Ewing captures Class D-2 title
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BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star
Ewing’s Hayley Thramer ended her high school volleyball career at her future college home. It was both a fond farewell and a great housewarming all in one.
The 6-foot-2 NU recruit had 19 kills, put down two ace blocks and served five aces at the NU Coliseum on Saturday morning in the Class D-2 state championship match. Combine that with senior Abbey Schueth recording 18 kills, four blocks and seven ace serves, and the Tigers rolled to a 25-18, 25-18, 25-12 victory against Niobrara Valley Conference rival and fourth-ranked Chambers to finish off a 36-0 season.
“It was good to end with a win and good to start with a win,’’ Thramer said. “We had unfinished business, and now it’s finished.’’
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Basketball practice around the state begins Monday, but Husker volleyball recruit Hayley Thramer wouldn’t mind a few days off before the Tigers begin defense of their two straight Class D-2 basketball titles. “Since our basketball coach (Brock Eichelberger) is also the football coach, we probably won’t start (practice) next week if we win (vs. Hayes Center) today,” Thramer said.
Third-place game
Paxton, which came into the state tournament undefeated and ranked No. 2, earned a 25-11, 25-20, 27-25 victory against Clay Center. The Tigers were led by Barbie DeCent, who had 20 kills and three ace serves.
All-tournament team
Hayley Thramer, Ewing, 6-2, Sr.
Abbey Schueth, Ewing, 5-11, Sr.
Barbie DeCent, Paxton, 5-7, Sr.
Abby Sorensen, Clay Center, 5-11, Sr.
Laura Burtwistle, Chambers, 5-8, Sr.
Set: Randi Miller, Chambers, 5-4, Sr.
For Coach Suz Funk and the rest of the Tigers, it meant a championship trophy after finishing second at state the last two seasons. In last year’s final, Ewing had a match point in the fifth set, only to fall to Paxton 17-15.
“That was a great motivator all year,” said Funk, whose team is 91-4 over the past three seasons. “We saw those runner-up banners every day in practice, and that’s what drove them this season. They refused to lose.”
With no one taller than 5-8, Chambers (29-5) struggled to match up with Thramer and Schueth at the net. The Tigers were in-system most of the match, thanks to solid passing and defense. The Coyotes served just three aces, while Thamer’s 11 digs and nine more from setter Amber Stanton paced the Ewing defense.
Stanton and Toni Gillespie both had 16 assists in Ewing’s 6-2 attack.
“They’ve got two great hitters and the rest of their girls complement them very well,’’ said Chambers coach Sandy Miller, whose team lost four times to Ewing this season, including in the subdistrict tournament, which forced the Coyotes to use a wild card to get to state.
“We always get to a certain point, play them even to 16 or 18, then we can’t get over the hump.” Miller said. Chambers never led after point 12 Saturday.
“In the sets we won against them (earlier in the season), we served tough and got them out-of- system,’’ Miller added. “But today, they (Ewing) passed very well.”
Seniors Laura Burtwistle and Kyla Walnofer led a balanced Chambers attack with eight and seven kills, respectively, while senior setter Randi Miller had 22 assists.
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