Lady Cougars Season Comes to an End

November 10, 2015 Leave a comment


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

The 2015 volleyball season came to a tearful end as the Lady Cougars lost in the sub-district finals in five sets to Cedar bluffs.  The moxy  of this group of girls shown through as they were down 2-0 and fought back to win the next two games and force a fifth.

The Cougars had defeated ((27-5) Cedar Bluffs and were expecting a tough match against the 9th rated Wildcats.

The first set found the teams tied at 5 when Cedarn Bluffs strung three points together for an 8-5 lead.  It was a catch up the rest of the set for LDNE.  They could never get closer than two points at 13-15 before the Wild Cats put on another three point run as the Cougars had three straight hitting errors.  LDNE would end up losing 25-17.

The second set was a total disaster for Northeast.  Cedar Bluffs scored the first eleven points.  After both teams had service errors Cedar Bluffs ran off four straight for a 16-2 lead. The Cougars were out of sorts and playing with no confidence.  The set ended as a 25-12 loss.

One game from elimination the girls gathered off the court to see if they could regain their composure.  The Cougars came back with a new confidence after the meeting and won the next two games.

“I didn’t say anything too special. It was a decision that each individual player had to make in order to come back. The girls stepped up their game and we can say with full confidence that they left nothing on the court. They gave it their all. After the 2nd set it was a close game the rest of the match. It just came down to who was going to finish out each point,” said Coach Hathaway.

In the third game, the Cougars exploded away from an 8-8  tie to take control of the game.  Lexie Bacon  would serve the team into the lead, but the Wild Cats made a short run to claim an 11-10 advantage.  Brianne Haskell served up five straight points with the help of 3 kills from Kelly Wakeley for 16-11 lead.  Another Wakeley kill side-outed Cedar Bluffs and Brandi Simonsen added two more points during her service.  Northeast would add a point during each of the next five service turns and fittingly a Wakeley kill would be game point, 25-21.

The Cougars were on the roll in the fourth set.  They jumped to a 15-6 lead.  Brandi Simonsen served two aces.  Tessie Collins had a kill and an ace block.  Madie
Ronnfeldt celebrated two kills and Lexie and Brianne each added one.  The Wild Cats battled back with eight of the next eleven points before a service error turned the ball over to LDNE.  Brandi and Mickayla Petersen closed out the set with the help of Ronnfeldt and Wakeley kills.   They won 25-18.

The speed round saw Northeast score the first two points.  Cedar Bluffs rallied with a four point run and followed with four of the next six points for an 8-4 lead.  An ace block and two kills by Madie Ronnfeldt pulled the Cougars to within one point.  Brianne Haskell had two kills to tie the game at 9.  Lexie Bacon found the donut hole for a kill for a 10-10 tie, but the Wildcats got two kills before a third attempt went long.  Brianne served up a point with Tessie getting the kill and the game was tied at 12.

An ace block by Cedar Bluffs put the Wild Cats in the driver’s seat with a 13-12 lead.  Maddison Roumph had her second ace of the set for Cedar Bluffs.  Match point was kill that looked long. but was ruled to be a tip.

Cedar Bluffs would lose to Howells-Dodge 3-0 in the district finals to win a trip to State.  Coach Hathaway commented about the EHC  opponent who beat LDNE 2-1, “I wish Howells-Dodge the best at state. They are a team that I think has improved a lot over the season and it will be exciting to see what they can do.”

LDNE 17 12 25 25 12
Cedar Bluffs 25 25 21 18 15

Abby Peterson    12 digs
Brandi Simonsen    3 aces 8  digs
Brianne Haskell   12m kills  35 digs
Kelly Wakeley   14 kill  32 digs
Lexie Bacon  3 kills  19 set assists  17 digs
Madie Ronnfeldt  15 kills  3 blocks  1 set assist  2 digs
Mickayla Petersen  3 blocks   17  set assists   14  digs
Tessie Collins 4 kills   2 blocks  3 digs

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Lady Cougars Improve on Record

October 6, 2015 Leave a comment


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

It was a busy week for the Northeast  Lady Cougars.  LDNE had seven matches and were able to win four of them.  They have a record of 9-13

Tuesday they journeyed to Wisner for a double triangular competition which put them up against Howells-Dodge and Madison.  The Lady Jaguars are a top ten team in D-1 with a 12-5 record and the Cougars took them to a third game before falling, 2-1.  Northeast out hit Howells-Dodge 38 to 31 in kills and had 7 ace serves to three for H-D.  Brianne Haskell had a match high 14 kills.

Madison with a 2-14 record was a tune up game before they  took on Howells-Dodge.  Northeast swept them 2-0.  Both setters,  Lexie and Mickayla had 11 set assists.

