Fall sports are now in full swing and the RPAC teams jumped right into duals, triangulars, and tournaments. Check out the blog below to see how the first matches shook out.
Alma
Alma opened their season with the Axtell tournament on Saturday. They ended up with a third-place finish in the tournament.
The Cardinals opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Burwell with set scores of 25-16 and 25-21.
Alma dropped match two against Ansley-Litchfield 2-0.
In the 3rd/4th place match, it took three sets to determine a winner. Alma took set one 25-16, dropped set two 25-22, and took set three 25-21 to take the match, 2-1.
Alma starts the season with a 2-1 record and will travel to Franklin for a triangular with the Flyers and Wilcox-Hildreth on Tuesday and travel to Cambridge on Thursday for a triangular with the Trojans and Bertrand.
Arapahoe
Arapahoe began their season at home on Thursday when they hosted Franklin. The Warriors were able to get the 3-0 sweep over the Flyers with set scores of 25-17, 25-20, and 25-18. Emma Strand led the team with seven kills while Cadence Carpenter, Clara Hilker, and Desi Farner each tallied six kills. Farner and Strand each picked up 11 digs while Rylee Bahe had 13 assists.
On Friday, Arapahoe traveled to Cambridge for a dual and was swept by the Trojans. This was an RPAC Rundown Featured Matchup and you can read more about the match here.
The Warriors begin the 2024 season with a 1-1 record and will travel to Dundy County Stratton on Tuesday for a triangular with the Tigers and Hitchcock County.
Bertrand
Bertrand opened their season at home on Thursday against Southwest. The Vikings fell in three sets. This was an RPAC Rundown Featured Matchup and you can read more about the match here.
Bertrand begins the season with a 0-1 record and hosts Elm Creek on Tuesday and travels to Cambridge on Thursday for a triangular with the Trojans and Alma.
Cambridge
Cambridge hosted Arapahoe on Friday night to begin their fall campaign and came away with the 3-0 sweep of the Warriors. This was an RPAC Rundown Featured Matchup and you can read more about the match here.
Cambridge then turned around to host their home tournament beginning bright and early Saturday morning. They played three matches during this tournament winning two of them and finishing as the tournament runners-up.
The Trojans defeated Norton in three sets after they won set one 25-16, dropped set two 25-23, and bounced back to take set three 25-18 and the match 2-1. Brooklyn Holtze posted 18 kills with a .238% hitting percentage and Joslyn Holtze had nine kills with a .529% hitting percentage. Mallory Springer posted three aces in the match along with 20 assists. J. Holtze also added 13 digs while Elisabeth Kubik had 10 digs.
Cambridge got the 2-0 sweep over Elm Creek with set scores of 25-21 and 25-23. B. Holtze and Springer each posted five kills in the match. Emmerie Tomlin added three aces and seven assists in the match while J. Holtze had three blocks and seven digs.
In the championship match against Southwest, Cambridge was swept 2-0 with set scores of 25-7 and 25-22.
Cambridge is 3-1 on the season and will travel to Paxton on Tuesday for a triangular with the Tigers and Sutherland as well as host a triangular on Thursday with Bertrand and Alma.
Dundy County Stratton
Dundy County Stratton attended the Axtell Tournament on Saturday. The Tigers have dropped 109 straight matches coming into this tournament and snapped that losing streak.
In match one against Lawrence Nelson, Dundy County Stratton dropped set one 25-21, won set two 25-23, and dropped the final set 25-23 to lose the match 2-1. That loss marked their 110th straight loss.
Match two against Hampton the Tigers snapped that losing streak as they came away with the 2-0 sweep over the Hawks with set scores of 25-19 and 25-21.
In their third match of the day against Silver Lake, Dundy County Stratton was swept 2-0 with set scores of 25-21 and 25-23.
The Tigers start their 2024 season with a 1-2 and will host Arapahoe and Hitchcock County for a triangular on Thursday.
