The West Holt Huskies wrapped up their conference tournament this past week and began their road to the state tournament with a contest against Niobrara-Verdigre on Monday, Oct. 23 at home.
After the Huskies big sweep against Elkhorn Valley at home on Monday, Oct. 16, West Holt took on St. Mary’s the very next night in the semifinals of the NVC championship tournament.
While the Huskies put up a good fight, winning set two to make the match 1-1, St. Mary’s would prove to be the better team that evening, winning in four sets by scores of 25-15 in set one, 25-20 in set two and 25-12 in set three.
Leading the way offensively in the loss for the Huskies was Ainsley Galyen with nine kills, followed by the duo of Abby Davis and Lainey Smith with six each, Makinley Cadwallader with five, Makenna Schaaf with four, and Kimberly Wettlaufer with four. Smith also led the team in assists with 21 in the contest. Leading the digs category was the trio of Davis, Cadwallader and Smith wit 15, 12, and 10 digs, respectively.
After a tough loss to one of the best class D teams in the state, the Huskies had their work cut out for them with a consolation matchup against the 24-4- Stuart Broncos on Friday, Oct. 20.
The Huskies came out of the gates hot, as they looked to get the bad taste of a loss out of their mouth. After two sets, the Huskies were up 2-0, winning both sets by a score of 26-24. With the third-place trophy just one set away from their hands, the Huskies began to find themselves in some trouble. Down 2-0, Stuart woke up and earned hard-fought victories in sets three and four, both by a score of 25-21 to send the match to a fifth set.
In the fifth set, it was clear the Broncos had all the momentum, and used that to their advantage. The Huskies battled until the very end, but would fall just short, losing set five 15-11 to earn fourth place in the 2023 NVC tournament.
Following two straight losses, the Huskies had no time to feel sorry for themselves, as subdistrict play was just around the corner, and began on Monday, Oct. 23 at West Holt Public Schools with the Huskies taking on the four-win Niobrara-Verdigre Cougars.
The last time these two teams met up, the Cougars were able to win a set against the Huskies, to many people’s surprises. This time, the Huskies took care of business, and set the tone that they weren’t there to mess around.
The Huskies entered this contest as the one seed in the subdistrict, and entered the game with nearly five times the number of wins the Cougars had on the season. In front of a large home crowd, the Huskies did not disappoint, and took it to the Cougars. The Lady Huskies won set number one 25-8, set two 25-10, and set three 25-5 to end the Cougars season, and continue their own.
The large victories were a team effort, catapulted by terrific serving from Avery Nemetz, and huge swings on the ball from Galyen to keep the crowd entertained.
With the victory, the Huskies advanced to the subdistrict championship against the Ainsworth Bulldogs. The last time the two teams met up was on Sept. 12, where West Holt walked away with a victory by a score of 3-1.
The championship contest between the Huskies and the Bulldogs is set for Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m. at West Holt High School. If the Huskies are to win they’ll be re-seeded for a district championship contest where the winner will get to represent their school at the class C2 volleyball tournament in Lincoln.