KEARNEY — Wayne came out on fire in the early going and overcame a second-set stumble to dominate Chase County in the C1-5 district volleyball final Saturday afternoon at Kearney High School, winning 25-12, 19-25, 25-17, 25-12.
The Blue Devils were on fire in the early going, building a 13-5 lead with the help of five kills by Lauren Pick and terminations by Emily Armstrong and Emily Longe. Sydney Redden went on a five-point service run that included two aces to help the Blue Devils cruise to the first-set win.
Wayne played sloppy in the second set and the Longhorns took advantage to tie the match, but Wayne regrouped and regained control of the match, pulling away from a 15-13 advantage with a 6-1 run that was highlighted by blocks from Longe and Pick to take the 2-1 lead.
The third set was all Wayne as they raced out to an 11-2 lead and never let the Longhorns get a string of points going to try and get back in the match. Wayne closed it out with a kill from Armstrong and two by Longe to claim the win.
Lauren Pick improved her school record set in the subdistrict final with a career-high 36 kills. Longe added 10 kills, Armstrong had eight, Frankie Klausen and Rubie Klausen each had three, Kiara Krusemark had one and Redden had one. Krusemark dished up 55 assists. Redden had three ace serves, Erin O’Reilly added two and Hailey Backer had one.
Defensively, Longe had two blocks and Krusemark and Frankie Klausen both had one. Pick led the team in digs with 23, Backer had 19, Redden had 16, Armstrong added 15, Frankie Klausen had eight, Longe and Rubie Klausen each had five, O’Reilly had two and Krusemark had one.
The 29-5 Blue Devils will face Broken Bow (32-2) in a matchup of the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the first round of the Class C-1 State Volleyball Championships. The two teams will face each other Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Lincoln North Star High School.
(Look for complete coverage and more photos in next week's Wayne Herald.)
