rittscher all had three kills. Elgin Public/Pope John (8-6) hosts Osmond and Central Valley in a tri-match Tuesday at 5 p.m. Against some stiff competition, the Elkhorn Valley volleyball team when 2-2 Saturday at the Elkhorn Valley tournament.
The Lady Falcons opened the day with three-set triumph over Boyd County, 25-22, 28-30 and 25-13. All three seniors recorded double-doubles for EV. Miller accounted for seven kills, seven aces, 14 digs and 28 assists, Rystrom accumulated 13 kills and 13 digs, Ollendick added 11 kills and 23 digs, Olivia Nall recorded 10 digs, Fleetwood tallied 11 digs and Bacon had two blocks. The Lady Falcons disposed of Winnebago in two sets, 25-16 and 25-12. Rystrom and Ollendick each pitched in three kills, Miller tallied four aces, seven digs and eight assists, Ollendick added three aces and Fleetwood collected eight digs. The Lady Falcons then fell in two sets to Archbishop Bergan, the No.1 ranked team in Class D-1, 25-17 and 25-15. Hannah Ollendick led way with five kills and 11 digs, Sierra Rystrom recorded four kills, an ace and a block, Kaylee Bacon had two blocks, Haley Fleetwood and Bria Gale each tallied nine digs and Amber Miller assisted on nine kills. In its final match of the day, Elkhorn Valley fell to Battle Creek - ranked eighth in C-2 - 25-16 and 25-10. Miller accounted for a double-double with 10 digs and 10 assists. Ollendick recorded five kills and six digs, Nall had four kills, two aces and six digs, Gale contributed 10 digs, Elkhorn Valley (10-5) returns to action Tuesday against West Holt at 5:30 p.m. The Elkhorn Valley football team cashed in on numerous Madison miscues to win 58-23 Friday.
The Falcons accumulated 414 yards of total offense, while the defense forced six turnovers in the triumph. Braedyn Ollendick went 17-of-26 for 235 yards, rushed for 38 yards, threw for two TDs and rushed for two scores. Josh McFarland rushed for 113 yards and three TDs to lead the ground game, while Adam Miller caught four passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns and Brock Schaecher recorded nine catches for 97 yards. Ollendick picked off two passes and recovered a fumble, McFarland and Miller picked off a pass each, Prestin Vondra had 14 tackles and a fumble recovery and Damien Knight added 10 tackles, a forced fumble and 2.5 sacks. Elkhorn Valley (2-2) makes the short trip up Highway 275 to Lutheran-Northeast Friday at 3 p.m. The Clearwater/Orchard football team continued its offensive onslaught this season with a 62-18 triumph over Central Valley Friday.
After falling behind, 18-16, OC scored 46-straight points to surge past the Cougars. The Cyclones have scored 232 points this season - 58 points per contest - while surrendering just 38 points - more than nine points a game - in their three wins. Chris Kester led the way for OC with 152 yards through the air, 104 yards on the ground and three total touchdowns. Jacob Long ran for 63 yards and three scores, Blake Hoke caught five passes for 93 yards and a TD and Clay Theile added a touchdown reception. Long led the defense with 15 tackles, while Thiele and Zach King each recorded eight tackles and combined for three sacks in the game. Clearwater/Orchard (3-1) travels to Stuart Thursday at 7 p.m. Personal records and school records fell as Neligh-Oakdale and Elkhorn Valley cross country teams ran in the highly competitive Boone Central Invitational in Albion on Friday afternoon.
