No. 2 Skutt Catholic volleyball went on the road Tuesday to score a big Class B win, sweeping No. 6 Lincoln Pius X 25-15, 25-14, 25-21.
The victory makes four in a row for the SkyHawks, who claimed third place at the Bellevue West Invitational in week one before making the trip to Kansas City to pick up a pair of wins against Saint Thomas Aquinas and St. Teresa’s Academy last week.
“I think probably the two biggest things [I was pleased with] were our ability to trust each other, and then our discipline,” Skutt coach Renee Saunders told NebPreps. “I thought we did a really good job of trusting ourselves, trusting our teammates, but then also being disciplined in all the skills that we were trying to perform, and it kind of came together as we went along.”
Avery White posted a season-high 14 kills on .375 hitting while Addison West led the SkyHawks 15 kills on .450 hitting.
Pius won the first point of the match, but Skutt responded with a 9-3 run ending in the first of two first-set aces from West to take control. The SkyHawks continued to extend the lead the rest of the way as the Thunderbolts had no answer for White, who went off for nine kills on 15 errorless swings.
West called White’s performance “amazing.”
“She was so good,” West said. “Any ball she got, she was terminating it, and I was just so happy to see her succeed like that.”
West took over in the second set, terminating four times during a 12-2 Skutt start. The North Carolina commit matched White’s first quarter with nine kills of her own in the second to lead the SkyHawks to another double-digit set win.
The 6-foot-2 pin hitter has been a four-year impact player for the SkyHawks and is coming off a junior season that saw her average 4.4 kills per set on .353 hitting. She was a preseason Super Six selection for the Omaha World-Herald, and Saunders said she’s handled the accolades and the outside noise that accompany them well.
West’s stats have seen a slight uptick across the board as she’s continued to work on her game to prepare for the jump to college next season.
“I’m focus on getting stronger and just being really good all-around player — passing, serving, whatever it is to level up my game,” West said. “Nutrition, sleep, all of the things that will set me apart from other players.”
Skutt threatened to run away with it again in set three, using a pair of 4-0 runs early to open up an 8-2 lead. To Pius’ credit, the Thunderbolts continued to battle, trimming the deficit down to two multiple times, the last at 23-21. However, West slammed the door shut on a comeback, terminating on the final two rallies to complete the sweep.
Omaha basketball commit Ava Markowski, another World-Herald Super Six selection, led the Bolts with 12 kills. Markowski was the team’s setter a season ago, but after graduating most of their firepower, she’s moved to an attacking position and is averaging nearly 4.0 kills per set. The loss was the first for Pius after opening the season with five straight victories.
This is the first time in a decade that the SkyHawks didn’t head into the season as reigning champions. Norris snapped their state title streak at nine last season, outlasting the SkyHawks in five sets in the championship. The loss added motivation for the SkyHawks but didn’t change the way they approached the offseason.
“I feel like once we get back into the summer, it’s the same thing,” West said. “We’re still trying to win a state championship with this team, and so I feel like this year, we’re really focused on playing to a standard, not to a scoreboard, and that’s just really been our focus this year and I think it’s helped a lot.”
While West and White are back, the rest of the Skutt lineup is filled with seniors playing a significant role for the first time.
Mia Stevens and Maggie McMahon took over the setting duties from Meghan Anderson (11.6 assists per set), with the SkyHawks running a 6-2. Marin Brummund (0.7 digs per set in 89 sets last year) is the libero, stepping in for Nikki Ott (4.8 digs per set). Kayelyn Liebentritt (0.9 kills per set as a junior) has emerged as Skutt’s second outside hitter, replacing Abbie Hagedorn (3.1 kills per set last year). Amelia Boone and Ellie Ortmeier are holding it down in the middle for the departed Kiera Link (1.9 kills per set on .370 hitting in 2024).
The SkyHawks lost a lot from last year’s team, but the new starters are all taking advantage of the opportunity they’ve been waiting for in their final season.
“That’s something that’s really cool, though, about Skutt Catholic, is those program kids that wait their turn, and then now’s their time to shine, and they absolutely step into it and embrace the role and just give it everything they have, because they’ve been waiting for this opportunity since they got there,” Saunders said.
West and White have taken on larger leadership roles as the team’s most experienced players, and West credited those who came before them for showing them the way.
“Our leaders before have been very helpful,” West said. “They’ve shown us the ropes, shown us how to be great leaders, and so to have them before us to teach us how to be great leaders and servant leaders, that’s been really beneficial for us filling in that role.”
The SkyHawks suffered two setbacks in the first week of the season as they opened the 2025 campaign at the Bellevue West Invitational. Skutt dropped a 2-1 match to Class A No. 3 Omaha Westside in pool play then fell to reigning Class A champion and top-ranked Papillion-La Vista South in straight sets the semifinal round of bracket play. Saunders viewed the losses as learning opportunities.
“One of them was just sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way,” Saunders said of her takeaways. “You can do everything right and not and not win. And then the other one was that we played very hesitant, and we’re not a very good team when we’re hesitant, and we’re not a very good team when we’re super serious.”
Tuesday’s win improved Skutt to 7-2 less than three weeks into the season, with No. 8 Columbus Lakeview set to visit on Thursday and many other tests remaining.
“We’re in a good spot, but we’re not anywhere near where we need to be, or where we can be,” Saunders said. “I think that’s what’s really cool about this team is that we only return three starters, so there’s a lot of room for growth and figuring some things out. But they’re a fantastic group of humans, and so it makes every day we’re in the gym a joy.”
