2011 PIONEER ALL-CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL

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Papillion-LaVista swept Class B's new top team Lincoln Pius X in in the finals of the Lincoln Northeast Tournament, while former Class B No. 1 Gretna was defeated for the first time this season. Earlier last week, Kearney Catholic was defeated by Grand Island Central Catholic, switching up the rankings in C1. D1 BDS lost to Class C2 Blue Hill, but remains atop in D1 as does Bertrand in D2 and Lutheran High Northeast in C2 in this week’s Oct. 3 NebVolleyball/Jones Insurance Agency, Inc. Rankings for each classification.

Class A
(Ranking, Team, Record, Last Week's ranking)
1. Papillion-LaVista South (21-0) 1
2. Omaha Burke (20-3) 2
3. Grand Island (18-3) 5
4. Bellevue East (14-5 ) 8
5. Omaha Marian (15-7) 3
6. Lincoln Southwest (16-3) 4
7. Papillion-LaVista (12-10) 6
8. Omaha Westside (8-9) 7
9. Lincoln Northeast (13-10) 9
10. Millard West (9-11) 10

Contenders: Omaha Benson, Kearney, Bellevue West, Fremont, Lincoln North Star

The third week of the season has come and gone. There were some more shake ups among some of the top teams in the lower classifications while most of the larger schools remained relatively unchanged in the Sept. 19 NebVolleyball/Jones Insurance Agency, Inc. Rankings for each classification.

Class A
(Ranking, Team, Record, Last Week's ranking)
1. Papillion-LaVista South (9-0) 1
2. Omaha Burke (13-2) 2
3. Omaha Marian (10-4) 3
4. Grand Island (14-1) 5
5. Lincoln Southwest (14-2) 4
6. Bellevue East (11-3) 6
7. Papillion-LaVista (6-6) 7
8. Lincoln Northeast (9-6) NR
9. Omaha Benson (12-2) 10
10. Bellevue West (10-9) NR

Contenders: Millard West, Omaha Westside, Millard North, Kearney, Lincoln North Star

There were many big matches during the second week of the high school season that have shook up some of the NebVolleyball/Jones Insurance Agency, Inc. Rankings for each classification.

Class A
(Ranking, Team, Record, Last Week's ranking)
1. Papillion-LaVista South (7-0) 1
2. Omaha Burke (12-1) 3
3. Omaha Marian (5-3) 2
4. Lincoln Southwest (6-1) 4
5. Grand Island (9-0) 7
6. Bellevue East (10-3) 5
7. Papillion-LaVista (4-3) 6
8. Millard West (6-5) 9
9. Lincoln North Star (6-5) 8
10. Omaha Benson (9-2) NR

The Pioneer Conference recently released its 2010 All-Conference selections.

First Team

Courtney VanGroningen, Senior, Sterling

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Click to view story in Lincoln Journal Star

Lincoln Christian will have a chance to earn its first state tournament berth in 14 years after a 25-17, 25-10, 26-24 win against Palmyra in the C-2 subdistrict championship Tuesday night at Lincoln East.

The Crusaders were led by Joelle Andersen's six kills and 15 digs. Alayna Kavanaugh had five kills and four ace serves. The Crusaders improved to 14-16 and will face H-TR-S in the district title game.

Darren Ivy/NebVolleyball Howells' Nicole Bayer (10) celebrates with teammates after the five-set comeback win for the Bobcats.

LINCOLN – Howells might as well go by the comeback kids instead of Bobcats after the postseason they have been having.

For the second-straight day at the Class D1 State Tournament and third time in the last four matches, the Bobcats (27-6) dropped the first two sets before rallying to win in five sets.

On Friday, it was a 15-25, 20-25, 25-13, 25-14, 15-11 victory, which finally came after Pawnee City (20-14) staved off three match points in set five.

Read Tammy Greunke's story in Fremont Tribune

FIRTH -- A disappointing loss in the district final Thursday didn’t stop the Cedar Bluffs volleyball team from looking forward to next season.

Following their 25-17, 25-21, 25-20 loss to Pawnee City in the D1-1 district final at Norris High School, Cedar Bluffs coach Janelle Stansberry said the Wildcats’ sights were already set on amending the defeat.

View story on Lincoln Journal Star.

Class D-1

Rank School 2010 record Returning starters
1. Exeter-Milligan 33-1 4
2. Guardian Angels CC 27-10 6
3. Heartland 19-13 5
4. Humphrey 23-6 6
5. Winside 21-9 6
6. Newman Grove 18-10 5
7. BDS 23-7 4
8. Hitchcock County 24-5 6
9. Cedar Valley 33-2 3
10. Sutherland 15-17 6

Contenders: Chambers/Wheeler Central, Palmer, Pawnee City, Osceola, Bancroft-Rosalie, Cedar Bluffs, Paxton, Clearwater/Orchard.

Click to view story on Lincoln Journal Star.

CLASS D-1

BDS
Coach: Dan Sorge.
Last year's record, ranking: 23-7, No. 10.
Outlook: Four starters and 10 letterwinners return from last season as the Storm hope to compete for a conference championship. Junior OH MaKaleigh Yantzie (5-foot-11) had 234 kills last season and 5-7 senior OH Shelby Garland 226.