Toe-to-toe, back-and-forth, and not for the faint of heart. That was the story Thursday night inside Elkhorn North High School, as the Class A No. 2 Wolves found themselves in a tense battle against Class B No. 3 Skutt Catholic.
However, a “never give up” mentality led the Wolves to a four-set win, keeping Elkhorn North unbeaten at 12-0.
“That was crazy,” senior Millie Mauch told NebPreps. “We went down a few times, but we just wanted to push every point and stay together, and we never gave up. I’m really happy with how we were able to come back tonight.”
Mauch entered the night atop Class A with 291 assists — which ranked second in Nebraska overall. She added another 47 on Thursday, along with several timely serves, helping the Wolves earn their 12th win. Yet they certainly had to earn it.
Elkhorn North trailed 3-0 immediately and quickly fell behind 7-1 before rallying for its first lead, 14-13, and ultimately a 25-18 win in Set 1.
That rallying trend continued into the second set. After a strong start by the Wolves, Skutt tied it at 12 and grabbed leads of 14-13, 15-14 and 16-15. However, Elkhorn North earned 10 of the final 13 points, en route to a 25-19 win.
Skutt took the third set, 25-13, and put up quite the fight in the fourth set — testing the heart rate of everybody cheering for the home side.
Once again, the Wolves responded, capping the night with a 25-23 victory.
“I think tonight is a testament to (our ability to handle adversity),” said Elkhorn North head coach Jenny Gragert. “We came out and went down quick. It’s a big crowd. It’s Skutt and a big rival. I know we’re Class A and they’re Class B now, but they’re still always going to give us their best game, and we try to give them our best game.”
Elkhorn North finished the night without one of its top players, too, in Reagan Wallraff.
The Creighton commit had a team-high 23 kills, but she missed the fourth set with an injury. Wallraff commit remained on the bench and Gragert said after the game that the senior was dealing with an Achilles issue — later adding that Wallraff is a “huge part” of their team and a “warrior.”
Gragert is also proud of the way her group stepped up in Wallraff’s absence.
“I think we did a good job sticking together and we saw multiple girls step up,” Gragert said. “Our girls love each other, they trust each other, and I’m just really proud of the way our girls responded all night. It’s a special group.”
“This team is super close,” added Mauch. “We can take anybody off the bench and we know they’re going to do their job, and we just love playing for each other.”
While Thursday’s result wasn’t what the SkyHawks were hoping for, it could serve as a positive learning experience in the long run.
It’s Skutt’s third consecutive loss to Elkhorn North. The Wolves earned a win in the state semifinals last November and a 2-1 win on Aug. 29 at the Thunderbird Throwdown before Thursday’s victory.
However, head coach Renee Saunders was pleased with how her group handled the early-season road test. Especially for a roster that includes just one senior and three returners.
“I thought we fought really hard,” Saunders said, adding that Thursday should give the Skyhawks confidence. “I told them at the end of the game that we were doing things that we weren’t doing a couple weeks ago. So to see those things happening against a really high-caliber team was nice.
“Obviously wins are fun, but right now we’re not worried about wins. We’ve just got to worry about getting better.”
The Wolves also hope to learn from Thursday night and continue building towards their ultimate goal. They remain unbeaten in the process, too.
“We always want to challenge ourselves and get better with every game and every practice, and tonight was no different,” Gragert said. “We’ve got a big tournament coming up this weekend and I know we’re excited for what’s ahead of us. But we’ve just got to find ways to continue to build and keep getting better.”
