Central City wins first LouPlatte Conference tourney title
CAIRO — Despite an early season sweep of Centura on its home court, Central City coach Heather Negus suspected that repeating the feat wouldn't come easily in Thursday night's LouPlatte Conference Tournament final.
Negus was correct.
The Centurions took the opening set, forcing the Bison to dig deep for a hard-fought 27-29, 25-19, 25-23, 27-25 victory. It was Central City's first LouPlatte Conference Tournament and marked its first volleyball conference tournament championship since winning the Central Conference championship in 2001.
"It wasn't easy to beat Centura the first time we played them," Negus said of the teams' Sept. 5 meeting. "The match was 3-0, but the score of the third set was 30-28, so it was pretty competitive.
"We were a little worried about playing Centura on their home court and all the noise. It was difficult to communicate with the girls and it was hard for them to hear each other, but I'm just so proud of them for overcoming all of that and just having fun and playing the game they love."
Sydni Homolka led the way for Central City (20-6) with a match-high 22 kills. Brookly Richardson tallied 38 assists and Hope Paup added eight kills and two blocks.
"Central City is just a really good team and they have two big superstars," Centura coach Shawn Koehn-Fairbanks said. "I thought we did a really good job of neutralizing them in the middle, but Homolka is just hard to handle. We tried to throw a different defensive scheme at her, but props to Sydni for all her preparation and being able to lead her team."
Centura countered with the three-pronged attack of Taya Taukiuvea (20 kills), Kennedy Davis (19 kills) and Hope McDonald (14 kills). Kassidy Hurt had 47 assists for the Centurions (13-15), who finished with a 57-45 advantage in kills.
Just a freshman, Taukiuvea looked like a seasoned veteran. The 5-foot-9 outside hitter had seven kills in the first set and had six kills and a block in the fourth.
"Just a few months ago, Taya was playing 14s club ball, so we really ask a lot of her," Koehn-Fairbanks said. "She's one of the biggest competitors I've ever seen in terms of being able to embrace her role. We also have a good group of seniors, who allow her to basically just play free.
"I always tell Taya to just swing away and there's nothing wrong with making an error as long as it's an aggressive swing. ... If she wasn't on people's radar at the beginning of the season, I'm sure she is now."
Negus said Central City's passing came through when it mattered most.
"Whenever we were in system and could pass the ball well, we could keep our offense quick," Negus said. "We knew that would be a struggle for their defense and their blockers. We also tried to really take advantage when their two best hitters were in the back row and get big runs then."
Central City had to battle from behind to win each of the last three sets. Centura led 5-1 in the second set, surged to a 6-0 advantage in the third and owned a 20-14 lead in set four.
However, Central City closed with a 13-5 fourth-set run to clinch the championship. Homolka had four kills and a block during that stretch.
"We've kind of been fighters like that all season long," Negus said. "Early on in the season, we had a couple of big five-set matches that we came out on top and had to come from behind. That has kind of been our thing.
"We were just reminding the girls constantly to have that same fight and never give up."
Negus said she hopes winning the LouPlatte title will give the Bison a confidence boost.
"We're a young team and they've worked so hard for this," Negus said. "I hope this can build confidence and help us achieve our next milestone. We have a couple of really big matches next week in Thayer Central and Milford and hopefully this will give us an edge to go and compete really well."
Koehn-Fairbanks said he was proud of his squad for reaching the Lou-Platte championship match. The Centurions have had to overcome the loss of middle blockers Carlie Sokol and Ella Rasmussen due to injuries.
"Losing Carlie and Ella, we've had to make adjustments and really try to rediscover our identity," Koehn-Fairbanks said. "We've done a good job and kind of hit our stride here and I don't think any of the girls stepped on the court tonight, not thinking that we could win.
"From the first serve to the end, regardless if we were down two or three late, I thought we really had a shot. They made believers out of me."
Central City 3, Centura 1
Central City (20-6);27;25;25;27
Centura (13-15);29;19;23;25
CENTRAL CITY (kills-aces-blocks)—Brookly Richardson 3-0-1, Adrianna Westman 2-1-0, Sydni Homolka 22-2-2, Reagan Fousek 5-0-3, Olivia Bokelman 5-0-1, Hope Paup 8-0-2, Skylir Fischer 0-0-0, Aubrey Garfield 0-1-0, Jose Sawyers 0-0-0, Erin Westman 0-3-0. Totals 45-7-9.
CENTURA (kills-aces-blocks)—Kelly Fanta 2-0-0, Taya Taukiuvea 20-0-1, Kassidy Hurt 1-1-0, Kennedy Davis 19-2-2, Hope McDonald 14-1-1, Skylar Hurt 1-2-0, Ella Simon 0-0-0. Totals 57-6-4.
Set assists—Central City 39 (Richardson 38, A.Westman 1), Centura 49 (K.Hurt 47, Taukiuvea 1, McDonald 1).
St. Paul takes third place
CAIRO — Katie Oakley had 10 kills, Aubree Fitzgerald had eight kills and Zaya Lewis finished with 18 assists as St. Paul beat Ravenna 25-20, 25-21 Thursday night in the third-place match of the LouPlatte Conference Tournament.
Zoey Morrow had six kills and Reannon Siegel recorded 26 assists for Ravenna. St. Paul improved to 13-16 on the season, while the Bluejays fell to 10-18.
St. Paul 2, Ravenna 0
Ravenna (10-18) 20 21
St. Paul (13-16) 25 25
RAVENNA (kills-aces-blocks —Zoey Morrow 6-0-1, Reannon Siegel 2-1-0, Breckyn Wick 4-1-0, Naomi Hervert 2-1-2, Natalie Deines 4-0-1, Emmarie Lutz 3-0-1, Jordyn Larsen 1-0-0, Katie Jarzynka 0-0-0, Hailey Vogt 0-0-0. Totals 22-3-5.
ST. PAUL (kills-aces-blocks)—Katie Oakley 10-1-0, Keislyn Poss 0-2-0, Zaya Lewis 3-0-0, Piepyr Klinginsmith 3-0-1, Aubree Fitzgerald 8-0-2, Macy Porter 1-0-0, Delaney Jennings 0-1-0. Totals 25-4-3.
Set assist—Ravenna 18 (Siegel 16, Deines 2), St. Paul 22 (Oakley 1, Poss 2, Lewis 18, Klinginsmith 1).