Hi-Line
Hi-Line hosted Southern Valley on Thursday and fell to the Eagles in three sets, 25-13, 25-17, and 25-16. Allison Wall and Malia Viter each tallied four kills. Ellaray Koch and Wall each had three blocks. Bentley Stubbs had 13 digs in the match while Koch added nine digs and eight assists.
Hi-Line starts the year with a 0-1 record and will travel to Medicine Valley for a dual on Tuesday and travel to Wilcox-Hildreth for a triangular with the Falcons and SEM on Thursday.
Hitchcock County
Hitchcock County traveled to Overton on Saturday for a tournament to begin the year. They went 1-2 on the day.
It was a tight battle in match one versus North Platte St. Pat's, and it took all three sets to find the winner. The Falcons took set one with a score of 25-20 and then dropped set two 26-24 and three 25-22 to lose the match, 2-1. Asia Homma tallied nine kills while Kaiah Johnson and Madysen Carlson each had seven kills in the match. Carlson added four blocks while Riley Hagan added 20 digs. Jill Mcarthur and Homma had 14 digs while Mcarthur and Jayda Wood each posted 10 assists.
In match two against Heartland, Hitchcock County got the 2-0 sweep with set scores of 25-23 and 25-19. Carlson had eight kills and Homma added eight. Homma and Hagan each had eight digs in the match while Mcarthur added nine assists.
In their final match against Central Valley, the Falcons were swept 2-0 with set scores of 25-12 and 25-14. Johnson led the team with three kills and Hagan posted six digs.
Hitchcock County is 1-2 to start the season and will travel to Dundy County Stratton for a triangular on Thursday with the Tigers and Arapahoe.
Maxwell
Maxwell hosted Medicine Valley on Thursday evening to begin their season. The Wildcats were able to control the first two sets as they won both sets with a score of 25-15. In set three, they had to hold off a Medicine Valley surge as it was much closer, 25-23. Maxwell was able to secure the 3-0 victory.
Maxwell traveled to Overton on Saturday to play in a tournament and had three matches. Against Shelton in their first match, Maxwell fell 2-0 with set scores of 25-15 and 25-20. In match two against Overton, Maxwell fell 25-21 and 25-15. In their final match against North Platt St. Pat's, the Wildcats got the 2-1 win winning the first set 25-15, dropping the second 25-15, and then winning the final set, 25-20.
Maxwell is 2-2 on the year and will travel to Brady on Thursday for a dual.
Maywood-Hayes Center
The Wolves hosted a triangular with Sandhills Valley and Paxton to begin their 2024 season.
In their match against Paxton, the first set was tight as it read 25-22 in favor of MHC. In the second set, the Wolves took control and won the set, 25-15, to win the match, 2-0.
In their match with Sandhills Valley, the Wolves got the 2-0 win.
Maywood-Hayes Center starts their season at 2-0 and will host another triangular with Rawlins County, KS, and Southwest on Tuesday and then travel to Mullen on Thursday.
Medicine Valley
Medicine Valley traveled to Maxwell to take on the Wildcats on Thursday night. The Raiders lost the first two sets with a score of 25-15 and then was able to make the third set interesting as they lost the set 25-23 and the match, 3-0. Remmi Stout led the team with eight kills, Haylie Gustafson led the team with seven digs, and Kamree Elsten led the team with six assists.
The Raiders are 0-1 on the year and will host Hi-Line on Tuesday and Arthur County on Thursday.
Paxton
Paxton traveled to Maywood-Hayes Center for a triangular with the Wolves and Sandhills Valley.
In their match with Maywood-Hayes Center, the first set was tight as it read 25-22 in favor of MHC. In the second set, the Wolves took control and won the set, 25-15, to win the match, 2-0. Jaleigh Hansen and Emmalee Nicholson each had three kills for the Tigers. Reece Glinn had 12 digs and Madison Hansen had seven assists.
