Crusaders fall in conference final

The ongoing saga of Grand Island Central Catholic and Columbus Scotus added another chapter Saturday evening at Hastings St. Cecilia, as the two perennial Class C-1 volleyball powers met in the finals of the Centennial Conference Tournament.

Scotus avenged an earlier defeat by the Crusaders, a four-set loss on Sept. 11, as it swept Central Catholic 25-20, 25-19.

The Crusaders (20-2) advanced to the finals by outdistancing Council Bluffs St. Albert 25-8, 25-13 and then holding off Hastings St. Cecilia 25-19, 25-21. Scotus earned its slot by downing Aquinas Catholic 25-12, 25-10, and was stretched to three sets before defeating Archbishop Bergan 19-25, 25-10, 25-16.

Central Catholic uncharacteristically played from behind throughout the final match as it allowed Scotus to build significant leads. The Crusaders were able to narrow the gap in both games, but the best of three format left Central Catholic with little margin for error.

"When you're going two out of three sets, you have to be quick-starting," Central Catholic coach Sharon Zavala said. "We gave up an eight-point run in the first game, and that gave Scotus momentum and confidence. We had eight blocking errors, which I thought made a big difference, and Scotus passed the ball flawlessly all night."

Scotus coach John Petersen agreed that his team being able to establish momentum early made things much harder on the Crusaders.

"In both games we were ab le to jump out to a lead," he said. "They were playing from behind most of the match. We were in system more than they were, and a big part of that was that we were passing really well.

"The last two years we've been kind of on the bottom end of things with Central Catholic. They beat us three times last year and once when we played earlier, so I feel like we're improving, especially over the last couple of weeks."

Scotus established its control of the net early on, as Monica Boeding and Kaie Beiermann both found success at the corners. By contrast, the Crusaders got a good night from Steph Brand in the middle, but it appeared that it took time to work her into the offense in both games, and by that point Scotus was holding an edge.

As Petersen noted, Scotus made its move early in the first game. Beiermann came to the line and ran off eight consecutive points for a 14-5 lead. Boeding picked up three kills during the run, while Central Catholic hurt itself badly with three straight unforced errors. Both offenses settled down somewhat, but Scotus saw Beiermann tip past Brand for a 20-12 advantage.

With its back to the wall, Central Catholic charged back with Brand leading the way with a pair of kills and an ace block to cut the lead to four. Scotus held off the rally, moving to set point as Kelli Schumacher's mistimed kill tripped up the Crusader defense, and Boeding finished things off with a shot to the corner.

Scotus was able to make a smaller, but no less effective, run in the second game as Beiermann forced a sideout and the Shamrocks then ran off three straight points for a five-point margin. The Crusaders were able to get back to within four at three different points in the match, the last at 23-19. However, Scotus saw setter Sami Spenner deliver a dump over the net, and Boeding delivered the coup de grace to give Scotus the match and the conference title.

"It was an intense match," Zavala said. "The kids really hung together. Things didn't come easy for us today. We have to have our serving game going well, and that really didn't happen."

As Petersen noted, it will be good news for both schools if the teams have the opportunity for a third and deciding match.

"The good thing is that if we see each other again it'll mean we both made it to Lincoln," he said. "I hope we both get the chance."



Championship Match

Columbus Scotus    25    25

Central Catholic       20    19

Scoring--Scotus, Beiermann 9, Paprocki 4, Schumacher 3, Spenner 3, Ebel 3. GICC, Wojcik 4, McGowan 4 (1 ace), Korgel 4 (1 ace). Kills--Scotus, Boeding 15, Beiermann 9, Paprocki 5. GICC, Brand 12, Wojcik 8, McGowan 5. Set Assists--Scotus, Spenner 30. GICC, Baxter 25. Digs--GICC, Wragge 8, Bolton 6, McGowan 6.



Council Bluffs St. Alberts    8    13

Central Catholic                   25    25

GICC--Scoring, Wragge 9, Bolton 9, Wojcik 6, Baxter 6. Kills, Wojcik 10, Brand 10, McGowan 5. Set Assists, Baxter 19. Digs, Baxter 8, Wragge 7, McGowan 7. Blocks, Brand 2.



Hastings St. Cecilia    19    21

Central Catholic         25    25

GICC--Scoring, Bolton 10, Wragge 8, Wojcik 5. Kills, Wojcik 8, Brand 7, McGowan 7. Set Assists, Baxter 25. Digs, McGowan 11, Baxter 6, Wojcik 6. Blocks, Brand 2.