Season Ends at Sub-State
The Lady Indians' season came to an end at the Sub-State Tournament in Ransom on Saturday, October 20. Though the Lady Indians competed very well, they lost a close three-set match to the eventual Sub-State champion Wheatland-Grinnell. Wheatland-Grinnell (31-9) advances to the State Tournament as the #5 seed and will compete in Pool I on Friday October 26. The Lady Indians completed their season with a record of 29-10 (better than two of the eight state-qualifying teams).
The Wheatland-Grinnell Lady Thunderhawks and the St. Francis Lady Indians had split their two earlier season contests. This round of competition proved to be just a close. Wheatland-Grinnell won the first set 23-25. St. Francis won the second set 26-24. The Lady Thunderhawks defeated the Lady Indians in the deciding set 17-25. Complete results from the Sub-State Tournament can be viewed by clicking on this link.
Wheatland-Grinnell (WG) jumped out to a 0-3 lead getting a kill from their outstanding senior hitter Mikayla Heier (5' 9") and an ace from junior Jessica Heier (5' 4"). St. Francis then received two points on attack errors by the Lady Thunderhawks. WG earned a 5-point run getting kills from M. Heier (2), Nicole Holaday (5' 9" Sr.) and a stuff block by Heier enroute to a 6-point advantage. A missed serve stopped the run. A 4-point Thunderhawk run included a kill by Jessi Shaw (5' 4" Jr.), and ace, a SF attack error, and a Lady Indian passing error on another good attack by Shaw. St. Francis had been smacked early and trailed 4-13. Lindsey Johnson earned the first scoring play of the day for St. Francis with an ace serve (6-13). Finally, the Lady Indians began executing better and earned a 6-point run to narrow the deficit to 12-14. A dump-set by Emma Johnson earned the first kill of the match for St. Francis. The run featured two dump-sets by E. Johnson, an ace by Mia Morrow, and two kills by Jessica Confer. A missed serve slowed the momentum, but the Lady Indians took the lead (16-15) on a 4-point run which included a stuff by Hannah Zimbal, two kills by Confer, and a WG net violation. The Lady Indians committed a passing error on another attack by Heier and missed another serve moments later retying the set (17-17). A SF hitting error and an ace by WG's Morgan Zimmerman (5' 3" Jr.) gave the Lady Thunderhawks a 17-19 lead. St. Francis then earned a four-point run getting an ace from Confer in the flurry (21-19). After WG earned a stuff-block score, Morrow earned back-to-back kills giving St. Francis a 3-point advantage (23-20). St. Francis did not earn another point. WG reeled off 5 consecutive points, getting a kill from Heier, two ace serves, a kill from Jordyn Vincent (5' 8" Jr.), and a SF passing error to win the set 23-25.
Set two began with a no-play ace by Jessi Shaw. Shaw missed her second serve. Mikayla Heier followed with a kill,and Jessica Heier added an ace before missing her next serve. It was obvious that adrenaline levels were running high in the match. A through-the-block kill by Jessica Confer tied the set at 4-4 and started a three-point Lady Indian run that also included a Confer ace and kill by Emma Johnson (6-4). M. Heier answered quickly. A kill by Lindsey Johnson began a 5-point SF run that extended the Lady Indians' lead to 12-6. The action also featured a kill by Mia Morrow and a stuff by Hannah Zimbal on an attack by Shaw. WG followed with a three-point run including kills by Kirsten Schroeder (5' 9" So.) and Jordyn Vincent (12-9). A 4-point Lady Indian run resulting from a Morrow kill, a Confer stuff and kill, and WG net violation moved the scoreboard to 16-9 and triggered a WG time-out. After returning to the floor, the Lady Thunderhawks earned 8 consecutive points to take the lead (16-17). The lead change resulted from three kills by Schroeder, two by M. Heier, and a three SF miscues. Two WG errors returned the lead to St. Francis (18-17). WG then took the lead (18-19) getting a kill by Schroeder and an ace from J. Heier before missing another serve. An aggressive kill by Confer put the Lady Indians ahead 20-19 and was followed by an attack error by Heier. After a SF passing error on a good hit by Livia Schultz (5' 8" Fr.), Confer smacked another ball to the floor. M. Heier answered with two kills to tie the set at 22-all. Then, the Lady Thunderhawks missed their 4th serve of the set. Unfortunately, the Lady Indians missed their next service attempt retying the set at 23-all. An attack error by Heier was reciprocated by a net violation by the Lady Indians (24-24). With no room for error, the Lady Indians needed to make a play to continue their season. Lauren Johnson earned a stuff-block, and Morrow followed with an ace to earn a 26-24 set win. The third set contained less runs than either of the first two sets as the teams battled for points. WG earned three runs (3, 4, & 3) while the Lady Indians could only earn one run (3 points) against the stingy defense of the Lady Thunderhawks. WG opened the final set with a run of three coming on two kills and a stuff by M. Heier. A net violation on the Thunderhawks was followed by a kill by Lindsey Johnson. Another stuff and a strong hit by Heier added two more to the WG total (2-5). Back-to-back kills by Lindsey Johnson and Mia Morrow were answered by a powerful kill and an ace by Heier. Another Morrow kill was offset by a kill by Jordyn Vincent. An ace by Jett Schmidtberger (5' 5" Jr.) increased the deficit to four (5-9). St. Francis would miss the next two serves they attempted. WG added an ace after the second miss causing a St. Francis time-out now trailing 7-13. WG then earned a 4-point run on a joust won by Heier, a stuff-block that the Lady Indians failed to cover, and two aces. The margin quickly ballooned to 8-17. After the second SF time-out, Emma Johnson ended the WG run with a tip-kill. Heier answered with another kill on the next volley. Back-to-back stuffs by the Lady Thunderhawks moved the margin to double-digits (10-20). The Lady Indians then made several scoring plays to trim the deficit to 14-21. The action included kills by Lindsey and Lauren Johnson, a kill by Mia Morrow, and a stuff by Hannah Zimbal. Unfortunately, the Lady Indians committed another service error killing the momentum. Two attack errors by the Lady Thunderhawks were followed by an ace by Morrow narrowing the margin to 17-22. Again, a missed serve, the 4th of the set, stopped the Lady Indians run and started a three-point run that ended the match. An off-speed tip by Heier and a passing error on an attack by Livia Schultz closed the set.
The 29-10 record of the Lady Indians was the most wins ever in a season for Lady Indian volleyball. Seniors Jessica Confer, Lauren Johnson, and Lindsey Johnson completed their volleyball careers for SFCHS.
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