Nebraska crowned its six high school volleyball state champions on Saturday as the Devaney Center hosted the 2025 NSAA State Championships.
Stay tuned for rolling updates throughout the day here. You can also check out the NEBPreps social pages for more content, and you can find previous coverage of the state tournament here and here.
CLASS D2
No. 1 Wynot 3, No. 3 Cambridge 2 (19-25, 25-21, 16-25, 25-17, 15-5)
Why not Wynot?
The top-seeded Blue Devils rallied from a 2-1 deficit to knock off the Trojans in five, capturing the program’s first volleyball state championship.
Senior outside hitter Kenna Oligmueller led the way for the Blue Devils all season and put an exclamation point on her career with the title.
“It means so much,” Oligmueller said. “We knew that we had the potential this year to be good. We came down here and we made a deep run, and we knew that we could do that, and to do it with this team, it’s so special to make history in Wynot. It feels so awesome.”
In the fifth set, Cambridge took it to the Blue Devils, opening with two kills and an ace. Wynot coach Tristan Wieseler called a timeout to settle his team down and deliver a message.
“I kind of just reiterated that we’ve been in that situation, tried to calm nerves a little there, and just challenge them to leave it all on the court … I challenged them to pass a little bit better, and we got a sideout and we were able to go on a run after that.”
Consider the challenge accepted. The Blue Devils ripped off eight straight points out of the stoppage with senior libero Jaylin Geisen serving. Cambridge halted the run with a kill, but Wynot fired right back with a 5-0 spurt including three kills from Oligmueller and an ace from senior setter Haley Wieseler.
Following the combined 13-1 run, the Blue Devils traded sideouts for the final few rallies to secure victory, with their fellow students rushing the court to celebrate with their classmates after the final whistle.
Oligmueller finished with a match-high 25 kills on .293 hitting plus nine digs, a block and an ace. She struggled a bit in the second and third sets but came alive in the fourth and dominated the fifth. The senior took all but two of Wynot’s attacks and accounted for all nine kills in the final frame as the team hit .500 and didn’t record an error.
“We knew that it was now or never, so we went out there in that fifth set and we said, ‘They’re going to come firing at us, but we just have to fire right back,’” Oligmueller said. “I knew that somebody had to pick it up for the team and get a few kills to get us going in that fifth set, and I think I did that. I told my setter, I said ‘Keep feeding me; they’re giving me the line.’”
“And she took the line,” Tristan Wieseler added. “She took every bit of that line.”
Senior Jordan Foxhoven led the defensive effort with 31 digs while Geisen added 26 digs and a .971 reception percentage. Freshman middle blocker Mya Pinkelman chipped in 11 kills on .259 hitting and three blocks. Haley Wieseler racked up 42 assists, eight digs and eight blocks as the Blue Devils out-blocked the Trojans 11.0 to 3.0 after some minor blocking adjustments mid-game, according to Wieseler.
A pair of do-it-all Cambridge athletes recorded triple-doubles in the match after doing so in the semifinals as well. Junior Brooklyn Holtze finished with 22 kills, 21 assists and 15 digs while senior Mallory Springer added 21 kills, 26 assists and 21 digs. Junior middle blocker Joslyn Holtze added 16 kills and nine digs for the runner-up Trojans.
Cambridge head coach Lauren Carpenter was back on the bench for the championship match after giving birth on Tuesday. Assistant coach Rami Albers stepped in for Cambridge’s quarterfinal and semifinal wins to give Carpenter time to recover, but she was determined to be there for her team on Saturday and awarded them their silver medals after the match.
“Our motto is, ‘Win three sets by two points.’ That’s all that really matters. They just rode the wave.”
Wynot coach @twieselerrrr talks after the Blue Devils’ five-set win to claim its first state title in volleyball. #nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/pP42D5qpFg
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) November 8, 2025
CLASS D1
No. 1 Amherst 3, No. 2 Overton 2 (20-25, 17-25, 25-11, 26-24, 15-11)
“F-K-C!” chants rang out from the Amherst student section after Saturday’s D1 state championship.
The chant was referring to the Fort Kearny Conference, which produced both D1 finalists. The fourth meeting of the season between Amherst and Overton turned into an instant classic with the Broncos pulling off a reverse sweep to earn their first volleyball state championship.
The win secured a 4-0 season sweep for the Broncos.
“It’s tough to play a team that many times and have this kind of record against them, especially Overton,” Amherst coach Jonie Fader said. “They’re seasoned, they’re well coached, they don’t make a lot of mistakes. Being down 0-2, we just thought, ‘Let’s challenge the kids to play from the heart and play from the intellectual part of the game.’
“So we challenged them with that; we’ve been working on that all year long, and just as a coach, it’s so rewarding to see them apprehend their training and take personal possession of that and then just go get their win.”