The unique format of this particular invitational places runners by their grade. Neligh-Oakdale's Emma Bixler was the champion in the junior girls division and 4th place overall with a time of 20:05. Bixler's time shattered Neligh-Oakdale's previous course record of 21:08 which was set in 2015. She ran 1:19 faster than she ran on the same course just a year ago. Friday's race was so competitive that the first and second place runners from Boone Central both broke the all-time course record for the meet. Teammates Hailey Bixler and Sydney Olson also turned in some of their best performances of the season. Hailey crossed the finish line in 24:15 for 13th in the junior girls division and 46th overall. Sydney ran a 28:30 for 22nd in the sophomore girls division and 72nd overall. The girls race featured 80 girls from 17 schools. "Emma ran a real strategic race. She was fourth overall," N-O Coach Rick Eickholt said. "And our other two young ladies ran really well today. Hailey and Sydney may have both run the best races that they have run. I was very impressed with what they did today." In the boys race, Warrior Cole Belitz ran a 16:54 to pick up 3rd place in the senior boys division and 4th overall. This crushes the previous school record for this course, which was 17:25, set back in 2003. Belitz ran 52 seconds faster this year than he did in Albion one year ago. Elkhorn Valley's Hunter Bennett placed 4th among the sophomore boys and 8th overall with his time of 17:10. This is 27 seconds faster than he ran on the same course last year. There were 133 runners from 19 schools in the boys race. Rounding out Neligh-Oakdale's boys were Griffin Claussen, Christian Carothers, Ashton Higgins, Thomas Johnson, Isaias Juarez and Parker Tinsley. Claussen earned 12th in the sophomore division and 31st overall, with a time of 18:36. This is 1:22 faster than he ran the same course the previous year. Carothers was the 17th senior to cross the finish and 58th overall with his time of 19:28. This is 30 seconds faster than he ran last year. Higgins ran a 19:33 for 10th among the freshmen and 62nd overall. Johnson was the 15th freshman to cross the finish line in 20:01 and was 72nd overall. Juarez placed 25th among the sophomores and 92nd overall with his time of 21:20. Tinsley finished in 27:13 for 34th in the sophomore division and 131st overall. The Warriors were 9th in the team standings. "Cole ran a very strategic race," Eickholt said. "He scares the daylights out of me when we come through the first three-quarters of a mile and he's got as many bodies in front. But he knows what he's capable of doing. He knows when he can turn it on and cut it loose. He ran a real nice race. Also on the boys side, Griffin ran a heck of a race. It might be the best race he's ever run also. He was in the mid 18's on the full 5K course. We had a lot of positives today, up and down the line. Our freshmen boys ran well today, so I'm just very, very pleased. We need to continue to improve. We know that we have a huge task in front of us with our district competition, but we just have to continue to work hard, stay healthy and be ready for the challenge." The Falcons earned 13th place as a team. In addition to Bennett, EV runners were Damian Smith, Reed Bennett, Walter Furstenau, Brandon Evans, Colton Rystrom, Conner Klein and Dylan Wright. Smith finished 16th out of the sophomores and 47th overall in a time of 19:11, followed by Reed Bennett, the 9th freshman and 61st runner overall in a time of 19:32. Furstenau was the 14th freshman and 70th overall in a time of 19:54, Evans was the 18th junior and 71st overall with a 20:00, Rystrom was the 20th freshman and 80th overall in a 20:44, Klein was the 28th freshman and 101st overall in a 21:58 and Wright was the 36th freshman and 127th overall in a 24:37. "They did a really good job," EV Coach Janet Rood said. "I think we had some really good PRs. I know Hunter beat his time here last year by 27 seconds. There were a lot of schools here today and the competition was tough. We have a lot of growing to do. We have a lot of rookies that this is their first time they've run all these courses so I think it totally makes a difference once you know what the course is like, how to run. I'm just really proud of their efforts." Both teams will compete again on Thursday in the West Holt Invitational at Atkinson. The Elgin Public/Pope John volleyball team went 1-1 Thursday evening at Riverside.
The Lady Wolfpack dropped their first match to Nebraska Christian, 25-18 and 25-23. EPPJ bounced back and defeated Riverside, 25-12, 26-28 and 25-15, to salvage a split. In the two matches, Kaylee Martinsen recorded 16 kills, two aces and 22 digs, Kayce Kallhoff accounted for 17 kills and three blocks, Grace Rittscher pitched in two aces and 23 digs, Allyson Wemhoff tallied an ace, 14 digs and 47 assists, Anna Heilhecker contributed an ace and 44 digs and Harlie Bode had five blocks. Elgin Public/Pope John (6-6) competes at the Plainview Tournament Saturday at 10 a.m. A fast start and strong offensive performance propelled the Neligh-Oakdale junior high football team to a 50-14 triumph over Plainview Monday at Warrior Field.
Carson Whitesel took the opening kickoff 75-yards for a touchdown to start the contest. On N-O's next possession, Aiden Kuester connected on a 52-yard TD pass to Bryson Gadeken and Kuester found Austin Rudolf for the two-point conversion. Chase Furstenau ran in the end zone from two yards out to extend the Warriors' lead to 22-0 after the first. Following a Plainview score, Kuester broke free for a 28-yard TD run and completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Gadeken, giving N-O a 36-6 advantage at half. In the second half, Kuester threw a 44-yard scoring pass to Whitesel and Furstenau had a 75-yard TD scamper for the Warriors final score. The offensive line of Jacob Henry, Tanner Martensen, Landon Schrader and Gadeken had another strong performance for N-O, helping the Warriors gain 329 yards of total offense. Kuester rushed for 66 yards, threw for 147 yards and four total TDs. Furstenau ran for 75 yards and two scores, Whitesel had a rushing and receiving touchdowns and Gadeken caught four passes for 118 yards and two TDs. The defense was stifling for for the maroon and white, led by Whitesel's 12 tackles. Kuester recorded seven tackles and a forced fumble, Schrader and Gadeken each collected six tackles, Rudolf and Furstenau accounted for five tackles each, Gavin Longsdorth and Tanner Martinsen tallied three tackles each, Trysten Coover had two tackles, Colson Krebs recorded an interception and a tackle, Caleb Payne and Jackson Sehi each pitched in a tackle. Neligh-Oakdale (2-0) travels to Tilden Monday for a 4 p.m. matchup against Elkhorn Valley. |
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