Volleyball Season Ends at Regional
The St. Francis Lady Indians competed in the 1A Regional Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday, October 22, in Rexford. In the opening round of the tournament, the Lady Indians defeated Triplains-Brewster in two straight sets 25-11; 25-8. The #2 seeded Rawlins County Buffaloes were the Lady Indians' opponent in the semi-final round. St. Francis played well early and won the first set in a thriller 27-25. As the match evolved, the Lady Indians' execution slowly degraded and the Lady Buffs gradually gained momentum to win the final two sets 22-25; 10-25.
The loss ended the season for the Lady Indians. The team earned a season record of 23 wins and 12 loses. Seniors completing their final volleyball season include Karly Bandel, Perla Yanez, Hannah Zimbal, Alondra Gomez, and Audrey Meyer. Senior Cassidy Busse served as manager for the team.
Golden Plains defeated Rawlins County in the Regional championship match 13-25; 25-13; 25-11. Rawlins County (25-11) and Golden Plains (31-6) both advance to Sub-State Tournaments to be held in Ransom on Saturday, October 26. Rawlins County will compete in Sub-State #1 and play Wheatland-Grinnell (31-7) at 1:00 p.m. Golden Plains will play Victoria (21-13) at 5 p.m. in Sub-State #2. Other teams qualifying for the Ransom Sub-State #1 include Central Plains (27-11) and Kensington-Thunder Ridge (32-8). Additional teams qualifying for Sub-State #2 are Logan (23-12) and Wallace County (23-13).
Triplains-Brewster
The Lady Indians completely dominated the Triplains-Brewster Lady Titans in both sets. Earning kills from Mia Morrow (2) and Hannah Zimbal (2) as well as aces from Alondra Gomez and Morrow, the Lady Indians jumped out to a quick 9-2 advantage. Triplains-Brewster (TP) earned but one kill during the early action; that coming from freshman Elliana Edwards. A tip-kill by sophomore Lizabeth Fellhoelter ended the second St. Francis run, but was quickly answered by a deep-tip by Zimbal. A 4-point TP run followed narrowing the advantage to 11-7. In the run, junior Brianna Hanson earned a down-the-line kill and senior Lyndzee Fellhoelter served an ace. A kill by Emma Johnson ended the Lady Titans' fun. After a missed serve, the Lady Indians reeled off two more runs. The first run was 4 points in length and included kills by Rian Zimbal and Morrow. After committing back-to-back attack errors, the Lady Indians completed a 10-point run to close the set. Morrow recorded 4 kills and Jordyn Faulkender one in the action. Johnson served 10 straight points including one ace and scored on two passing errors due to her serve. St. Francis won set one 25-11.
Set two was very similar. The Lady Indians earned two early runs to take a 10-2 advantage. During the action, Mia Morrow earned three kills and Hanna Zimbal one on an over-set kill. The Lady Indians were capitalizing on the Lady Titans's passing difficulties. Leading 10-3, Ellee Krien served 11 straight points, including two aces, advancing the margin to 21-3. During the run, kills were added by Emma Johnson (2), Hannah Zimbal, and Rian Zimbal (2) to increase the margin. Several Lady Indian substitutes received court time during set two. McKenna Poling earned a kill ending a 3-point TP run. Two more kills were earned in the set; one by Rian Zimbal and one by TP's Lizabeth Fellhoelter. St. Francis won set two 25-8 to advance to the semi-final match.