Overton controlled the action in the first two sets, recording 11 more kills en route to a 2-0 lead. The third set was tight early with five ties in the first 14 rallies, but Mackenzie Cochran, the only senior on the Amherst roster, serve an 8-0 run to blow the game open and turn it into a rout.
“Volleyball is a game of failures with the ups and downs,” Fader said. “We just believe in them enough to say, ‘Go for it, girls.’ Just reminding them how they want to feel, what emotion do they want to have, and just letting them own that. We believe in them so much. They’re a phenomenal group of kids.”
Junior opposite Libby Mitchell sparked the turnaround with six of her team-high 19 kills in the third set — without an attack error. The junior added six block assists on the day to finish with 22 points.
“I just kind of stopped and I took a deep breathe, and I knew, ‘Leave it all on the court right here,’” Mitchell said. “I knew I didn’t want to leave this game with any regrets, because it would bite me forever. I was like, ‘It’s now or never; I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m just going to go out and swing, trust my teammates, do it for them, because we want this so bad.’”
Overton didn’t let Amherst run away with the fourth set in the same way as the third, rallying from a deficit to make it a deuce game. The Eagles earned two set points at 24-22, but a kill from junior Sadie Van Ranken triggered a 4-0 finish to the set for Amherst to force a fifth.
“I think overall, it was just how bad we all wanted to win it, and we came into this game knowing we will do whatever it takes,” Mitchell said. “That’s what turned the corner in that fourth set.”
The fifth set was close early, but the Broncos gradually pulled away, building a big enough lead to weather a late comeback attempt and slamming the door shut with a match-point block from Van Ranken and Cochran. The head coach said she saw a notable uptick in the team’s energy on the court in the final set.
“We talk a lot about, as women, our voices have power,” Fader said. “We needed to raise our level of communication, which raises the level of energy …. From my standpoint, that’s a huge part of what did that.”
Amherst had a big edge in blocks (11.5 to 4.0) and aces (seven to one). A big part of that was the play of junior libero Brecken Veskerna. She recorded 29 digs and two aces while receiving 53 of Overton’s 92 serves with only one reception error (a .981 percentage).
“Brecken is impressive,” Fader said. “She’s impressive. We make it look like it’s a three-person serve receive, but oftentimes it’s a one-person serve receive because we know that Brecken has really stepped up her game this year. She reads well and she’s a pursuer libero. That’s why we have her in middle back, because she is relentless with pursuit.”
Sophomore Addy Simmons added a triple-double for the Broncos with 26 digs, 11 assists and 10 kills while Van Ranken finished with 12 kills and five blocks.
Daisy Ryan led the runner-up Eagles with 23 kills and 20 digs while Gracen Hughes added 20 kills.
“We want it all over again. This was so much fun, and I know we want to do it all over again.”
Amherst freshman Brooke Bosshamer had seven kills, nine digs, and six blocks in the Broncos’ reverse-sweep of Overton for the Class D1 title. #nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/erEr3abOZo
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) November 8, 2025
CLASS C2
No. 4 Freeman 3, No. 6 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 1 (25-23, 16-25, 25-18, 29-27)
The Freeman Falcons pulled out two deuce games, including one in extras, to secure a four-set victory and claim the program’s first state championship since 2014 (and fourth overall).
“I’m so proud of how they played,” Freeman coach Lexi Holland said. “They really showed grit, especially in that fourth set. We knew it was going to be a battle. A state title game is always going to be challenging; they’re not just going to give it to you, you’re going to get the team’s best game, and LCC gave us their best game. I think our girls really battled and they didn’t let down.”
The Falcons closed out the first set with a 3-0 run ending in an ace from junior Shiloh Wallman to win it by two. LCC countered by winning big in the second to tie the match up, hitting .438 with 16 kills in the set.
Freeman returned the favor in the third, using a 5-0 run to create separation midway through and remaining in control the rest of the way on the strength of its defense. The Bears hit minus-.027 and nearly contributed as many points to Freeman’s total as the Falcons did themselves.
The fourth set saw some wild swings with 14 ties and seven lead changes. After leading by four at 13-9, the Falcons fell behind by three at 19-16. Freeman didn’t crumble, however, as one of the team’s two seniors, Alicia Johansen, stepped up to lead them back. She put down five kills in a nine-rally span to tie it up at 22-all then served back-to-back aces to give her team match point.
LCC countered with a 3-0 run to jump in front but couldn’t finish it off. Freeman earned two more match point opportunities without success before finally taking advantage with back-to-back kills to close it out.
“I think we reset by knowing we were in the driver’s seat that third set and no matter what happened, we were playing another set,” Holland said of her team’s resiliency in the fourth. “It wasn’t a lose situation, so we just reminded them stay calm, play our game, keep running the fast ball and you’ll be fine.”
Johansen finished with a match-high 19 kills on .417 hitting, 14 digs, three blocks and three aces. She also delivered the final kill to seal a state championship victory on her final swing as a Falcon.