In the match against Sandhills Valley, the Tigers took set one in a close contest, 25-21, and then settled in to take the second set, 25-16 which closed the match out giving Paxton the 2-0 win. Nicholson led the team with seven kills, Jakcee Mitchell had six kills, and J. Hansen had five kills. J. Hansen added 10 digs and M. Hansen had 17 assists.
Paxton is 1-1 on the season and will host Cambridge and Sutherland for a triangular on Tuesday and South Platte on Friday.
Southern Valley
Southern Valley defeated Hi-Line in their season opener on Thursday. They took control of the match early and never let off the gas. They were able to get the 3-0 sweep with set scores reading, 25-13, 25-17, and 25-16.
The Eagles are 1-0 on the year and will host Gothenburg on Tuesday and Cozad on Thursday.
Southwest
Southwest traveled to Bertrand on Thursday to open their season. This was an RPAC Rundown Featured Matchup and you can read more about the match here.
The Roughriders had a day off before they traveled to Cambridge on Saturday for a tournament where they went on to become the tournament champions.
In match one, Southwest defeated Wauneta-Palisade in straight sets, 25-13 and 25-22. In their next match, Southwest defeated Red Cloud in two, 25-16 and 25-11. In the championship game, Southwest swept Cambridge with scores of 25-7 and 25-22.
Southwest starts the year with a 4-0 record and will travel to Maywood-Hayes Center for a triangular with the Wolves and Rawlins County, KS on Tuesday.
Sutherland
Sutherland traveled to Creek Valley on Thursday for a triangular with the Storm and Perkins County.
In their match against Perkins County, Sutherland lost 2-0 with set scores of 25-22 and 25-18. Mahala Vasquez led the team with five kills and Reese Erbert added four kills. As a team, the Sailors had 10 aces with Eliana Dyer posting three of those. Fallyn Elfeldt had six digs and Gracyn Elfeldt had 11 assists.
In their match with Creek Valley, Sutherland took it in a commanding fashion winning 2-0 with set scores of 25-7 and 25-8. Erbert led the team with six kills, F. Elfeldt had eight digs, and G. Elfeldt had 12 assists. The Sailors were once again strong from the service line as they had 18 aces as a team and were led by G. Elfeldt with six aces.
The Sailors are 1-1 on the season and will travel to Paxton on Tuesday for a triangular with the Tigers and Cambridge.
Wallace
Wallace traveled to Arthur County on Friday to begin the season. It took a bit for the Wildcats to shake off the rust and get things going as they dropped the first set to the Wolves, 26-24. After that though, it was all Wallace. They won the next three sets with scores of 25-14, 25-20, and 25-8 to take the match, 3-1. Reagan Finley had 11 kills, and Maddison Gartrell and Mallory McConnell each had eight kills. The Wildcats served tough as they had nine aces and Kaley Sauser had five of them. Wallace had strong defense as well picking up a total of 67 digs, McConnell had 14 digs, Devin Giesselmann had 13, and Mariana Aceves-Lopez and Finley each had 10 digs. Sauser also totaled 30 assists.
Wallace is 1-0 on the year and will travel to Arthur County again on Tuesday for a triangular with the Wolves and Cody-Kilgore, they will travel to Sandhills Valley on Thursday for a triangular with the Mavericks and Hyannis, and then on Friday, they will host Creek Valley for a dual.
Wauneta-Palisade
Wauneta-Palisade hosted South Platte on Friday night getting the 3-0 sweep with set scores of 25-17, 25-15, and 25-14.
The Broncos had a quick turnaround as they traveled to Cambridge Saturday morning for a tournament.
In match one, Southwest swept Wauneta-Palisade with set scores of 25-13 and 25-22. In their next match, the Broncos got the sweep over Red Cloud with set scores of 25-13 and 25-13. In their final match, Wauneta-Palisade de Elm Creek 25-13, 25-20
The Broncos are 3-1 on the season and will travel to Cheylin-Bird City, KS for a dual on Thursday.