Thursday took the girls to Boys Town  where they beat the hosts in straight sets, 25-7 and 25-12.  They had 13 ace serves against the (6-12) Cowgirls.  Lexie Bacon had 5.

The main event was the contest against (15-4) Cedar Bluffs.  The Wildcats were rated in the top ten in D-1 and lead the Cougars’ sub-district in power points.  After losing the first set, the Cougars came back with a 25-17 win and finished them off 25-22.

“It was a great match up for us. We have had a lot of close games that have not ended in our favor. Cedar Bluffs is a good team and it was a great win for our girls,” said Coach Hathaway.  “We have a possibility to meet up again with Cedar Bluffs. We know we have the capabilities to win that game and it will be a battle. “

Saturday was the Clarkson Tournament.  The Cougars started the brackets against Clarkson/Leigh.  The second match of the season the (7-10)  Patriots took the Cougars to a five set match.  This time the Cougars won easily taking 25-9 and 25-22 wins.

In the semi-finals Northeast took on David City Aquinas.  The (7-7) Monarchs lost four of their first five matches.  They are six and three since then with two losses to rated teams. LDNE took the first game 25-21, but lost 25-18 and 25-19 in the next two.  Both Brianne Haskell and Kelly Wakeley had 9 kills.

Northeast finished in fourth place after losing to Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 2-0.  The (13-6) Bulldogs have beaten Northeast twice this season with their tall front line.

Northeast has a road match at (2-19) Logan View and will host (10-10) Bancroft-Rosalie this  week.

“B-R is a good team. We are excited to play B-R because we are a fairly evenly matched team. It will be a good match for sure and I believe that defense will be the key to winning that game,” said the Coach.

Next week they will have their last home match when (15-3) North Bend Central come to Lyons.  The Tigers are rated in C-1.  It will be another tough match for the girls.  Coach Hathaway commented,  “I think our schedule helps us out quite a bit. We don’t play “easy” teams by any means. Our schedule is challenging which is what our program need in order to move forward. ”

The EHC tournament starts October 15 with the Cougars being seeded tenth in the sixteen team league.

Wisner Double Triangular

26-24  LDNE
25-23  H-D
25-22  H-D

Abby Peterson  15 digs
Brandi Simonsen  2 aces
Brianne Haskell  1 ace  14 kills  1 block  18 digs
Kelly Wakeley  9 kills  20 digs
Lexie Bacon   18 set assists  13 digs
Madie Ronnfeldt  2 aces  5 kills  1 block  4 digs
Mickayla Petersen  1 ace   4 kills  2 blocks  12 set assists  9 digs
Sophia Henneman  1 ace   1 dig
Tessie Collins  6 kills  1 dig

25-20  LDNE
25-14  LDNE

Abby Peterson  17 digs
Brandi Simonsen  1 dig
Brianne Haskell  1 ace  8 kills  8 digs
Kelly Wakeley  1 ace   5 kills  14digs
Lexie Bacon 1 kill  11 set assists  2 digs
Libby Henneman  1 set assist  2  digs
Madie Ronnfeldt   4 kills  1 block  1 dig
Mickayla Petersen  12 aces   2 kills   11 set assists  3 digs
Tessie Collins  4 kills   1 set assist  1 dig

Boys Town Double Triangular

25-18  CB
25-17  LDNE
25-22  LDNE

Abby Peterson  21 digs
Brandi Simonsen  3 digs
Brianne Haskell     5 kills   14 digs
Kelly Wakeley  1 ace  10 kills  18 digs
Lexie Bacon   18 set assists  16 digs
Madie Ronnfeldt    6 kills  3 blocks  2 digs
Mickayla Petersen   5 kills  3 blocks  12 set assists  9 digs
Sophia Henneman  2 digs
Tessie Collins  6 kills  1 block  3 digs

25-7    LDNE
25-12  LDNE

Abby Peterson  3 digs
Brandi Simonsen  1 ace  3 digs
Brianne Haskell  3 aces  3 kills  7 digs
Kelly Wakeley  1 ace   4 kills  8 digs
Lexie Bacon  5 aces  2 kills 10 set assists  4 digs
Madie Ronnfeldt  3 kills  1 block
Mickayla Petersen     1 kill  1 block  6 set assists  1 dig
Sophia Henneman  2 ace s  2 dig
Tessie Collins  5 kills  2 blocks   1 set assist

Clarkson Tournament

25-9    LDNE
25-22  LDNE

Abby Peterson  11 digs
Brandi Simonsen   2 digs
Brianne Haskell  4 kills  1 block  10 digs
Kelly Wakeley  1 ace   6 kills  4 digs
Lexie Bacon  3 aces  7 set assists  3 digs
Madie Ronnfeldt  3 kills  4 blocks  1 dig
Mickayla Petersen  2 kills  2 blocks 8 set assists  4 digs
Tessie Collins  2 kills  2 blocks