“It was so surreal,” Johansen said. “I was just happy it went down, honestly. That was a close fourth set, and just to have that moment with all my teammates behind my back — I don’t remember who passed that ball, but whoever passed, it had to be a dime and Aniston [Bartunek] set up a dime for me. If those two things didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have put it down. My teammates trust me to put the ball down, so I know when Aniston gives me the ball, I can do it.”
Bartunek, a sophomore, racked up 42 assists and 23 digs. Reagan Rinne, a junior, added 13 kills on .263 hitting and 13 digs.
Holland was a player on the last Freeman team that won a state championship, and now she’s experienced that success from the bench as well.
“Honestly, it’s the same [feeling],” Holland said. “When the ball hits the ground, your emotions just run out of you and you just want to cry. Maybe it’s a girl thing. I am so happy for them. I’m grateful that they trusted me to put them in positions and put them in spots where they can be successful. The feeling’s great, no matter what. Do I wish I could play? Yeah. But this is just as good.”
Holland had every reason to let the tears flow. She lost her father, Dave Holland, unexpectedly at 56 years old in July of 2024. The Falcons lost in the first round of the state tournament a year ago, and her father was on her mind as her team finished the job this season.
“My dad was the biggest Freeman volleyball fan, and I live every day of my life just trying to make him proud,” Holland told NEBPreps. “I know he has the best seat in the house and he’s screaming from the heavens. He’s so proud of these girls. He watched them when they were freshmen, supported them all the way through and I know he is so proud of me.”
“The feeling’s the same. Once you get that final point, all the emotions just come out.”
It was a full circle moment today for head coach Lexi Holland after winning the Class C2 title as a player in 2014 and now as the Freeman coach. #nebpreps | @pinnbank pic.twitter.com/0wStvpPsHP
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) November 8, 2025
CLASS C1
No. 1 Milford 3, No. 8 Holdrege 1 (25-13, 16-25, 25-15, 25-19)
After falling in the first round of the state tournament a year ago, Milford returned to finish the job this season.
The Eagles went 33-1 overall and took down the upstart Dusters in four sets to hoist the Class C1 trophy for the first time.
“I knew Holdrege would come out strong,” Milford coach Emily Restau said. “We usually see the best of every opponent that we have, being that top seed and them being the underdogs and having an amazing state tournament. We just knew we were going to get the best from them.”
This week was Milford’s fourth state tournament appearance and its first state title, something its five seniors will remember forever.
“I’ve been playing with Kylie [Jakub] and the rest of our seniors since we were in third grade,” said Sydney Burkey, a senior who finished with eight kills, five digs and four blocks. “Just looking at some previous people like Hannah Kepler and girls like that, it has always been a dream for us, and to finally get it done, it’s pretty awesome.”
The moment was meaningful in a different way for the Eagles’ star sophomore, Shayla Rautenberg. Her mother, Lisa Reitsma, is a Nebraska athletics Hall of Fame inductee. Although she spent her playing days at the Coliseum, Reitsma’s name is on the walls and she helped hang some of the banners in the Devaney Center.
“It’s so special,” Rautenberg said. “The environment is unreal. We have so many fans here supporting us. It was just a crazy day.”
The 6-foot-3 middle is one of the most productive and efficient players in the class, though she didn’t play up to her own standards in Milford’s semifinal sweep of Malcolm. She hit .154 to get her 15 kills. Restau said she wasn’t happy with her performance and used that to fuel herself on Saturday.
It was effective. Rautenberg racked up 30 kills on .407 hitting, 17 digs, four aces and four blocks.
“Obviously, her skills have improved tremendously even from her freshman year, but the bigger part to her is her mental game and then just the trust of everybody around her,” Restau said. “Her understanding that there were matches throughout the year that she didn’t get very many sets because we were able to spread the offense and so many teams just dial in on her. I think that’s the beauty of our team is that we just have so many options. Yes, we can go to Shayla, but there are people around her, and in big moments, Shayla shines.”
Milford rolled through the first set, but the surprise of the tournament responded in kind in set two, winning it 25-16. Restau said the Eagles struggled to pass and close their blocks, allowing the Dusters to steal the momentum.
Milford bounced back in the third set in a big way, however, winning it by 10 while hitting .444 with just one attack error.
“These girls, next-set mentality, next-play mentality,” Restau said. “We’ve been down before. We got absolutely creamed by Kearney Catholic in a set and that just helped them in the long run, in the state tournament. It’s ‘OK, it’s 0-0 and we’re going to control our side of the court and do what we can and adjust to what they’re going to do.’”
Holdrege kept it close for a while in game four, but Milford used a 6-1 run midway through to take control and cruised to the finish.
Holdrege’s magical run as a No. 8 seed came up just a bit short, but senior Emily Stutzman went down swinging with 17 kills, 10 digs and two blocks. Fellow senior Carson Sundquist added 21 digs, 13 kills and two blocks. The Dusters went from a 3-seed in their subdistrict to state runner-up in their first tournament appearance since 2007.
