Lady Eagles Season Comes To Close With District Loss To Norfolk Catholic

DISTRICT RUNNER-UPS - The O'Neill Lady Eagles took second in the District Volleball finals last Friday in Wausa. Pictured are front row (l-r): Sabrina Fox, Kelsey Appleby, Alex Hedlund, Molly Shane, Katie Danelison and Makala Hladky. Second row (l-r): Head Coach Kay Appleby,  Rahtaya Young, McKenzie Adamson, Tiffany Finkral, Natalie Broderson, Lindsey Appleby,Addie Schneider, Alyssa Sobotka, Tapanga Lihs, Natasha Zeeb, Coach Michelle Tomjack, Megan Peter, Coach Tammy Meyers and Abby Krysl.

KELSEY APPLEBY of OHS gets down to bump the ball back into play in action against Norfolk Catholic last Friday evening.

The O'Neill Lady Eagles wrapped up their season with action in Sub Districts Games and falling to Norfolk Catholic in district finals

O'Neill was the #1 seed coming into Sub District play which put them against #4 the Ainsworth Bulldogs.  The Eagles handled the Bulldogs downing them in three sets:  25-4, 25-12, and 25-16.

'The team was really dialed in tonight'they were ready to play from the get go,' said Coach Kaye Appleby.  'It was a total team effort against the Bulldogs where everyone contributed.'

The team had two players hit over .500 this match that included Alex Hedlund who led with 12 kills and Katie Danielson with 6 kills.  Molly Shane also had six kills followed by Lindsey Appleby and Alyssa Sobotka with three kills apiece.  Natasha Zeeb and Kelsey Appleby had two kills while Tapanga Lihs was good for one kill.

Kelsey Appleby had 28 set assists for the win.

Defensively there were three players with six digs including Shane, Danielson, and Sobotka.  Hedlund added five digs and both Applebys dug up four.  Top serve receivers were Lindsey Appleby and Alyssa Sobotka with five and four respectively.

Leading in ace serves were Alex Hedlund with five, Katie Danielson with four, and Kelsey Appleby with two.

The second game of the night Valentine defeated Broken Bow in three sets to move on to the final game versus O'Neill.

In the Sub District final the Eagles downed the Badgers in three straight sets to advance to the District Final.  Scores were 25-19, 25-16, and 25-21.

This was the third meeting for the two teams this season.  Each team had one win against each other going into the match.  

The first set it was tied at 13-13 and then the Eagles pulled ahead and kept the lead to finish the set 25-19.

In the second set it was tied for the last time at 15-15 before the Eagles got a small run to pull ahead 18-15.  O'Neill's next server Lindsey Appleby served two aces in a row to go up 21-16 and then served the rest of the points including a kill from teammates Molly Shane and Kelsey Appleby to win 25-16.

O'Neill was tied with Valentine the third set at 11-11 and then the Eagles were able to gain the advantage and keep the lead through the rest of the match.

'We played a solid game all-around this match,' said Coach Kaye Appleby.  'We did a great job of serving and passing, and we didn't get out of system much so our hitters got good swings at the ball.  The players set the goal of getting to the District Final early in the year so I am very happy for them'they worked hard for it.'

Leading hitter was Alex Hedlund with 14 kills.  Kelsey Appleby, Katie Danielson, and Lindsey Appleby all had five kills each followed by Molly Shane and Alyssa Sobotka with two kills apiece.

Molly Shane was the only digger with double figures on the night with 15 good digs.  Lindsey Appleby followed with 9 digs.  Lindsey was also top serve receiver with 11 good passes. Hedlund and Sobotka had eight good receives.

The O'Neill Eagles traveled to Wausa to take on the Norfolk Catholic Knights in District Volleyball action last Friday night.   The Eagles were competitive all three games, but came up short against the Knights:  25-21, 25-22, and 25-23.

The first game the Eagles jumped to an early lead 6-1 with two kills by Hedlund and strong serving by Molly Shane who scored on two ace serves for a total of five service points.   The Knights tied it at 7-7, but the Eagles came back to pull ahead 13-9 at the end of one full rotation including a couple of ace serves from Alyssa Sobotka and Lindsey Appleby.  It was the end of the second rotation when the Knights had a big run to pull ahead 22-20 and kept the momentum to win the set 25-21.

Set two was back and forth with a tie game at 17-17 and 19-19 after two full rotations.  The Knights scored three straight and the Eagles answered back with two to stay within one.  It was 23-22 Knights advantage when NC had a kill and an Eagle hitting error to win set two.

The third game proved to be a battle with the Knights up 18-13 when the Eagles made a move after a Knight service error.  Kelsey Appleby stepped to serve and scored two quick off ace serves and another from a kill by Hedlund to put the Eagles in contention at 17-18.  The Eagles stayed with it and tied the game at 22-22.  The Knights pulled ahead 24-22 and had served match point when Katie Danielson put down a slide to keep the Eagles alive.  Danielson made the serve, but the Knights were able to get the kill to win the match and advance to the State tourney.

'The team battled and stayed close in each game tonight, we just couldn't put a string together late in the game to get the win.  Our seniors did a terrific job all year being great leaders on and off the court.  Tonight was no exception'the team gave it their all it just didn't go our way against a tough Norfolk Catholic squad.  These seniors will be deeply missed,' said Coach Kaye Appleby.

Alex Hedlund led with 11 kills against the Knights.  Molly Shane and Katie Danielson also had a good night with seven and six kills respectively.  Lindsey Appleby followed with four kills.  

Setter Kelsey Appleby had 27 set assists, as well as, two kills from second contact attacks.   

Passing leaders were Alyssa Sobotka with 14 serve receives, and Lindsey Appleby and Alex Hedlund with 11 digs a piece.  Kelsey Appleby and Molly Shane also added seven digs for the match.

Shane and Danielson led the team with three ace serves each against the Knights followed by Kelsey Appleby with two aces.  Alex Hedlund had the only two blocks for the night.