Lady Eagles Defeat Plainview In Three

O'Neill vs. Plainview

The Eagles defeated the Plainview Pirates at home in straight sets:  25-12, 25-19, and 25-21.

O'Neill jumped to an early lead all three sets against the Pirates.  The Eagles had 15 ace serves in the three sets to help the team to victory.  Alex Hedlund led with five aces, followed by Molly Shane, Alyssa Sobotka, and Kelsey Appleby with three aces apiece.  Lindsey Appleby added one ace to the total.

The Eagle's attack was led by Alex Hedlund with 10 kills while Katie Danielson had seven kills.  Shane, Appleby, and Sobotka added four kills.  Megan Peter had three kills, Kelsey Appleby had two, and Natasha Zeeb had one kill at the net. 

Defensively Alex Hedlund led with five blocks and seven digs.  Molly Shane picked up six digs and Kelsey Appleby had five digs against the Pirates.

Seniors Katie Danielson and Alex Hedlund topped the serve receive chart with nine good passes and junior Lindsey Appleby followed with seven.

O'Neill vs. Pierce

The Eagles downed conference rival Pierce in volleyball action last Thursday in three sets:  25-23, 25-23, and 25-22.

"This was a great game and both teams fought hard on every point.  Pierce has a lot of height at the net, but we found ways to get around their block.  We also served strong and forced them out of system.  I was very pleased with the team's performance and their intensity," said Coach Appleby. 

In the first set Molly Shane went on a serving run with two aces and a total of seven straight service points to take the lead 8-2.  The Eagles led 14-11 after one complete rotation.  The Blue Jays did tie the game at 16 and again at 23 before the Eagles got the 25-23 win.

The second set the Eagles led 12-8 after one rotation and kept a small lead throughout the second rotation up until Pierce's last server when they put together a run to pull ahead 23-22.  Pierce had a hitting error and the Eagles put two back to back points on the board with a block by Alex Hedlund, and a kill by setter Kelsey Appleby to gain a two game advantage. 

The third set Pierce led 8-7, but with the help of tough serving by Alyssa Sobotka who served five straight including 2 aces gained a 13-8 lead.   The Eagles were up 24-17 when Pierce fought back scoring five points before the Eagles scored match point.

Leading hitter for the night was Lindsey Appleby with eight kills followed by Molly Shane and Alex Hedlund with six kills apiece.  Alyssa Sobotka had four kills while Kelsey Appleby and Katie Danielson had two kills. 

Defensively Lindsey Appleby led in two categories of passing with 14 digs and 14 good serve receives.  Alex Hedlund followed in digs with 12.  Kelsey Appleby and Katie Danielson each dug up eight of the Blue Jays attacks and Molly Shane had seven digs. 

At the net defensively Alex Hedlund had a strong performance with six ace blocks while Katie Danielson had three blocks.  Both Appleby's added one block apiece.

Kelsey Appleby had 23 set assists and Lindsey Appleby and Molly Shane had two and one assist respectively.

The Eagles go 2-1 at the Wisner Pilger Tournament

O'Neill vs. St. Paul

The Eagles wrapped up a busy week with a 2-1 performance at the eight-team Wisner-Pilger Tournament Saturday.  

O'Neill faced a tough St. Paul team the first game of the tournament losing in two close sets 25-22 and 26-24.  

Set one the Eagles were down early, but fought back to within reach of the Wildcats.  Leading hitters were Alex Hedlund with seven kills, Katie Danielson with six kills, and Molly Shane with five kills.  Both Applebys added three kills while Alyssa Sobotka had one kill.

Shane, Danielson, Hedlund and L. Appleby all had one block.  Kelsey Appleby and Molly Shane led in digs with seven apiece while Danielson and Sobotka each had six digs.  Lindsey Appleby led with 11 good serve receives.

Kelsey Appleby handled the setting duties with 19 set assists.

"We were a little slow getting started the first set which hurt us against a solid team.  We did play well to end the first set and throughout the second set," said Coach Appleby.

O'Neill vs. Neligh-Oakdale

The second match the Eagles dominated the Neligh-Oakdale Warriors in two sets:  25-4 and 25-12.

The first set the Eagles served strong shutting the Warriors down.  Kelsey Appleby served six in a row and Alex Hedlund had 12 straight service points, four of which were aces.  Megan Peter finished the set off with three serves, the last two were aces.

The second set Katie Danielson served up two aces for a total of five points to start and then Molly Shane added five more with one ace while Kelsey Appleby served four more including an ace for a big 16-4 lead.  The Eagles kept on rolling winning the set 25-11.

Alex Hedlund led with seven kills followed by Danielson and Sobotka with four kills each.  Kelsey Appleby had 15 set assists while Lindsey Appleby added two assists.  

Shane, Sobotka, and K. Appleby led with five digs each followed by Hedlund and Danielson with four digs apiece.

O'Neill vs. Allen

In the third match O'Neill defeated Allen in straight sets:  25-13 and 25-15.

"We served and passed consistently these last two matches which allowed the team to get some good swings at the ball," commented Coach Appleby.

Offensively Alex Hedlund led with six kills with Katie Danielson following with five kills.  Molly Shane and Alyssa Sobotka each had four kills.  Kelsey Appleby led with 21 set assists.

Defensively Kelsey Appleby and Molly Shane led with six digs while Alyssa Sobotka and Lindsey Appleby each had four digs.  Katie Danielson led in serve receives with seven to the target.      

The Eagles are now 12-7 on the season.