Lady Cards Take Fourth 

At State Tournament

St. Mary's Girls  with 4th place trophy at the Nebraska State Vollebyball Tournament last Saturday.

Jessi Pongratz slaps one across the net in action against Ansley-Litchfield on Thursday.

The O'Neill St. Mary's Cardinals have set the bar high for next year finishing a respectable fourth at this year's state volleyball tournament.

The girls took on Ansley/Litchfield on Thursday at Grand Island Northwest, and like the week before at districts, sent them packing. The girls came out strong in the first set and at the end of the set dominated winning 25-16. Set two was much closer for the Cards who got behind at the end of the match and lost the set 23-25. The Lady Cards showed they were definitely the better team in the third set getting ahead early and staying ahead winning 25-14. The Cards carried the fourth set easily with a 25-15 win.

Leading the Lady Cards in the Ansley-Litchfield game were Krissy Krotter with 12 kills, four ace serves and 14 digs; Brooke Bauer with 11 kills, one block and six digs; Jessi Pongratz with 10 kills and three blocks; Kaylee Krotter with four ace serves and 20 set assists and Bridget Schneider with 20 set assists.

On Friday the girls moved across town to Grand Island High to face West Point Guardian Angels in the second round of the tournament.  The girls received their first loss of the tournament losing in four sets 21-25, 25-19, 17-25 and 15-25.

The first set was close with a four point gap, the lead fluctuated throughout the match, but a run by GACC gave them the win. The Lady Cards came out determined in the second set with Pongratz leading the way, the Cards took the set 25-19. The Cardinals struggled the last two sets defensively and with a few service errors losing 17-25 and 15-25 sending GACC on to the finals and the Cards to the consolation match against Sutherland.

Leading the Cards in this game were Mackenzie Wecker with 17 digs; Kaylee Krotter with two kills, one ace serve and 19 set assists; Riley Sibbel with five kills, one ace serve and eight digs; Krissy Krotter with two kills, one ace serve and 13 digs; Brooke Bauer with nine kills, two ace serves and three digs; Bridget Schneider with two kills, two ace serves and 10 set assists and Jessi Pongratz with eight kills, two blocks and one dig.

The Cards' final game was against Sutherland Saturday morning. The Cards played hard but lost in four sets 26-28, 22-25, 25-21 and 22-25.

The Cards played tough in all four sets, losing by a few points in each set.

Leading the Cards were Mackenzie Wecker with two kills, two ace serves, 29 digs and one set assist; Kaylee Krotter with seven digs and 23 set assists; Emily Everitt with eight kills, two blocks, one dig and one set assist; Riley Sibbel with 11 kills, one ace serve, 18 digs and one set assist; Krissy Krotter with four kills, one serve and 14 digs; Brooke Bauer with 14 kills, two blocks and seven digs; Justine Blumenstock with seven kills, four digs and one set assist and Jessi Pongratz with five kills, two blocks and one dig.

The girls end their season with a 31-4 record.