Monarchs survive thriller over Grand Island
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BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star
Game five started out as one Jennie Hutt would just as soon forget, with a hitting error midway through the game.
It ended up being a memory she’ll always cherish.
The Papillion-La Vista senior outside hitter had three kills in the final three points, giving the top-ranked Monarchs a remarkable 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 19-25, 19-17 victory against No. 5 Grand Island in the most-tightly contested Class A championship volleyball match in the history of the tournament.
“That last point was awesome,” said Hutt, who ripped a kill off an Islander overpass of a Lauren Willett serve on match point. “The end of that game was unbelievable. But I can’t do it myself. Everyone had a part in it.”
The Monarchs (37-6) won their fourth state championship since 2000 by pulling out a high-level fifth game in which both teams were swinging and digging at a frantic pace, leaving the Pershing Center crowd on the edge of their seats with every rally.
The Islanders, who led by as much as 8-5 early in game five, took a 14-13 advantage on a Suzanne Higgins right-side kill over the block. Grand Island briefly thought it had won the title on the next point, but Papillion-La Vista Super-Stater Gina Mancuso’s attack cross-court from the right side was called in after the Islander players thought it had sailed wide and they were on the verge of celebrating.
That was the first of three match points Papillion-La Vista would save. A Hutt kill gave the Monarchs a 15-14 advantage, only to see Grand Island take the next two points on another Higgins kill and an Alex Armes ace block.
Hutt eliminated the next two Islander match points with kills, the last one coming at 17-16 with an attack from the middle. She then delivered from the left side to put the Monarchs in front to stay before finally putting an end to the two-hour-plus match with her sixth termination of game five. Hutt finished with 18 kills.
“Jennie made some odd errors early in game five, but right at the end, that was the senior in her taking over,” Papillion-La Vista coach JJ Toczek said. “She was able to peak at the right time of the match.
“That was unbelievable volleyball by both teams at the end,” added Toczek, whose team finished the season with a 17-match winning streak. “Our kids never gave up and just kept fighting back. If in 20 years they can apply that same kind of determination in an area of their lives, then I’ve done my job as a coach.’’
Mancuso, a junior outside hitter, recorded a match-high 32 kills to go with five ace blocks. Her all-state setter, Chelsey Feekin, had five kills, six ace blocks and 53 assists.
But a quick, athletic Grand Island defense made Mancuso work for everything she got as Ariel Krolikowski came up with 27 digs and Alex Miller and Carissa Kinne registered 23 apiece.
“We tried to serve them deep and get them out of system as much as we could because Mancuso will get her kills in system,” Grand Island coach Bill Root said. “We had to be totally aggressive and stick to the game plan, and we did that for the most part.’’
Higgins led five Islanders in double figures with 20 kills. Krolikowski and junior middle blocker Makayla Gowen added 16 apiece. Islander all-state setter Brigette Root, the coach’s daughter and a Nebraska walk-on recruit, ignited the balanced attack with 66 assists.
Grand Island went five games in its wins against No. 4 Lincoln East and No. 2 Millard North Friday, meaning the Islanders played 15 games of high-pressure volleyball in less than 24 hours.
“We got our money’s worth this weekend,” said Root, who supports a three-day state tournament instead of the current two-day format. “I didn’t know if we could hold up five games today, but we did. I‘m sure they’ll be tired tomorrow.’’
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Katie wrote on November 17, 2007 7:41 am: