Five of the top eight Class B teams — and four of the top five — in the NebPreps Volleyball Coaches Poll belong to the Eastern Midlands Conference, which held its tournament at Gretna East Saturday.
Despite the fierce competition, No. 1 Norris’ unbeaten season rolled on as the Titans repeated as conference champions.
“It’s just a mini-state tournament three weeks early, with all the great teams in our conference, and to do it all in one day is a lot, but I think everyone plays a tough schedule, so I think that prepares people for it,” Norris coach Christina Boesiger said.
The top-seeded Dragons swept the host Griffins (25-22, 25-13), fourth-seeded/fourth-ranked Waverly (25-17, 25-20) and third-seeded/fifth-ranked Gretna (25-22, 25-21) to earn the tournament title.
“I think we did a lot of good things today,” Boesiger said. “We were a little more high-error at times, but I think also we were playing great teams … I couldn’t be prouder. To go through and not drop a set all day, that says a lot about our level of play and stuff. We knew it was going to be tough, but I’m super proud of them. We knew it was going to be a battle, dog fight, and long rallies, lots of volleyball and a late day.”
The star of the day was outside hitter Alli Bornschlegl, who went off for 16 kills in the championship. The junior averaged 5.7 kills and 2.7 digs per set with five blocks and four aces during the tournament. She’s nearly doubled her kills average from a season ago and has been one of Class B’s best attackers, averaging 5.3 kills per set on .420 hitting.
“She’s been a huge part of our team — front row, back row, all aspects of her game. She’s playing great for us, and super athletic,” Boesiger said. “Mal can find her just about anywhere and throw a ball up and scream her name, and she’ll come flying in from somewhere. I think that part of it is really fun to see. All season long, she’s hit really, really well for us.”
The first set of the championship saw some big swings with Norris jumping out to a 15-9 lead before the Dragons rallied to tie it at 18-all. The Titans fired back with a 3-0 run including an ace from freshman Makinley Ramsey. Gretna pulled within one three times, but Norris won the final two rallies to close it out.
Junior London Meints served back-to-back aces to give the Titans a 6-2 lead early in set two, but again the Dragons rallied to make it a one-point game at 7-6. However, Norris took control from there with an 11-1 run featuring serving runs from junior Kaelynn Lottman and Ramsey.
Gretna leaned on its block to make it interesting, trimming the 11-point deficit to three, but Bornschlegl dropped a tip over the block to set up match point, and the teams traded service errors to end it.
“I do think we built a great lead, and we were pretty disciplined to start with, and then just a little bit, they had that run and our girls, I think, felt pressure a little bit,” Boesiger said. “I told them I am actually happy that happened. Yes, it would have been great to win big, but to be put in that situation, because teams are going to make comebacks, and how are you going to respond? You have to stay aggressive, you have to keep swinging, go back to the discipline piece of it, so I always think it’s a teachable moment, things like that. They hung in there and battled and fought to the end.”
Junior setter Malorie Boesiger had to watch from the bench last year while her team won the EMC Tournament and Class B State titles as an injury sidelined her for her entire sophomore season. However, back at full strength, she’s picked up where she left off as a freshman and is playing at a high level.
The 2027 Nebraska commit averaged 12.5 assists per set with 10 digs, six kills and six aces in the tournament and is leading the state in assists at 12.2 per set overall.
“It’s been great, just seeing her evolve in the leadership role, that piece of it, too, and then just really putting our hitters in great positions,” said Coach Boesiger, the setter’s mom. “We kind of do have a young team. We have a few players back, but we have a lot of really young players and people who are on varsity, so I think her calming presence and just the ability to put a consistent ball up for hitters to go get it is just making a huge difference.”
Bornschlegl, Boesiger’s go-to attacker, finished with 10 kills in the second set alone against Gretna and is second in Class B in kills.
“Alli’s awesome,” Malorie Boesiger said. “She’s so explosive, and I can always count on her from anywhere on the court, front row, back row, inside, outside. It’s just super fun to play with her, and she has a huge reach, so lots of range for sure.”
Sophomore middle Averi Webster led the Dragons with six kills on nine swings, capping a terrific day that saw her average 3.0 kills per set on .677 hitting. She didn’t record a single attack error in Gretna’s three tournament matches.
The Dragons (23-6) swept Elkhorn in the quarterfinals then beat No. 3 Elkhorn North 2-1 in the semifinals to set up a rematch with Norris in the final. The Dragons took the first two sets from the Titans in their own gym back on Sept. 30, but Norris pulled off a reverse sweep including a 16-14 win in the fifth. Christina Boesiger said she was proud of how her team executed the adjustments and lineup changes she made after the first meeting with Gretna.
“We knew it was going to be a battle, a shorter battle, two out of three, so I was like, ‘Girls, there’s no waiting until set three this time,’” Coach Boesiger said. “We knew it’s going to be tough. They are very solid, lots of hitters at different positions, and so they are hard to defend, and they’re big and physical, and probably one of the better blocking teams I think we’ve seen all season. We knew it would be a battle.”
The three victories on Saturday ran Norris’ record to 31-0 on the season (and extended the reigning Class B champion’s winning streak to 53 consecutive matches). However, perfection hasn’t been on the Titans’ minds.
“We never, ever, ever talk about it,” Coach Boesiger said. “We look at it a week at a time and, OK, what’s ahead? What do we have next week, what do we have this week, and we make short-term goals. it’s impressive, but it’s not anything that we look at, and that was not a goal at the beginning of season, like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna go undefeated the whole season.’ We just want to be able to compete every night and try to probably be a little bit better than the other team that we’re playing.”
The Titans won’t have long to celebrate their title as they head right back into EMC play with a trip to Elkhorn North — who swept Waverly to claim third place in the EMC Tournament — on Tuesday.
