Traudt leads Grand Island Senior High past Lincoln Northeast
Tia Traudt helped make senior night a memorable one for her and her senior teammates.
The UNLV commit pounded down 20 kills to lead the Class A, No. 9 Islanders to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 win over Lincoln Northeast during senior night Tuesday at Senior High.
Traudt, along with teammates Reagan Ashby, Abby Waind, Jaysa Wentzlaff, Kenya Doble and Mya Chrisman were honored before the match.
GISH coach Marcus Ehrke said it was nice for Traudt to have a night like she did. The 6-0 senior had nine kills in the third set alone.
"She's trying to leave a legacy and she's leaving a big legacy for Grand Island volleyball," Ehrke said. "We're proud of what she's accomplished during her four years here. She's becoming a better leader for us and that's something she's worked toward this year. She's coachable and really done a great job leading our team this year.
"It's fitting to have a senior play well on senior night."
But it wasn't just Traudt that had a big night for the Islanders. They had a balanced attack with Waind and junior Zada Gernstein each chipping in nine kills. Wentzlaff, the GISH senior setter, dished out 35 assists on the night.
Ehrke said Gernstein, who's a middle blocker, finishing with nine kills is a big stat for the Islanders.
"That was probably the best match she has played all year," Ehrke said. "She not only hit well, she blocked well. She was aware of what was going on around her. If she plays like that, that's going to help us down the stretch."
Northeast made the Islanders work to get the win, especially in the third set after Grand Island built a 17-7 lead.
The Rockets went to Hayden Osmera time and time again as she had nine of her team-high 16 kills to bring them back to within 23-22.
But Traudt put the finishing touches with back-to-back kills to give the Islanders the victory.
Osmera also had three ace serves, while Kinzie Peterson chipped in 11 kills.
Ehrke said he was pleased with Northeast's effort against Grand Island.
"Northeast didn't really make a lot of mistakes, serving errors or attacking errors," Ehrke said. "They kept the ball in the court and made us work for every point that we had to get."
To go along with the offensive numbers, Reagan Ashby led the Islander defense with 26 kills, while Aralynn Scheel chipped in 18.
Ehrke said even though Islanders got the sweep, he said it felt like a strange match for Grand Island.
"It just had an odd feeling and I'm not sure why," he said. "I don't know if it had something to do with senior night. But we had some adversity and we were able to overcome it. We were still able to get a sweep, so I'll take that."
Grand Island will play in the Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament, which gets under way on Monday. The official pairing will be released Wednesday.
Grand Island 3, Lincoln NE 0
Lincoln NE;21;18;22
Grand Island;25;25;25
LINCOLN NE (Kills-ace-blocks) – Delaney Vohland 5-1-0, Aunalie Scribner 2-1-0, Ella Beaudette 3-0-3, Kinzie Peterson 11-0-0, Kadenca Pieper 1-0-0, Aemenah Jantzen 0-1-0, Hayden Osmera 16-3-0.
GRAND ISLAND (Kills-ace-blocks) – Reagan Ashby 0-1-0, Tia Traudt 20-0-1, Addy Waind 9-2-0, Jaysa Wentzlaff 5-1-1, Mya Chrisman 1-1-2, Zada Gernstein 9-0-1, Lilly Goodwin 3-0-1, Mralynn Scheel 0-1-0.
SET ASSISTS - LNE: Scribner 20, Peterson 12, Jantzen 1. GI: Wentzlaff 35, Ashby 3.
