The Eastern Midlands Conference has produced three top-five teams in Class B through the first month of the season, and two of them squared off on Thursday night as No. 3 Elkhorn North hosted No. 4 Bennington.
After falling to the other top-five EMC team, No. 5 Norris, in the final of the Lincoln Pius X Invitational last Saturday, the Wolves bounced back in a big way Thursday, sweeping the Badgers 25-19, 25-18, 27-25.
“I knew it was going to be a competitive game,” Elkhorn North coach Jenny Gragert said. “I’m glad we got out of that third set because who knows what would have happened after that. Bennington, they extend plays and they make it tough.”
The Wolves (19-3) nearly doubled the Badgers in hitting, .262 to .134, as three players finished with double-digit kills. Senior setter Reese Booth, a Northern Iowa commit, did a great job of spreading the ball around all night and finished with 36 assists, 14 digs and three kills.
“She just knows the game so well, and we just trust her so much,” Gragert said about the team’s captain.
Booth’s favorite target on Thursday — and all season long — was middle blocker Reagan Wallraff, who moved in from out of state over the summer. Wallraff’s parents are Nebraska natives, but Reagan grew up in Arizona. Now she’s back making noise in Nebraska just like her mom did at Lincoln Pius X.
Wallraff led Elkhorn North with 14 kills on .367 hitting and three blocks against Bennington. The 5-foot-11 freshman is averaging 4.3 kills per set on .432 hitting. She has just 36 stack errors in 56 sets this season.
“She’s pretty darn efficient,” Gragert said. “That’s what’s pretty amazing is she just doesn’t make a lot of errors. She just has such a high ceiling. I can’t wait to see her trajectory.”
Senior outside hitter Ava Spies, who announced her commitment to Wayne State last week, added 12 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Junior opposite hitter Shay Heaney, a recent Grand Canyon commit, chipped in 10 kills and 11 digs. Senior libero Haylee Wolf posted a match-high 21 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Hayden Liebsack had a match-high 18 kills and 11 digs for Bennington. Senior Maddie Uhlir notched a triple-double in Bennington’s 6-2 system, finishing with 10 kills on .318 hitting, 12 digs and 19 assists. Nebraska libero commit Olivia Mauch led the Badgers with 20 digs.
The teams went back and forth throughout the first set with the Wolves taking control late using a 6-1 run to build a 24-18 lead. The Badgers saved one set point but Elkhorn North finished it off on the next rally.
Liebsack put the Badgers on her back with seven kills in the set, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Elkhorn North’s offensive balance.
The Wolves didn’t waste any time in the second set, racing out to a 12-3 lead. The Wolves led by as much as 11 before Bennington made a late run to cut into the deficit, but it was merely cosmetic as Elkhorn North still took a 2-0 match lead.
“I thought we did a better job of keeping the ball away from their libero and keeping them out of system,” Gragert said. “Our block was able to get more touches on the ball.”
The Wolves also did a great job of slowing Liebsack down after her big first set, digging more of her shots, forcing her into more errors and limiting her to just two kills.
“We shifted our block just a little bit and our defense got a little bit wider,” Gragert said. “She just hits a hard, fast, deep ball doesn’t really go down. She’s just good.”
Bennington got off to a much better start in game three, but Elkhorn North still surged ahead 15-10 midway through with an 8-2 run. The Badgers fired back soon after with Liebsack leading the charge as Bennington used a 5-1 run including three Liebsack kills to take a 23-20 lead late.
While Liebsack stepped up to give the Badgers a chance to extend the match, Wallraff stepped forward for the Wolves to make sure that didn’t happen. A personal 3-0 run featuring two kills and a solo block from the freshman tied it up at 23-all. A Liebsack kill gave Bennington set-point, but the Badgers misfired from the service line. Liebsack terminated again, but Wallraff answered to tie it at 25-25.
Elkhorn North roofed a Bennington swing to earn match point, then a Badger hit wide to end the match.
“I think that their mind set was ‘We want to play to win,’ and I think they were aggressive,” Gragert said about the comeback. “They didn’t tip, they went after it and I think that was the big difference.”
With the win, Elkhorn North improved to 19-3 with 12 of those wins and two of the losses coming against Class A teams. Gragert put together a challenging schedule for the Wolves, but she was as proud of Thursday’s win as any they’ve earned.
“I just think that it brings a new dynamic,” Gragert said. “They’re a little bit faster, they’re stronger, so I love our schedule. I can’t deny that. But Bennington is as good as any class A team we’re playing.”
The Badgers (21-4) could get another crack at the Wolves at next weekend’s EMC Tournament, though Norris and others could have something to say about that as well.
“We’re probably going to run into these guys, but it doesn’t matter who we run into in our conference play,” Gragert said. “It’s going to be tough … We just want to focus on getting better every day.”
