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2026 NSAA State Volleyball Championships Semifinal Stars and Storylines

by Jacob Padilla | Nov 7, 2026 | Preps Volleyball

Photo Credit: Rob Olvera

Twelve teams punched their ticket to the Bob Devaney Sports Center and the 2026 NSAA State Volleyball Championship finals on semifinal Friday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

All six classes produced spectacular performances and some shocking upsets. Here are some of the best performances we saw.

CLASS D1

Cougars Rolling into First State Title Match

Central Valley junior star Bentleigh Dugan was far too much for No. 6 Tri County to handle. The 5-foot-5 outside hitter racked up 21 kills — five shy of the Trojans’ team total — on .269 hitting and 14 digs.

Dugan had seven kills in the first set (matching Tri County), five in the second and nine in the third to spark a rally. The Cougars fell behind 10-1 out of the gates before their leader terminated on back-to-back points to get the offense going, then she notched three more kills during an 8-1 Central Valley run to pull the Cougars within one.

It was tight the rest of the way as the Cougars saved two set points then earned two of their own. On the second one, senior setter Annaka Wood went right to her star at the left pin to complete the sweep.

Senior outside hitter Cayle Grossart added 13 kills on .290 hitting and 13 digs. Wood led three others with double-digit kills, recording 42 assists and 13 digs as Central Valley held North Central to .031 hitting.

Amherst “Hamers” Tri County

Tri County was one of the stories of the day on Thursday, reverse-sweeping the last unbeaten team in the state to reach Friday’s semifinal. It looked like history might be repeating itself as the Trojans led 21-16 in the third after Amherst won the first two handily.

However, senior Brooke Bosshamer and senior Kenna Hagan teamed up to turn the tide, sparking a 7-0 run featuring three Bosshamer kills and two Hagan aces to take the lead. Tri County saved four set points and earned two of its own, but Amherst closed it out with a 3-0 run as Bosshamer had a bock assist to earn set point and a kill to end it at 30-28.

The Trojans had no answer for the sophomore middle as she racked up 17 kills on .517 hitting, five blocks and two aces. Eight of those kills came in the third set.

Senior opposite Libby Mitchell tallied 13 kills on .255 hitting and senior middle Sadie Van Ranken added 11 kills on .478 hitting. Hagan set the Broncos to a .339 hitting percentage while recording 34 assists and 10 digs.

No. 1 Central Valley (33-1) will face No. 2 Amherst (27-5) in Saturday’s Class D1 final at 9 a.m. inside John Cook Arena.

No. 5 North Central and No. 6 Tri County will battle in the third-place match at 11 a.m.

CLASS D2

Wynot Go for Two?

The reigning champions will get a chance to go back-to-back after knocking off the No. 1 seed in straight sets.

The Blue Devils brought the heat from the service line all match, totaling 12 aces in all to keep the Cardinals off balance.

Wynot went wire-to-wire in the first set then had to pull out a grinder with eight ties and five lead changes in the second. However, its star player in junior middle blocker Calley Stewart took over. She scored back-to-back kills then teamed up with senior Tiara Sudbeck for a block to seal a 27-25 victory.

Stewart had seven kills in the second then seven more in the third to help secure the sweep. She finished with 19 in all while adding 10 digs for the double-double. Freshman Bryar Hans contributed 11 kills on .370 hitting and Heimes accounted for six of those aces plus 12 digs.

Senior Pyper Ickes put up 16 kills on .353 hitting and 24 digs for St. Mary’s.

Dominating Donohoe

Mullen junior Jenna Donohoe was one of the top performers of the day on Thursday and she carried that over into Friday as well, totaling 18 kills on .375 hitting, 13 digs, six blocks and an ace to lead the Broncos to a sweep.

Mullen trailed 11-6 in the first set before rallying to win it 25-23. Donohoe found the floor with a tip on game point for her 10th kill of the set. The Broncos cruised through the second set then won seven of the last 10 rallies in the third to take it 25-22. Donohoe had three block assists and three kills during the run, the last on match point.

No. 2 Mullen (32-2) will face No. 4 Wynot (23-10) in the D2 title match on Saturday at 11 a.m.

No. 1 St. Mary’s will play No. 6 Bancroft-Rosalie at Lincoln Northwest for third place at 1 p.m.

CLASS C1

Milford junior Shayla Rautenberg (11) celebrates with her teammates during the Class C1 state volleyball semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Photo by Rob Olvera.

Milford junior Shayla Rautenberg (11) celebrates with her teammates during the Class C1 state semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Photo by Rob Olvera.

Record-Setting Rautenberg

The reigning C1 champs will get an opportunity to add another trophy to its case on Saturday after taking down top-seeded Concordia Omaha in four sets.

