Cougars rise above the chaos, earn state berth

After ending up one win shy of securing the Goldenrod Conference Tournament title earlier in the month, a common message started to take center stage during volleyball practice at Central Valley High School.

Control the chaos.

Saturday evening, in front of a large crowd at Central Valley High School, the Cougars weren’t tripped up by the magnitude of the moment. Central Valley beat Sandhills/Thedford 25-17, 17-25, 25-14, 25-19 to claim the District D2-8 title and advance to the NSAA State Volleyball Tournament in Lincoln.

“I wanted to go [to state] pretty bad,” said Central Valley Head Coach Diane Kasselder. “We got second at conference, and I think we panicked at conference a little bit. I think it taught us a lesson on how to calm down during a game.

“We still go chaotic, but not quite so long.”

The chaos started to erupt in the opening set of the Cougars’ four-set thriller over the Knights.

After a series of errors by both teams, Central Valley jumped out to a 7-2 lead following a kill by Alexis Johnson. That kill was part of an 8-2 run that didn’t feature a single point from the Knights’ attack. Johnson’s work at the net would be key to a seven-point explosion by the Cougars in the middle of the opening set.

However, Sandhills/Thedford was not easily sidelined. The Knights put together a run of their own midway through the frame, but, ultimately, the Cougars were able to capitalize on their early momentum to take a one-set lead in the match.

“I don’t know if we ever settled in,” said Coach Kasselder about her team’s success in the first set on Saturday. “We watched a lot of tape and we felt like we could tip against them. Then, they kind of covered that.”

A majority of Saturday’s match was played at the net, with Kasselder saying that, with the Knights proving proficient on defense up front, her team had a hard time making the transition from their pass reception to their attack.

“Sandhills/Thedford was very good,” the coach said. “I think it was a battle and it ended up being who outlasted the other. They definitely were as good as we were.”

The Knights’ talent was showcased in the second set, when Sandhills/Thedford overcame a 3-0 start by the Cougars and led 17-9 midway through the set. Central Valley found some mojo in the middle of the frame following a kill by Cayle Grossart from the left pin and an ace serve from Mia Butcher, but the Knights’ lead was too big to overcome.

Sandhills/Thedford secured their only victory of the match with a four-point run.

Coach Kasselder commented that she was in no way surprised that the Knights were able to rebound from their first-set loss to even the match.

“I would have liked to have won the second set, but I knew it was going to be tough,” the coach said. “I thought we had the momentum of the gym with us, and I knew that would end.

“I kind of told my girls that it would end.”

Johnson, who was a key contributor to the Cougars’ attack last week, said that following the Cougars’ first-set victory, the team may have dialed back the intensity too far.

“The second set, we were like, ‘We won a set,’ so we were calmed down a little too much, but we found a way to bring the fire back and we found a way to just go with it,” she said. “We found a way to go with the flow and found a way to work through all our struggles.”

While the Cougars won the following two sets by margins of eleven and six points, respectively, the Knights continued to unload their arsenal against the Greeley County kids until the final point was played.

In the third set, Central Valley had the early lead, but Sandhills/Thedford rallied the knot the score at eight-points apiece. Back-to-back kills by Callie Wadas put the Cougars on top 18-10, with Annaka Wood registering a pair of blocks to close out the set.

In the final frame, Central Valley led 8-2 after a kill from the left pin by Wadas; however, facing the end of their season, the Knights rallied one final time. Sandhills/Thedford was able to get to within one point of the Cougars—18-17—after a 5-0 run that spanned a Central Valley timeout. Yet, Central Valley didn’t let off the gas and cruised to their twenty-third victory of the season.

“We wanted this so bad,” Johnson said after the Cougars had punched their ticket to state. “It is just an amazing feeling.”

Saturday night’s victory over the Knights sets the Cougars up with a first-round match against the Overton Eagles.

Overton entered the week as the top team in Class D-2, according to the state’s largest newspaper, and punched their ticket to Lincoln with a sweep over Wauneta-Palisade on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles will head into Thursday morning’s quarterfinal match against the Cougars with a 29-3 record, with their only losses coming to Southwest, Kearney Catholic, and Cambridge. All three of those teams will also be in Lincoln next week.

Coach Kasselder said that, despite the caliber of competition they will face in Lincoln, she has borne witness to the fact that, at the state tournament, anything can happen.

“Down there, everyone is good,” said the Cougars’ head coach. “I’ve been to state enough to know that, when you get down there it is fresh.

Coach Kasselder added that, any team that was good enough to play in a district final was good enough to compete in the state tournament.

“I really do believe if you keep your head, you can win at that level,” she said.

Johnson added that, for her and her teammates, when they hit the floor at Pinnacle Bank Arena, all bets were off.

“[We are] just going to go hard and go for it,” the senior said. “There really is nothing to lose for us; we are just going to play hard.”