The last two matches of Saturday's Arlington High School volleyball tournament ended at about the same time.
The host Eagles (5-14 overall) fell short against Wahoo Neumann, 2-0, just before the Blair Bears (13-9) knocked off Omaha Roncalli in a coaching matchup between former NCAA Division I standouts — BHS' Jess Lansman, an Iowa State All-American, and former Nebraska Cornhusker Brooke DeLano.
With the win, the Bears finished the AHS tourney 2-1. The second win clinched what will go down as their school's winningest season since 2002 when it earned 15 victories.
“I thought we played hard,” Blair middle blocker Emma Ammon said, noting more positives, too. “I think we're starting to play more as a team. Our leaders are really stepping up.”
The Eagles, meanwhile, finished 0-3 against tough competition from the Bears, the Cavaliers and the Pride.
“I think we did good sticking together even when we got down at times,” said Arlington junior Macy Wolf.
Her team opened the tournament against Ammon's squad Saturday morning.
Eagles fall to Blair, go 0-3
Blair bested AHS in both teams' first match of the day, 25-14 and 25-13.
The Bears jumped out to a 4-0 lead during the first set and never trailed it even after Wolf's kill broke up the streak to start. A Taylor Mostek attack later produced a 17-9 BHS lead and forced an Eagles timeout before Nicki Wendt started play back up with an ace serve.
“It's one of our goals this season,” Ammon explained. “To be prepared on the first set so we're ready for the rest of the day.”
AHS played Blair tighter to start the second race to 25 with Peyton Timm recording two kills to keep the Eagles within 8-6.
The Bears were too proficient, though, earning a 10-6 lead on Nicki Wendt's kill and a 13-6 advantage on Olivia Wolff's ace serve. Attacks from Madeline Chikos and Hailey Roewert pushed BHS' lead to 18-7, too, before back-to-back swings by Mostek secured a 21-8 advantage.
Arlington's Rylie Kyllo and Lacey Bosshart had kills down the stretch, but Chikos eventually earned match point. Playing the right side, the Blair sophomore moved left and hit the ball back right to catch the Eagles out of position on the kill.
“(The Bears) have some very talented girls and I think we did well matching up to them,” Wolf said after the match. “We played as best as we could, but I congratulate them on that because they are a really solid squad.”
AHS followed up its 2-0 defeat to BHS with a 2-1 loss against Roncalli and a 25-17, 25-9 shortcoming against Neumann. Coach Erin Stosich's team dropped the first set to the Pride, 25-22, but bounced back with a 26-24 second set victory before the eventual 25-14 third-set loss.
Wolf said the Eagles were motivated going into the second set with Roncalli.
“We were all just told that it was a very winnable game, and that we needed to come out and believe in ourselves and believe that we could win,” she said. “I think we really took that into consideration and just put it back onto the court. Showed what we can do.”
The junior started the second set with a kill before combining with Kyllo for a block at 5-1. Back-to-back Timm aces gave Arlington an 18-11 advantage before the Pride stormed back and earned their own 20-19 lead.
The Eagles' Valeria Carvajal secured the home team's 22-21 lead, too, though, before Wolf scored match point by beating a Roncalli block.
Even 1-1, however, the Pride took control of the 25-14 third set and won the match.
Neumann controlled its matchup against Arlington, too, producing the most lopsided set — 16 points — of the Eagles' home tournament run during the second. Even so, Wolf noted more than one positive achieved by Stosich's team.
“I think we did well at serving today, and our passing and defense is getting a lot better,” the junior said. “Even though we can still improve on it, I think it helped us a lot today.”
Bears win 1 more
Coach Lansman's BHS roster, meanwhile, split its two matches after the Arlington victory. Neumann swept it 25-23, 25-21 before the Bears beat Roncalli 25-13 and 25-19.
Mostek had 11 kills in the loss to the Cavaliers, while Roewert had 18 assists and Wolff tallied 11 digs.
Against the Pride, though, Blair jumped out to a 14-7 lead during the first set. Ammon notched at least four kills during the stretch, while Wendt produced one at 11-6.
Chikos, meanwhile, went on a serving streak at the start to the second set. Her kill down the line made it 5-1, too.
Roncalli stayed within striking distance as the end of the Arlington Eagles' tournament approached, but a Mostek kill at 20-15 and multiple other BHS swings held the Pride at bay. Ammon had seven kills in the best-of-three match, while Roewert notched six and Andi Hume had four off of the bench.
Senior Hayden Frink-Mathis took advantage of her playing time, too, notching two kills.
Afterward, Ammon shared how she was feeling after a 2-1 Saturday at AHS.
“Pretty good,” she said. “I think we had a good day.”
AHS splits Thursday matches
Before hosting matches Saturday, the Eagles hosted two Thursday, too.
Coach Stosich's team split those volleyball contests, besting Logan View/Scribner-Snyder in the second, 2-1. AHS lost the first set with the Raiders 25-19, but battled back with 25-20 and 25-21 wins. Timm, notably, delivered the final swing, recording a kill for match point.
Against Conestoga, the Eagles pushed the Cougars in a 2-0 loss. They dropped the first set 31-29 before a 25-15 defeat in the second.
HS VOLLEYBALL LINE SCORES
Saturday
Blair 2, Omaha Roncalli 0
RON 13 19 — 0
BHS (13-9) 25 25 — 2
Wahoo Neumann 2, Arlington 0
WN 25 25 — 2
AHS (5-14) 17 9 — 0
Neumann 2, Blair 0
WN 25 25 — 2
BHS (12-9) 23 21 — 0
Roncalli 2, Arlington 1
RON 25 24 25 — 2
AHS (5-13) 22 26 14 — 1
Blair 2, Arlington 0
BHS (12-8) 25 25 — 2
AHS (5-12) 14 13 — 0
Thursday
Arlington 2, Logan View/Scribner-Snyder 1
LVSS (5-17) 25 20 21 — 1
AHS (5-11) 19 25 25 — 2
Conestoga 2, Arlington 0
CHS (9-5) 31 25 — 2
AHS (4-11) 29 15 — 0
