Knights suffer loss, injury in pool play

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BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star

A loss to an unranked team and seeing her starting setter go down with an injury was more than Lincoln Southeast volleyball coach Lindsay Coleman-Burkey could bear.

“We had a real rough day,” Coleman-Burkey said after the Class A No. 7 Knights went 1-2 in pool play Friday at the two-day, eight-team Lincoln Northeast Invitational. “It couldn’t have been much worse.”

First, Kearney shocked Southeast (10-8) 25-21, 25-17 in the opening match of the day behind six kills, 13 assists and eight digs from senior setter/outside hitter Maggie Maher. Southeast bounced back with a 25-23, 25-13 conquest of Omaha Westside, but then fell to third-ranked Omaha Marian 25-18, 25-20.

“Kearney played really well,’’ said Coleman-Burkey, whose team plays Lincoln Northeast at 10:30 a.m. today in the consolation bracket. “They played very good defense and their attackers were very aggressive at the net. We didn’t play with the energy and fire we needed to.’’

Kearney (10-7) almost toppled Marian, as well, as the Crusaders prevailed 25-16, 21-25, 26-24. Maher had 12 kills, 15 assists and 18 digs for the Bearcats, while Marian was led by Ellie Pesavento and Creighton recruit Lisa Greisch with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, and freshman setter Lauren Sieckmann,  who had 21 assists, six kills and 12 digs.

Marian improved to 17-2 this season by going 3-0 Friday.

In the second set of the Knights’ match against Marian, Southeast setter Alyssa Lake was kneed in the back by a teammate while both were pursuing a ball. After being tended to on the floor for several minutes, Lake was able to walk with assistance to the training room.

“I’m afraid we might be without her (Lake) for a while,’’ Coleman-Burkey said.

Lake finished with 38 assists in Southeast’s three matches. Junior middle blocker Haley Lake slammed 24 kills, while senior libero Paige Hubl picked up 20 digs.

While Class B No. 1 Lincoln Pius X also dealt with some frustration in pool play, it didn’t show up in the loss column. The Thunderbolts (21-1) won their pool by going 3-0, defeating Northeast (25-7, 25-17), Millard South (25-11, 25-17) and Class A No. 10 Papillion-La Vista South (25-14, 25-27, 25-9).

Going three sets with the Titans, however, aggravated Pius X coach Jake Moore, whose team was pushed to three sets by both Norris and Omaha Mercy in the Pius X Invitational last Saturday.

“We had to have a little attitude-adjustment party after the second set (against Papillion-La Vista South),” said Moore, whose Bolts play Kearney in the first round of championship bracket play at 9 a.m. today. “I’ve learned I can’t relax with this team, I have to stay on them all the time to keep them focused. I’m glad they responded again.”

Outside hitter Natalie Braun and middle blocker Allie Falter each had 27 kills in Pius X’s three wins. Braun also had six ace blocks and 23 digs. Super-State setter Lauren Cook put up 60 assists to go with nine kills, 22 digs and 15 ace serves.

All matches in the four-team championship and four-team consolation brackets today are best-of-five sets. The finals are tentatively scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

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