KEARNEY – Nebraska-Kearney volleyball coach Rick Squiers announced that setter Maggie Anderson will join the Lopers next season.

In the fall, UNK added three players to its 2012 roster in middle hitter Kalei Fertig (Kearney), setter Erin Seele (Johnstown, Colo.) and outside hitter Mari Jo “MJ” Massanet (Manhattan, Kans.).

Anderson, no relation to current Loper Kaleigh Anderson, helped the Lincoln Southwest Skyhawks to conference, city and district titles this year. Southwest finished with a 29-6 record as they also qualified for the Class A state tournament.

Darren Ivy/NebVolleyball Iowa State's Tenisha Matlock makes a dig at the UNK Spring Volleyball Tournament while fellow Nebraskans Kelsey Petersen (8), Jamie Straube (14), Caitlin Mahoney (7) and Carley Jenson (1) look on.

When the NCAA Div. I Volleyball Tournament gets underway on Thursday and Friday across the country, the state of Nebraska will be well represented on the rosters of the teams that made it.

The home-state University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball team boasts eight Nebraska natives on its roster, but there are also at least 14 other native Nebraskans on other team's rosters that made the tournament.

Of these 22 Division I players, they hail for 20 different Nebraska high schools.

Class A
(Ranking, Team, Record, Last Week’s ranking)
1. Papillion-LaVista South (41-0) 1
2. Omaha Marian (34-8) 2
3. Omaha Burke (32-7) 3
4. Lincoln Southwest (29-6) 4
5. Bellevue East (30-10) 6
6. Lincoln Northeast (22-17) NR
7. Grand Island (29-6) 5
8. Papillion-LaVista (17-20) 8
9. Millard West (17-17) 9
10. Omaha Westside (18-17) 7

Contenders: Lincoln North Star, Omaha Benson, Kearney

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With as many quality seniors as Lincoln Southwest lost from its Class A state tournament semifinal team last season, a record-breaking 2011 campaign seemed like a long shot.

After a shaky start this fall that included a loss to unranked Bellevue West in the Lincoln Public Schools Classic and a lopsided defeat at the hands of Class B No. 1 Lincoln Pius X, it looked even more improbable.

The official state tournament brackets will be released on Saturday morning by the NSAA.
A
Papillion-LaVista South (34-0) vs. Millard West (17-16)
Grand Island (19-5) vs. Lincoln Northeast (21-15)
Omaha Burke (30-6) vs. Bellevue East (30-9)
Omaha Marian (32-8) vs. Lincoln Southwest (29-5)

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A prematch scare — a possible sprained ankle for standout senior setter Maggie Anderson — ended up being a false alarm.

After a tighter tape job, Anderson and her Lincoln Southwest teammates played very few loose points in taking a 25-14, 25-18, 25-16 victory against Lincoln Southeast in the A-2 District volleyball championship match at Southwest on Wednesday night.

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OMAHA - Omaha Burke made good on one of its biggest volleyball goals of the season Wednesday night, qualifying for the state tournament.

The host Bulldogs will head back to state for the third consecutive year after defeating Kearney 25-13, 25-13, 25-21 in the District A-4 final. Third-ranked Burke boosted its record to 30-6 while the unranked Bearcats finish 20-14.

Sub-districts are officially one week away in the smaller classifications and that means that it is time for conference tournament and final late-season rivalries to finish up and for teams to get ready for postseason play. Below are the updated NebVolleyball.com/Jones Insurance Agency, Inc. rankings for Oct. 24.

Class A
(Ranking, Team, Record, Last Week’s ranking)
1. Papillion-LaVista South (30-0) 1
2. Omaha Marian (24-7) 3
3. Omaha Burke (24-5) 2
4. Lincoln Southwest (26-5) 5
5. Grand Island (25-5) 4
6. Omaha Westside (15-14) 6
7. Bellevue East (24-8) 7
8. Papillion-LaVista (14-17) 8
9. Millard West (12-13) 10
10. Lincoln North Star (14-13)

Contenders: Lincoln Northeast, Omaha Benson, Kearney, Bellevue West

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In a volleyball match filled with comebacks, Lincoln Southwest blocked Grand Island's final dash from behind Thursday night.

The Class A No. 3 Silver Hawks broke from an 11-11 tie in the decisive fifth set by winning the final four points and closing out the last two with ace blocks. That allowed Southwest (26-5) to escape with a 28-26, 28-26, 16-25, 23-25, 15-11 triumph over the No. 5 Islanders in the Heartland Conference tournament finals on the Hawks' home floor.

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Third-ranked Lincoln Southwest blocked and served its way to a 25-20, 17-25, 25-14, 25-14 victory over No. 7 Lincoln Northeast on Tuesday night in the championship semifinal of the Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament at Southwest High.

Surprising Northeast rallied to win the second set, the first set it had taken from Southwest in at least three years, according to coach Rockets Craig Songster. But the Silver Hawks showed power with a series of blocks in the third set and a string of ace serves in the fourth to advance to Thursday's championship match at Southwest.