Pierce too much for Lady Longhorns in district final

    Chase County’s volleyball season came to an end Saturday afternoon in Elm Creek.
    This year’s juniors were part of a Longhorn team that played in the district finals in 2019, but fell in subdistricts last year.
    CCS Head Coach April Lambert said it’s undeniable her team felt some pressure and was nervous.
    While her team didn’t play to their full capabilities, Lambert said they were close.
    Lambert credited Pierce as being a solid team with five strong hitters and a balanced attack.
    The sixth-seeded Longhorns were unable to hold serve in the first set against 11th seeded Pierce (27-5). Pierce started off the set with four-straight points. CCS didn’t score consecutive points until its second rotation when Joee Clevenger served twice. The Longhorns dropped the set 14-24.
    Lambert gave Pierce credit for being a tough serving team.
    “Their serving gave us trouble and kept us out of system while their passing was very solid and their setter did a nice job running the offense off of alternating pins and keeping our defense guessing. It was hard to build momentum against a team like that,” she said.
    CCS held as much as a six-point lead, 12-6, in the second set. Pierce came back to tie the game at 14 and CCS soon trailed three points, 17-20. The Longhorns fought off one set point before falling 23-25.
    “The two things that threw us the most were their tough serving and their setter’s ability to set pin-to-pin and set well in transition.  It seemed like they always had an attack on the net and we very rarely got anything less than a hard attack coming back to us,” Lambert said.
    Chase County had its chances in the third set, as well, with the Longhorns leading 10-5. One Pierce server erased that deficit and CCS soon found itself trailing 10-13.
    Chase County stayed within three points, 15-18, but Pierce finished out the match on a 7-1 run. The Longhorns’ season ended with a 16-25 loss.
    “Our passing and serving stats weren’t much different than what they usually are, but it’s just different when you have such a high-quality opponent on the other side of the net,” she said.
    CCS has served well in the post season and finished Saturday’s match at 90.7%.
    Bryn McNair put down 13 kills for CCS.
    Gisselle Acuna had nine kills for the Longhorns and the team’s only ace.
    Lambert said CCS had a was much larger crowd than Pierce.
    “Longhorn fans travel well, and we noticed and appreciated their support, especially all the parents, alumni and teachers who traveled quite a distance to be present for us.  We had a great turnout, and we love our fans,” Lambert said.
    CCS finished the season at 26-5.
Subdistrict win over Mitchell
    CCS reached the district final match with a five-set win over Mitchell in Imperial Oct. 26.
    Mitchell broke open a 7-7 first set with an eight-point run. The Longhorns worked themselves back into the game and tied the set at 20. CCS held a 23-22 lead, but Mitchell scored the final three points to take the win.
    With Tristan Nordhausen serving, CCS came out of the chute with seven-straight points. Another strong serving run by Jerzee Milner increased the lead to 15-6. CCS took the set 25-17.
    The Longhorns took a comfortable win in set three. CCS maintained a four point lead through much of the set and took a 25-18 win.
    Mitchell wasn’t done, however. The visitors erased a one-point deficit early in the fourth set and took a five-point lead. CCS pulled to within two points, 17-19, but couldn’t take the lead. The match went to a fifth set with Chase County’s 20-25 loss.
    Though Mitchell had the first serve in the deciding set, it was CCS that grabbed the momentum. The Longhorns took a 5-1 lead, but that lead shrunk to 11-9. A CCS time out broke Mitchell’s momentum and Liz Reeves served out the 15-9 win.
    McNair had 27 kills for CCS and Acuna added 12 kills.
    CCS serving was excellent on the evening, 97.2%.
State begins Wednesday
    The Class C1 state tournament will begin Wednesday.
    Pierce will be the eighth seed and play top-seeded Kearney Catholic (31-4)
    Fourth seeded Lakeview (30-4) will play Syracuse (28-1), the fifth seed.
    Grand Island Central Cathloic (30-1) is the second seed and will play Gothenburg (27-8). CCS lost to Gothenburg Sept. 28.
    Rounding out the bracket is third seeded Lincoln Lutheran (35-2) against sixth seeded Neumann (28-6).
    Other teams from the Longhorns’ schedule that earned tourney berths are Cambridge (27-6), seeded sixth in Class D1, and Overton (26-5), seeded fifth in Class D1.