Southwest ends losing streak, wins East Invitational

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BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star

It was a history lesson Lincoln East volleyball coach Myron Oehlerking could’ve lived without.

Just like last year, Lincoln Southwest entered Saturday’s six-team East Invitational with a three-match losing streak, including a loss to East in a dual match nine days earlier. And just like 2007, the Class A No. 6 Silver Hawks left the East Gym with the tournament title and a renewed confidence.

After Southwest beat Fremont (25-10, 25-16) and Class A No. 8 Papillion-La Vista South (25-21, 25-19) in pool play, the Hawks handled the fifth-ranked Spartans 25-21, 25-18 in the finals.

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“We’ve been here before,” said Oehlerking, whose team posted a 25-22, 25-22, 25-22 win over Southwest on Oct. 2 and also won the regular season match last season over the Hawks. “These are two closely matched teams, and whoever has the mental edge wins. Last time, we had it. Southwest had it today.’’

Southwest’s (16-6) losing streak began at No. 2 Grand Island on Sept. 30. Their lopsided 25-23, 25-14, 25-15 loss to No. 4 Millard North Thursday had the Hawks doing some soul searching at practice Friday.

“We had a long talk yesterday about how we needed to get on the same page and play with the intensity we were earlier in the season,” said Southwest senior setter Stephanie Daffer, who ignited the Silver Hawk offense in the finals with 27 assists.

“If we were going to turn things, this was the time to do it. Everybody clicked today.”

Southwest’s solid serve receive and scrappy defense (led by libero Kaleigh Anderson’s 14 digs) provided Daffer numerous offensive options. Her favorite target was senior middle blocker Stacie Hansen, who had a match-high 13 kills. Junior outside hitter Ashley Leitner had 10, while junior middle Whitney Mason added six kills.

“Steph really focused going antenna to antenna with the offense and stretching their blockers out,” Southwest coach Mary Schropfer said. “She did a good job getting our middles (Hansen and Mason) involved, and that opened things up on the outside.”

Southwest gradually pulled away from a 16-15 lead in the first set, with Hansen getting seven kills during that span, including a quick one in the middle on set point. The Silver Hawks took control early in the second set by sprinting to leads of 5-0 and 8-1 behind two kills and an ace block from Hansen. Their largest lead was 11 points on two occasions late in the set.

Senior outside hitter Nicole Gingery paced the Spartan attack with eight kills, and teammates Madison Schwartz and Natalie Ebke added five each. Setters Emily Swanson (12) and Madison MacLean (10) combined for 22 assists.

The Spartans (17-9) wiped out a match point against them to edge Class B No. 4 Ogallala 21-25, 27-25, 25-17 in pool play. East swept Omaha Burke 25-15, 25-18 in its first pool-play match.

Despite senior middle blocker Kate Morrell playing on a stress fracture in her lower leg, Ogallala (22-3) captured the third-place match 25-22, 12-25, 25-19 over Papillion-La Vista South.

Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.