No. 4 Mustangs just too tall for Southwest
Six-foot-2 Michelle Sicner setting 6-3 Kaitlin Klingemann made Millard North out-of-reach for a shorter Lincoln Southwest volleyball team.
Klingemann, a senior middle blocker, recorded a match-high 14 kills and Sicner put up 27 assists to pace the Class A fourth-ranked Mustangs to a 25-23, 25-14, 25-15 victory against No. 6 Southwest on the Silver Hawks’ home court Thursday.
“Kaitlin and I connect pretty well,” said Sicner, the Mustangs’ sophomore setter who also had six kills, three ace blocks and two ace serves. “If I get the ball up to her, I can count on her doing something with it.’’
Millard North (15-4) played without its second-leading hitter, 6-1 senior Cassie Barrick, who is out with a shoulder injury. The Mustangs, however, didn’t seem to miss a beat, as 6-foot sophomore Sara McClinton (nine kills) and 5-10 senior Katie Vrtiska (seven kills) combined for 16 kills from the outside.
Millard North’s size advantage at the net showed up in the blocking statistics. The Mustangs recorded 13 ace blocks, led by Sicner and Klingemann with three apiece. The Mustangs’ serve receive was also a factor, as Southwest managed just three ace serves in the match.
“All of our girls stepped up tonight,’’ Millard North coach Sara Horn said. “Sara and Katie did some good things on the outside, and Michelle and Caitlin really connected well.”
Millard North jumped to early leads in all three sets. Southwest (13-6), however, battled back from a 5-0 deficit in the first set to lead 23-21 after a right-side kill from Miki Freese and a Millard North hitting error broke a 21-21 deadlock.
Ace blocks from Klingemann and Sicner on back-to-back points tied it at 23. A jump serve ace by Paige Buchanan put Millard North at set point, then Klingemann finished the comeback with a kill off a quick set from Sicner to end a long rally.
Buchanan then served 13 straight points to open the second set, as Klingemann contributed two kills and two ace blocks during the string. A point-ending tip by Whitney Mason finally broke the string and got Southwest on the board.
A 14-5 run broke open the third set for the Mustangs, who saw an 8-7 lead expand to 22-12 in that span. McClinton produced four kills and two ace blocks in the set to help the Mustangs finish off the sweep.
“We’ve got to get game 1. When we didn’t, things went downhill from there,’’ said Southwest coach Mary Schropfer, whose team lost its third straight match, the other setbacks coming to No. 2 Grand Island and No. 5 Lincoln East last week on the road.
“We didn’t hit around their block and we didn’t serve tough enough to get them out of system,” Schropfer added. “It was one of those nights where the girls looked at each other defensively instead of pursuing the ball. It’s time for us to turn things around.”
The senior trio of middle blocker Stacie Hansen, setter Stephanie Daffer and libero Kaleigh Anderson paced Southwest. Hansen topped the net game with 11 kills, Daffer put up 26 assists, while Anderson recorded 25 digs.
Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.
Klingemann, a senior middle blocker, recorded a match-high 14 kills and Sicner put up 27 assists to pace the Class A fourth-ranked Mustangs to a 25-23, 25-14, 25-15 victory against No. 6 Southwest on the Silver Hawks’ home court Thursday.
“Kaitlin and I connect pretty well,” said Sicner, the Mustangs’ sophomore setter who also had six kills, three ace blocks and two ace serves. “If I get the ball up to her, I can count on her doing something with it.’’
Millard North (15-4) played without its second-leading hitter, 6-1 senior Cassie Barrick, who is out with a shoulder injury. The Mustangs, however, didn’t seem to miss a beat, as 6-foot sophomore Sara McClinton (nine kills) and 5-10 senior Katie Vrtiska (seven kills) combined for 16 kills from the outside.
Millard North’s size advantage at the net showed up in the blocking statistics. The Mustangs recorded 13 ace blocks, led by Sicner and Klingemann with three apiece. The Mustangs’ serve receive was also a factor, as Southwest managed just three ace serves in the match.
“All of our girls stepped up tonight,’’ Millard North coach Sara Horn said. “Sara and Katie did some good things on the outside, and Michelle and Caitlin really connected well.”
Millard North jumped to early leads in all three sets. Southwest (13-6), however, battled back from a 5-0 deficit in the first set to lead 23-21 after a right-side kill from Miki Freese and a Millard North hitting error broke a 21-21 deadlock.
Ace blocks from Klingemann and Sicner on back-to-back points tied it at 23. A jump serve ace by Paige Buchanan put Millard North at set point, then Klingemann finished the comeback with a kill off a quick set from Sicner to end a long rally.
Buchanan then served 13 straight points to open the second set, as Klingemann contributed two kills and two ace blocks during the string. A point-ending tip by Whitney Mason finally broke the string and got Southwest on the board.
A 14-5 run broke open the third set for the Mustangs, who saw an 8-7 lead expand to 22-12 in that span. McClinton produced four kills and two ace blocks in the set to help the Mustangs finish off the sweep.
“We’ve got to get game 1. When we didn’t, things went downhill from there,’’ said Southwest coach Mary Schropfer, whose team lost its third straight match, the other setbacks coming to No. 2 Grand Island and No. 5 Lincoln East last week on the road.
“We didn’t hit around their block and we didn’t serve tough enough to get them out of system,” Schropfer added. “It was one of those nights where the girls looked at each other defensively instead of pursuing the ball. It’s time for us to turn things around.”
The senior trio of middle blocker Stacie Hansen, setter Stephanie Daffer and libero Kaleigh Anderson paced Southwest. Hansen topped the net game with 11 kills, Daffer put up 26 assists, while Anderson recorded 25 digs.
Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.
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