25-21  DCA
25-18  LDNE
25-19  DCA

Abby Peterson  1 set assist 18 digs
Brandi Simonsen   3 digs
Brianne Haskell   9 kills  12 digs
Kelly Wakeley  1 ace   9 kills  20 digs
Lexie Bacon  1 ace  1 kill  18 set assists  6 digs
Madie Ronnfeldt  3 kills  2 block  s  6 digs
Mickayla Petersen  7 kills 11 set assists  9 digs
Sophia Henneman  2 digs
Tessie Collins  4 kills  1 block   1 dig

25-20  HLHF
25-20  HLHF

Abby Peterson  8 digs
Brianne Haskell   1 ace  8 kills  9 digs
Kelly Wakeley  1 ace   6 kills  9 digs
Lexie Bacon  13 set assists  3 digs
Madie Ronnfeldt  3 kills  1 block   1 digs
Mickayla Petersen  2 kills  5 set assists
Sophia Henneman  1 dig
Tessie Collins  2 kills  1 block   1 dig

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Lady Cougars Lose Heartbreaking Opening Match

September 9, 2015 Leave a comment


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

It was a heartbreaking evening for the Lady Cougars as they lost their opening match to West Point-Beemer in five sets  The two teams were evenly matched with close contests in each set.  West Point won the opening set with a 25-22 score.  LDNE took the second and third 27-25 and 25-17.  The Cadets recovered to take the fourth set 25-22.  In the speed round WP-B came out on top 15-12.

Lexie Bacon opened the season by serving an ace in set one.  The set showed the equality of teams as two points was the biggest lead of either team  during the first half of he game.  The Cadets made a break away as they ran off five straight points to take a 16-11 lead.  A kill by Mickayla Petersen put Brianne Haskell at the service line with a 13-17 deficit.  The senior outside hitter was able to tie the score with the help of Kelly Wakeley who had a block and kill bringing the game to a 17-17 score.   With the score tied at 19, the Cadets pushed the score to 23-19 before giving up the serve.  The Cougars manage three more points , but could not keep the Cadets from getting two.

The second set opened badly for the Maroon.  They trailed 8-2 before battling back to take the set.  Kelly Wakeley served the team to within three points.    On Brianne Haskell’s service a kill by Tessie Collins tied the score at 12. and a block by Mickayla P made it 14-12.  The visitors were able to strike back and took a 19-16 lead .  They continued to have a two point cushion and were three points from a win. With a side out Lexie Bacon served up an ace and spurred the team to a one point lead, 23-22.   The game went to extra points after ending 25-25.  Tessie C was at service when the Cougars gained a two point lead for a 27-25 win.

The Cadets were shaken and the third set opened with Northeast jumping out to a 6-0 lead as Bacon served two aces and a big kill by Haskell and a block by Collins.  The lead was expanded to 17-7 by the end of Wakeley’s service.  She had an ace and Haskell chipped in with a kill and block.  A kill by Madie Ronnfeldt made it 18-8.  The wheels of the romp came off as a service error turned the ball over to WP-B who had runs of 6 and 3 to pull within two points, 19-17.  Haskell served out the match and with the help of two kills by Wakeley and a block by Collins Northeast won 25-17.

The Cougars had the momentum and sped to a 5-0 lead in game four.  The Cadets tied the score at 8-8 and went onto gain a two point advantage that they kept  except for ties at 15 and 19 points.  After pulling up to the Cadets at 19 the Cougars quickly found themselves  down by four, 23-19.  WP-B  used a strong front line attack to finish off a 25-22 win.

In the fifth set,  LDNE gained 4-1 lead, but the set quickly turned into teams trading service with the score tied a 9, 10, and 11 points.  The Cougars had an untimely service error to give the Cadets a 12-11 lead.  They served out the game for a 15-11 win.

The Lady Cougars travel to Clarkson for another EHC contest on Tuesday.  They will be at Wakefield for an eight tem tournament on Thursday and Saturday.

WP-B 25 25 17 25 15
LDNE 22 25 25 22 11

Kelly Wakeley- 11 kills, 16 digs 1 ace
Brianne Haskell- 8 kills, 11 digs  2 aces
Mickayla Petersen- 5 blocks, 16 assists  1 ace
Madie Ronnfeldt- 4 blocks, 3 kills
Tessie Collins- 5 blocks, 2 kills
Lexie Bacon- 13 digs, 17 assists  4 aces
Abby Peterson- 27 digs

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