The Blair High School volleyball team dove to the floor to prolong points Tuesday against Class B No. 4 Elkhorn North on Teacher Appreciation Night.
The Bears' effort kept each of the three sets close at the beginning, but costly Wolves runs proved to be the difference. Coach Jess Lansman's team dropped to 9-7 overall at the conclusion of the 25-16, 25-16, 25-11 loss.
“We just have to side-out right away in those moments,” the coach said. “When you're playing a team at this caliber, you've got to side-out right away. We just let them get too big of a run in the middle of the game there.”
Kills by BHS' Emma Ammon and Taylor Mostek kept the home team within 8-4 early during the first set. Even so, Elkhorn North took control, building a 22-12 advantage before back-to-back attacks from the Bears' Madeline Chikos. The 14th point Lansman's team tallied came after a long rally with libero Olivia Wolff lunging every which way for the ball.
“We want Blair volleyball to be known as a relentless, pursuing defensive team,” the coach said. “We never want a ball to drop without someone on the floor going for it.”
Producing a team-best 13 digs during the Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) matchup, Wolff fit the team goal.
“Olivia is the perfect person to be back there at all times,” Lansman said. “She is so relentless. She's all over the court.”
In addition to Wolff's 13, Morgan Dondelinger and Hailey Roewert had six digs apiece. Madeline Chikos received 23 of the Wolves' serves, too, while Dondelinger and Mostek got under 16 and 15, respectively.
“I definitely felt like we were going to have to give our all throughout this game,” Wolff said. “We knew it was going to be point-for-point. Nothing was going to be handed to us. We just had to go for every ball.”
The Bears did just that during the second set, earning a 13-12 lead midway through. An Ammon block, a Roewert kill, a pair of Chikos blocks and a Mostek attack also contributed to the rare BHS lead.
From there, though, North led. Kills by Chikos and Andi Hume cut the deficit to two points at 16-14 and 17-15, but the Wolves pulled away late even with an Ally Sullivan kill at 23-16.
A Hume block produced a 4-1 Blair lead during the third set, too, but Elkhorn North dominated from there, securing a 14-point set victory by the end of the match.
Altogether, Lansman could appreciate the effort against a top-5 team.
“I am proud of the way they competed, point-for-point,” she said. “It was just, unfortunately, those runs in the middle killed us.”
Wolff shared what she believes can help BHS get out of runs just like that in the future.
“Just remembering that it's volleyball,” the sophomore said. “Do what we know what to do. Put points together, don't worry about their side and worry about what we can control.”
The Bears next compete 10 a.m. Saturday at Hastings. They'll face both the Tigers and the Bennington Badgers during the EMC triangular.
BHS VOLLEYBALL LINE SCORE
Tuesday
No. 4 Elkhorn North 3, Blair 0
EN (12-3) 25 25 25 — 3
BHS (9-7) 16 16 11 — 0
