Win and advance - Broncos do

Posted

The week seemed to take forever, Coach Alex Anstine said.

Centennial had swept its subdistrict volleyball tournament, beating Shelby-Rising City 25-12, 25-12, 25-10 Oct. 26 and Cross County 25-17, 25-13, 25-19 Oct. 27.

The rest of the week, Anstine said, she was asking, “Is it go time yet?”

She and her team were waiting for Oct. 31 to play Thayer Central in the district final, with a state tournament berth on the line.

“It stemmed from Tuesday,” Anstine said. “We played well and clean. We said the pressure is on Thayer Central. They’re the higher seed and the home team and they’d beaten us twice.”

It took five sets, but Centennial got the win 25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 15-10.

“Good things happened in the first two sets,” Anstine said. “Then we played timid, and Thayer Central did a good job picking up.”

In the fourth set, the Broncos didn’t play well, Anstine said. During the three-minute break between sets, she told her team it wasn’t Thayer Central, it was them.

“The first five points were back and forth,” Anstine said.

Then senior Jaycee Stuhr stepped to the service line and helped the Broncos to a five-point lead. CHS maintained that through the rest of the set.

“I couldn’t be more happy for the seniors,” Anstine said. “To finally be able to say we did it, and got revenge on Thayer Central.

“It felt good to beat them on their home court.”

A substitution snafu in set three meant Kiley Rathjen had to serve. The senior middle hitter hadn’t served much this season but was focused and dialed in, Anstine said.

“It was meant to be,” she said.

Three Bronco hitters reached double digits in kills in the match – Kate Hirschfeld and Rathjen with 18 each and Stuhr with 14. Jaci Opfer delivered 48 set assists and picked up 28 digs.

Also on defense, Lexus Prochaska notched 16 digs, Hirschfeld 15 and Naber 10.

The subdistrict tournament wasn’t as challenging as the district final. The Broncos cruised past Shelby-Rising City and Cross County.

Hirschfeld recorded her 1,000th career kill Oct. 26 against SRC. She had 26 kills in the match.

Anstine said the match was a good one for the Broncos to get the postseason jitters out of their system.

On Tuesday, she said, the coaches were more nervous than the players. The girls were calm, loose and making jokes.

“They had a confidence about them I hadn’t seen,” Anstine said.

The Broncos (22-11) are scheduled to play Lutheran High Northeast Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena. It’s the first trip to state for Centennial since 2007.

LHNE is the top seed, Anstine said. They have a good outside hitter and don’t make a lot of mistakes.

“I think it will be a fun matchup,” Anstine said. “Anything can happen.”

She told her team to enjoy the moment, that these are the memories that stick with you.

“The girls want this,” she said.