I’m already burying the lede here by not mentioning Shayla Rautenberg’s name in the first sentence. The 2028 Nebraska commit will end her season in her future home once again after putting the Eagles on her back to an even more extreme degree than she typically does.

Rautenberg dropped 40 kills on .342 hitting, seven blocks and five kills. That’s a new Class C1 state tournament record for kills, topping the 38 kills Corynn Hobbs recorded for Battle Creek in the first round in 2008. It’s fourth all-time behind three others tied with 42 in a match.

In the first set, Milford broke a 22-all tie with a 3-1 finish featuring a block assist and two kills from Rautenberg, the second on set point. She had 10 of Milford’s 18 kills as the Eagles hit .316.

However, the Mustangs locked in on defense in the second set, winning it 25-16 while holding the Eagles to .47 hitting. Rautenberg had eight of the team’s 13 kills.

To win the match, Milford leaned even more heavily on its superstar — and she delivered. The 6-foot-4 middle recorded 22 of her team’s 26 kills across the last two sets, the final one on match point.

Milford held a team hitting over .300 on the season to .146 — with senior libero Libbie Reil’s 23 digs leading the way — and left the offense to the future Husker. However, as spectacular as Rautenberg was, Friday’s performance wasn’t even a career high. She went off for 46 kills in a four-set win earlier this season.

Luebbe Leads the Way

In the first of two five-setters on the day, sixth-seeded Aurora dominated the final frame against No. 2 Bishop Neumann, becoming the lowest seed to advance to the championship round.

Aurora dropped the first and fourth sets while winning the second and third, one a blowout (25-12) and the other a deuce game (25-23). Even so, they started from scratch for a race to 15 in the fourth, and junior Elizabeth Luebbe made sure the Huskies left the Cavaliers in their dust.

The 6-foot-1 opposite hitter tallied five of Aurora’s eight kills in the fifth set as the Huskers hit .500. Bishop Neumann managed five kills as a team and offset them with five errors.

The Cavs led 2-1 to start the final game, then Aurora scored nine straight to turn it into a blowout. Luebbe had four of her five kills during the run before sophomore libero Baya Chamness capped it with an ace.

Luebbe finished with a career-high 20 kills on .371 hitting, four blocks, four digs and an ace. Senior middle blocker Grace Wieseler added 15 kills on .565 hitting.

Aurora has already defeated the No. 3 and No. 2 seeds in the field, and the sixth-seeded Huskies (28-10) will now face No. 4 Milford (31-3) in the championship on Saturday at 1 p.m. inside the Devaney Center.

The top two seeds in the class will square off for third place instead of the title on Saturday as Concordia Omaha will tussle with Bishop Neumann at 3 p.m. at Lincoln Northwest.

CLASS C2

Big Game Bailey

While Milford took down a 1 seed on the north court to open the afternoon session, Guardian Angels Central Catholic did the same on the south court, also in four sets.

It wasn’t quite the 40 we saw on the other side of the divider, but Bluejay junior Bailey Gerths came awfully close with a career-high 33 kills on .270 hitting, more than half her team’s total.

She set the tone from the jump with nine kills in the first set, then she ended the third set with a 5-0 serving run feature an ace on game point. She had seven kills in the frame then tacked on 11 more in the fourth as the Bluejays won it 25-15, clinching the victory with her final attack.

Junior setter Emma Cohee found Gerths for most of her kills to finish with 54 assists and 17 digs. Junior Hailey Kreikemeier added 17 kills and 25 digs while sophomore libero Riley Wegner led the way with 34 digs.

20-20 Taya

Laurel-Concord-Coleridge senior Rena Rasmussen made history on Thursday, but Centura junior Taya Taukiuvea out-dueled Class C2’s new career leading scorer on Friday to lead the Centurions into the final.

Centura led nearly wire to wire in the first two sets with just two ties and one lead change (including none of each in the first set). That changed in the third with 16 ties and eight lead changes, the last very late.

Laurel-Concord-Coleridge led 24-22 after a Rasmussen kill, but Centura responded with three straight to jump back in front. The Bears saved two set points, but on the third Taukiuvea finally took advantage, dropping a well-placed off-speed shot over two blockers and at the feet of a couple defenders in the back row.

The 5-foot-9 outside hitter put up 21 kills on .241 hitting, 20 digs, two blocks and two aces to lead the program to its first championship match since 1988. Senior Kennedy Davis added 16 kills on .286 hitting and 13 digs to earn the opportunity to finish her career at the Devaney Center. Belle Taukiuvea, a sophomore, dished out 45 assists with nine digs in just three sets.

The Taukiuvea sisters will lead the No. 2 Centurions (34-1) into the championship against No. 4 Guardian Angels Central Catholic (26-7). First serve is schedule for 3 p.m.

No. 1 Thayer Central will play against No. 3 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge in the third-place game at 9 a.m. at Lincoln Northwest.

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