Lady O falls to Waverly in district final
WAVERLY -- The Beatrice volleyball team came up one match short of qualifying for this weekend’s state tournament.
The 12-seeded Lady O fell to fifth-seeded Waverly Saturday in straight sets 25-13, 25-13, 25-14, ending their season. Waverly advances to the Class B State Tournament.
Beatrice was already dealt a tough blow prior to Saturday’s match when they lost Mariah Allen to an injury. Allen was one of Beatrice’s top attackers, but went down with an ankle injury late in Beatrice’s subdistrict match against Seward on Tuesday.
Interim head coach Melissa Carper said Waverly is a tough team to beat, but having to play without a starter made it all the more difficult.
“I thought the girls played hard the entire game,” Carper said. “We had a few glitches and not having Mariah Allen was tough. It’s unfortunate, but we’ve dispersed our points amongst all six of our players all year, so it was an opportunity for others to step up. And they did step up, we just didn’t have enough today.”
Beatrice fell behind 6-2 early in the second set, but they battled back to tie the set at 8-8 with Ally Thavenet having three kills during that spurt.
Waverly extended their lead back to 12-9 forcing a Beatrice timeout. They then extended their lead to 21-13, forcing another Lady O timeout. They would be able to coast to the 25-13 win from there.
Beatrice fell behind 12-6 early in the second set and were never able to recover. They would get back with five points at 15-10, but a big run by Waverly made it 21-11. They would go on to win the set 25-13.
Beatrice trailed Waverly 9-7 in the third set before Waverly would go on 10-0 run to make it 19-7. They would go on to win 25-14 to complete the sweep.
Ally Thavenet had 10 kills for the Lady O while Devyn Burroughs had six kills, Jayden Baete had three kills, McKenzie Osborne had two kills and Hailey Schaaf had one kill. Osborne had 12 assists in the match.
Kaitlin Church had three blocks for the Lady O while Burroughs had two blocks and Thavenet and Hailey Schaaf had a block each. Mak Hatcliff had 24 digs while Burroughs had 13 digs and Thavenet and Osborne had 10 digs each.
Beatrice’s season ends after posting a 16-13 record. It was the last match for two seniors -- Thavenet and Osborne.
“They will be greatly missed,” Carper said. “They are some true competitors and they set the bar for our culture at Beatrice High School. We just hope that continues on.”