Exeter-Milligan/Friend extends season to the limit at D-1 State
YORK- The Exeter-Milligan/Friend Bobcats caught a wave of success late in the season and rode that all the way to the Class D1 State Championship match against Superior.
The Bobcats came up short in their bid to bring home their first ever state title since Exeter-Milligan and Friend combined last year, but finished the season winning 10 of their final 12 games, including upsetting the No. 1 and undefeated Southwest Roughriders in the semifinals.
EMF finished the season 22-11 and while they lose three key seniors in Lily Jeffries, Ella Archer and Keila Ricenbaw, the Bobcats will return a wealth of talent to the roster next year.
Kaydence Haase was named to the D1 state all-tournament team in both major Nebraska papers while libero Taylin Schluter was an all-tournament pick in the Lincoln Journal Star; both are juniors and will return in 2025.
The Bobcats entered the Class D1 State Tournament unranked and finished at No. 2 in both the Lincoln Journal Star and the Omaha World-Herald.
The Dukes (25-11) took down No. 10 Seward in the subdistrict final, and Gering in the district finals but lost in the state quarterfinals to Elkhorn North, who finished No. 3 in the LJS and No. 4 in the OWH. York finished sixth in the Lincoln paper and ninth in the World-Herald.
York has some retooling to do with the loss of four seniors - Cynley Wilkinson, Chloe Koch, Lainey Portwine and record-setting setter Reese Hirschfeld. However, some of the youth on the team got some very valuable experience to carry into the 2025 season.
Half of the YNT coverage teams finished the year above the .500 mark as High Plains went 21-10, Cross County 19-14 and Nebraska Lutheran 16-13.
The rest of the team's records are as follows, Centennial Broncos (15-21), Fillmore Central Panthers (11-20), Hampton Hawks (6-25), Heartland Huskies (4-25) and the McCool Junction Mustangs (2-26).
The biggest improvement of the season was the York Dukes, who added 14 wins to their resume after an 11-21 season in 2023, while Fillmore Central won nine more games than in the 2023 season. Four teams total showed improvement this year.
Over the course of the season several players reached milestones and set school records.
Here are the final stats leaders for kills, set assists, blocks, digs and ace serves.
Total Kills- Top 10
Name YR. School Hitting PCT Kills
Kaydence Haase JR. Exeter-Milligan/Friend .337 452
Cynley Wilkinson SR. York .245 391
Sydney Hengelfelt JR. Cross County .221 367
Addison Ekeler SR. Fillmore Central .131 273
Cheyenne Tonniges JR. Centennial .148 261
Chloe Koch SR. York .172 242
Courtney Carlstrom SR. High Plains .105 237
Harley Wardyn FR. York .251 234
Ava Pruter SO. Cross County .120 221
Averie Stuhr SR. Centennial .267 221
Set Assists- Top 5
Name YR. School Total Assists
Reese Hirschfeld SR. York 1,053
Eden Peterson JR. Cross County 763
Ella Wambold SR. Centennial 737
Lily Jeffries SR. Exeter-Milligan/Friend 573
Autumn Malchow JR. Nebraska Lutheran 521
Blocks Total- Top 5
Name YR. School Total Blocks
Bricelynn Larson SR. Cross County 81
Rylee Ackerson SR. High Plains 66
Averie Stuhr SR. Centennial 60
Natalie Sams SR. Centennial 59
Kiley Oldehoeft JR. Exeter-Milligan/Friend 52
Ace Serves-Total-Top 10
Name YR. School Aces
Kaydence Haase JR. Exeter-Milligan/Friend 58
Ella Wambold SR. Centennial 56
Tenley Williamson SR. Nebraska Lutheran 55
Courtney Carlstrom SR. High Plains 55
Rebecca Hueske SR. Nebraska Lutheran 49
Miley Ricenbaw FR. Exeter-Milligan/Friend 46
Autumn Malchow JR. Nebraska Lutheran 45
Keila Ricenbaw SR. Exeter-Milligan/Friend 44
Tyler Opfer SO. Centennial 41
Gahvi Lesiak JR. High Plains 39
Finley Peterson SO. Cross County 39
Digs Total- Top 10
Name YR. School Digs
Lainey Portwine SR. York 436
Isabel Johnson SR. Heartland 409
Ella Wambold SR. Centennial 398
Hadley McCoy SR. Fillmore Central 372
Chesney Sundberg SR. Cross County 348
Taylin Schluter JR. Exeter-Milligan/Friend 336
Rebecca Hueske SR. Nebraska Lutheran 331
Jaylah Gross JR Hampton 313
Tenley Williamson SR. Nebraska Lutheran 312
Peyton Hofmann JR. High Plains 310
Assistant Sports Editor