Rawlins County
Making several excellent plays and capitalizing on a few Rawlins County (RC) attack errors, the Lady Indians jumped out to a 9-1 advantage in set one. During the two SF runs, Mia Morrow recorded three kills and Hannah Zimbal earned one. Sophomore Sadie Sramek earned the only kill recorded by the Lady Buffaloes. Zimbal then squeezed another kill in between three kills by senior Brea Lankas. This action narrowed the margin to 11-4. A double-stuff block by Zimbal and Emma Johnson on an attack by Kristen Beckman moved the score to 13-5, but was soon followed by an aggressive Lankas kill from the left side. Kills by Zimbal and Morrow were answered by a Beckman kill and a stuff by sophomore Abigail Singhateh. A scoring tip by Jordyn Faulkender was followed by a Sramek kill and another Lankas tip. The margin narrowed to 18-13. St. Francis increased their advantage to 20-13 on a Morrow ace, and RC took their final time-out. The Lady Buffs returned to the floor to earn kills by Lankas and Beckman decreasing the margin to five (20-15). Soon, a 5-point RC run, including two kills by Lankas and some strong attacks by Beckman burned a SF time-out and tied the set at 21-all. The set would be tied at 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25 before the outcome was decided. With the Lady Indians leading 23-22, Sramek earned a no-play kill near the boundary line. Emma Johnson followed with a strong kill returning the lead to SF. On the next volley, Singhateh earned a stuff on an attack by Hannah Zimbal. Junior Kierstyn Domsch followed with a tip into the middle of the Sainty defense giving RC a one-point lead (24-25). Morrow answered with a kill for SF. On the next volley Morrow earned a stuff on an attack by Sramek. A dump-set by Faulkender sealed a hard-fought 27-25 win for the Lady Indians in set one.
Set two would also be a battle. Rawlins County earned a stuff-block on the first volley of the set. A communication error by the Lady Buffs tied the score. St. Francis was then penalized for a scorebook error losing a point and the serve. The Lady Buffs followed with a missed serve and an attack error. Brea Lankas then scored on a tip, but St. Francis answered with a deep-tip by Hannah Zimbal and an ace by Mia Morrow (5-3). After a SF attack error, a tip by Kristen Beckman tied the set at 5. RC then earned a 4-point run including a kill by Abigail Singhateh and two aces by Lankas to lead 5-9. Moments later, Zimbal earned a stuff against Beckman, but Beckman crushed a kill on the following volley. Zimbal sandwiched a kill in between additional kills by RC's Kierstyn Domsch and Lankas. The action increased the deficit to 9-14 and caused a SF time-out. Returning to action, Morrow smashed a powerful kill and then followed with an off-speed middle kill. An attack error prevented an additional SF run. Following a volley in which a replay was declared, St. Francis earned a 4-point run to tie the set at 15-all. In the run, Hannah Zimbal earned a stuff on a Domsch attack then scored on a kill off-a-block, and Morrow earned a stuff against freshman Mariyah Nichols. The next Morrow kill was followed by kills from Lankas and Beckman moving the scoreboard to 16-18. Trailing 17-18, the Lady Indians missed a service attempt. The margin became three (17-20) on a through-the-block kill by Sramek. St. Francis narrowed the margin to two (18-20) on a kill by Rian Zimbal. The Lady Indians again missed their serve returning the margin to three. On the next volley, Johnson stuffed a Domsch attack moving the scoreboard to 19-21. Beckman followed with a kill for the Lady Buffs, but a well-placed tip by Johnson returned the margin to two. A passing error by the Lady Buffs narrowed the margin again (21-22), but another missed serve by the Lady Indians; now three consecutive, prevented the tying point. Domsch followed with a strong kill making the score 21-24. Though Morrow would add an over-set tip score on the next volley, an off-the-block kill by Lankas ended the set. St. Francis lost set two 22-25.
Hannah Zimbal's stuff and kill gave St. Francis an early 2-0 lead in the deciding set. RC followed with a 5-point run triggering an early SF time-out. RC scored on a kill by Brea Lankas, an ace by Sadie Sramek, and three SF errors. After the time-out, SF added a three-point run retying the set. The run included another stuff by Zimbal. An over-pass stuff by Jordyn Faulkender tied the set at 6-all, but RC reeled off 8 consecutive points to lead 6-14. In the run, Kristen Beckman scored on a powerful spike, Abigail Singhateh scored on a stuff-tip, Lankas added two aces, and Beckman scored on an off-the-net attack. Rian Zimbal's stuff of a Beckman attack moved the score to 8-14, but another RC run (three points) moved the deficit to 8-17. Beckman and Singhateh each earned kills in the run. A kill by Emma Johnson ended this run, but RC added a 7-point burst to lead 7-24. In this flurry, Beckman served two aces, Kierstyn Domsch added two kills, and Sramek chipped in a middle tip. A kill by Hannah Zimbal ended the run, but the set was nearly over. A final off-the-net kill by Sramek closed the match. St. Francis was defeated by Rawlins County 10-25.
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