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Lady Bears take five-set thriller to earn first trip to Lincoln in 23 years
LAUREL — It took more than two decades — and one additional school later — but Laurel-Concord-Coleridge volleyball is finally heading back to Lincoln in November.
The last time a Laurel-Concord team earned a state berth was 2002, back when sets were played to 15 and a side-out just meant you won the serve — not a point. Coleridge last made state in 2009, the first season of the current best-of-five, race-to-25 scoring format.
Add in the fact the Bears competed in Class C1 the past few seasons, and it has been a long time since anyone from Laurel, Concord or Coleridge had a reason to go to Lincoln in November unless they were watching a relative — or the Huskers.
Forget all of that now. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge used a 25-19, 26-28, 25-19, 23-25, 15-9 win over Stanton in the C2-5 District Volleyball final Saturday to make coach Julie Kvols start reserving rooms in Lincoln later this week.
“It is just wonderful to take the next step — I’m so happy for the girls,” Kvols said. “We worked very hard to get here and tonight was difficult. That was a great team we played tonight; they are the best No. 12 seed in the state. I’m just very happy for the girls.”
LCC got rolling early, taking the first set 2519. Stanton responded, showing how tight the night would be by outlasting the Bears 28-26 in a back-and-forth second set.
“I am very proud of our girls,” Stanton coach Teresa Christensen said. “We are disappointed in the outcome, but we left it all on the court. We couldn’t have done any more — we fought for every point, but nothing to walk away hanging our heads about. That’s volleyball. If you make a mistake, it costs you a point. Credit goes to them; they are a great team with some great players.”
Set two was tied 24-24 after a kill by Stanton’s Bridget Marotz, but a Tyler Recob winner off the Mustang touch gave the Bears a 25-24 edge.
“We have wanted this for the last three years,” Recob said. “This is amazing. I’m so happy we finally made it. I think that gave us the edge here.”
Recob finished with 15 kills on the afternoon. She and Laney Folkers are the lone seniors for LCC.
“This is insane — we have worked so hard in the gym all year, all four years, actually,” Folkers said. “We really care for each other. I love my teammates, and our coaches have been great. They have been telling us next-play mentality is what we need — forget about what just happened, just keep playing.”
A service error by the Bears tied things at 25-25, but a Rena Rasmussen ace made it 26-25 for LCC. Stanton’s Skyler Siebrandt answered with a hammer for a 27-26 lead, and a Bears error ended the set 28-26.
LCC regained command, taking the third set 25-19, but the Mustangs bounced back again, edging the fourth 25-23 to force a decisive fifth.
Stanton jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the race to 15 after a four-hit call on the Bears and a Marotz ace. LCC quickly answered — Rasmussen put down a kill, then setter Carlie Kvols back-tipped a second-ball to tie it at 2-2.
The teams traded blows. Siebrandt rifled a monster kill to put Stanton up 6-5, but a Kaida Eriksen winner tied it again at 6-6. Recob followed with a slam to make it 7-6 Bears, though a Hayden Dixon block evened things again at 7-7.
LCC finally pushed ahead. A Recob winner off the block and a Rasmussen slam made it 9-7, prompting a Stanton timeout. Rasmussen added a cross-court winner for a 10-7 cushion, but Marotz answered to make it 10-8.
The teams traded errors before Rasmussen again took over. Her back-to-back hammers — part of a 26-kill performance — lifted the Bears to a 13-9 advantage and moved Christensen to use her final timeout.
A Stanton hitting error and a Recob ace sealed the 15-9 clincher.
“It’s really too bad that our region had five or six of the top teams in the state — kudos to northeast Nebraska volleyball,” Christensen said. “But I don’t think the NSAA has fixed the problem of getting the top eight teams down to Lincoln.”
Carlie Kvols finished with a double-double — 48 assists and 13 digs. Rasmussen also had a double-double, pairing her 26 kills with 18 digs. Eriksen notched another with 14 kills and 23 digs.
And for when volleyball decides to count successful serve receptions, the Bears recorded 81 good passes in the match, led by Eriksen with a whopping 37. Recob added 16, while Brown and Settje had 11 each.
“I trust all of our girls on this team — every match someone else stands up and carries us,” Kvols said. “I think they had so much weight on their shoulders to finally get down there that we should be able to go down there and just play our volleyball — let loose and play volleyball.”
As Christensen noted, northeast Nebraska remains strong. Four teams from this region made it to Lincoln in Class C2, and all four will meet each other in the opening round.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge will face 27-5 Norfolk Catholic on Nov. 6 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in the bottom half of the bracket.
Guardian Angels Central Catholic will meet Oakland-Craig in the other bottom-bracket pairing.
In the subdistrict match with Oakland-Craig — a team that beat the Bears earlier this season — LCC prevailed 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-6.
Rasmussen again led the attack with another double-double, posting 23 kills and 20 digs. Kvols added 41 assists and 21 digs, while Recob turned in 11 kills and 12 digs. Eriksen finished with 19 digs and 37 usable passes.
LCC 25 26 25 23 15 Stanton 19 28 19 25 9 k=Kills, a=Ace Serves, b=Blocks, d=Digs, s=Set Assists, r=Serves Receiving.
LCC Tyler Recob 15k, 3a, 6b, 7d, 3s, 13r; Boston Brown 3k, 1a, 1b, 14d, 11r; Rena Rasmussen 26k, 2a, 5b, 18d, 4s, 23r; Carlie Kvols 1k, 1a, 1b, 13d, 48s; Taelynn Settje 3d, 13r; Laney Folkers 1b, 3d; Kaida Eriksen 14k, 1a, 1b, 23d, 1s, 30r. LCC 25 21 25 19 15 Oakland-Craig 21 25 20 25 6 LAUREL-CONCORD-COLERIDGE: Recob 11k, 4a, 1b, 12d, 1s, 16r; Brown 3k, 2b, 13d, 11r; Hattie McCorkindale 1a; Rasmussen 23k, 1b, 20d; 2s, 6r; Kvols 4k, 1a, 3b, 21d, 41s; Settje 4d, 1s, 11r; Folkers 2k, 1b, 3d, 1s; Eriksen 6k, 19d, 2s, 37r.
