No. 2 Grand Island overcomes No. 4 Southwest

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

Senior outside hitter Ariel Krolikowski ripped a team-high 18 kills, served five aces and came up with 23 digs to pace second-ranked Grand Island (15-1) to a 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16 home victory against fourth-ranked Lincoln Southwest (13-4) on Tuesday night in Grand Island.

The Islanders’ other outside hitter, senior Carissa Kinne, added 17 kills, while senior middle blocker Alex Armes had nine. Setter Alaina Higgins put up 50 assists to go with 12 digs.

“We served a little better than they did, that was probably the difference in the match,” said Grand Island coach Bill Root, whose team served 14 aces in the match “They won the pass and serve game in the second set, but I thought we had the edge in the other three.

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“It was a fun match to watch,’’ Root said. “Once we got through the serve and serve receive, it was good volleyball. There were some really long rallies.’’

The Islanders almost wiped out a 24-20 deficit in the second set before a Stacie Hansen kill won it for Southwest. Grand Island held a 23-19 lead in the third set before surviving a late Southwest run. After the Silver Hawks tied it at 23, back-to-back kills by Krolikowski gave Grand Island a 2-1 lead in sets.

Hansen, a 6-foot-1 Drake recruit, led a balanced Southwest attack with 10 kills. Ashley Leitner slammed nine kills, Sarah Faubel added eight and Whitney Mason hit seven to go with three ace blocks. Stephanie Daffer put up 34 assists.

“When we got into rallies, we were fine,” Southwest coach Mary Schropfer said. “But passing was definitely a problem.’’

— Ron Powell