Spartans settle into groove, sweep LSW

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BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star

As the Lincoln East volleyball team demonstrated Thursday night, unhappiness can be a great motivator.

A week after being swept by Lincoln Southeast, the eighth-ranked Spartans put that nightmare behind them by posting a solid 25-22, 25-22, 25-22 home victory over fourth-ranked Lincoln Southwest before an estimated 400 spectators.

“The girls weren’t very happy with what happened at Southeast and they were determined to do something about it,” said East coach Myron Oehlerking, whose team improved to 13-8. “They wanted to raise their level of play and that process started Tuesday night (in triangular victories over Norfolk and Kearney). We wanted to control things better than we did last week, and we did that tonight.”

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Lincoln East's Tara Curtiss drives the ball past two Lincoln Southwest defenders Thursday. (Jacob Hannah)

Particularly at the net where the Spartans pounded 35 kills and 10 ace blocks. Senior outside hitter Natalie Ebke set the pace with 14 kills, nine of which came in the first set when East wiped out a 15-10 deficit.

“We needed that first set,’’ said Ebke, who also had a team-high 11 digs. “That was a big momentum booster for us and we just rolled from there.’’

Fellow senior Nicole Gingery had nine kills and two ace blocks, while 6-foot-1 sophomore Tara Curtiss slowed down the Silver Hawk offense with five ace blocks to go with three kills.

The Spartans also won the serve game with 11 aces.

“Our passing was good, we didn’t make our setters run all over the court,’’ said Oehlerking, whose two setters, Emily Swanson (20 assists) and Valerie Johnson (nine assists) combined for 29 assists. “That allowed us to be in control at the net with our hitting and blocking.’’

The Spartans were able to pull out close sets against Southwest, something they struggled with last week in the Southeast match. The second set was tied at 20-20 when East reeled off three straight points — a Kelsey Newman left-side kill, a right-side kill from Gingery and a Curtiss ace block.

In the third, East built a 19-14 margin, only to see Southwest pull as close as 22-20 on a Spartan missed serve. A Madison Schwartz point-ending tip and a Southwest hitting error brought East to match point. A right-side kill by Whitney Mason and an East net violation cut it to 24-22 before East finally ended it on a Newman kill off an assist from Courtney Russell.

Drake recruit Stacie Hansen busted nine kills, while Mason and outside hitter Sarah Faubel added five each for the Silver Hawks. Stephanie Daffer’s 22 assists ignited the Southwest offense.

For the Silver Hawks (13-5), it was the second match this week that close sets seemed to elude them. Southwest fell in four sets to No. 2 Grand Island Tuesday night.

“When you’re ranked in the top five, people want to knock you off,” Southwest coach Mary Schropfer said. “East hit hard and served well and we never seemed to get in sync. When Ebke gets set up, it’s hard to stop her. She made her presence felt early and East fed off that.’’

Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.