Cedar Catholic finishes fourth at State Tny.

LINCOLN — Cedar Catholic had hopes of making it to the Bob Devaney Sports Center and the championship game for three years in a row. 

The Lady Trojans looked to be on track to accomplish that goal in last week’s Class D1 State Tourney opener. Cedar earned a three-set upset win over third-seeded Chambers Wheeler Central to advance to Friday’s state semifinal game.

The semifinal game turned out to be a different story, though as Diller-Odell took control of the contest, eliminating the Lady Trojans in three straight sets and putting Cedar in Saturday’s third-place game.

Cedar got off to a slow start in Thursday’s opener, falling behind by seven points at the start. The Lady Trojans bounced back, though, putting together a solid serving and hitting effort for a 7-0 run to knot the game at 14-14.

The two teams traded the lead back and forth after that, until Tori Arens fired a pair of aces over the net to bring Cedar within one point, 22-21 and then to tie it at 22-22. The Renegades again took a two-point lead after that, and had two attempts to put the game away, but hitting errors and a strong Cedar defense were too much for CWC, and the Lady Trojans squeaked out the 26-24 win.

The two teams exchanged serves evenly in the second set as they traded the lead back and forth.

The two teams were knotted at 12-12 when Abby Hochstein and Brooklyn Kuehn caught fire. The duo helped lead Cedar on a 6-1 run, giving the Lady Trojans an 18-13 advantage. 

Tori Arens fired two more ace sereves over the net,  and Kenlee Goeden slammed home a monsterous hit before Brynn Wortmann finished off CWC with a tip kill to earn the 25-16 second-set decision.

Cedar clearly had the momentum in the third set, pulling away for a seven-point lead on kills by Brynn Wortmann and Laney Kathol. The Lady Trojans never looked back from there as they earned the lopsided 25-12 decision.

The Lady Trojans had a fierce net presence in the opener. Abby Hochstein, Brynn Wortmann and Laney Kathol all hit for double digits with Hochstein’s 13 leading all hitters on the night.

Cedar Catholic 26 25 25

CWC 24 16 12

KILLS: Cedar - Abby Hochstein, 14; Brynn Wortmann, 10; Laney Kathol, 10; Brooklyn Kuehn, 7; Kenlee Goeden, 6.  CWC - Taylor Peter, 9; Morgan Ramsey, 5; Tessa Metschke, 4; Rachel Dierks, 2; Emma Jonseth, 2.

ACE SERVES: Cedar - Tori Arens, 3; Abby Hochstein, 3; Brynn Wortmann, 2; Megan Heimes, 1; Gracie Dickes, 1. CWC - Tessa Metschke, 2; Ryan Haburshak, 1; Morgan Ramsey, 1; Makenna Pelster, 1; Alexis Butterfield, 1.

BLOCKS: Cedar - Laney Kathol, 3; Aiden Wortmann, 2; Abby Hochstein, 2. CWC - Morgan Ramsey, 2.

SET ASSISTS: Cedar - Aiden Wortman, 32; Brooklyn Kuehn, 4; Brynn Wortmann, 1. CWC - Ryan Haburchak, 14.

DIGS: Cedar - Megan Heimes, 12; Aiden Wortmann, 5; Abby Hochstein, 3; Tori Arens, 2; Brynn Wortmann, 1. CWC - Taylor Peter, 9; Makenna Pelster, 7; Morgan Ramsey, 3; Michelle Koenig, 3; Tessa Metschke, 2; Emma Jonseth, 2.