Lady Broncos heading back to district finals

    For the third year in a row, the Wauneta-Palisade volleyball team is headed to a district final game.
    The Broncos beat Paxton 12-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 in Wauneta Tuesday. A recap of the game will be available in next week’s Republican.
    District seedings were released Wednesday morning. Games will be played Saturday.
    Top seeded WP opened subdistrict play Monday with a win over Dundy County Stratton.
    The Broncos found themselves in a close set to start the match. WP led 13-12 before an eight-point serving run by Halle Bardsley virtually sealed the first set. The Broncos won 25-16.
    Alexa Sandman served 19-straight points, including five aces, to start off the second set. WP cruised to a  25-5 win.
    The Broncos were slightly slower to get started in the third set. Extended service runs by Sandman and GraCee Goings helped the WP to a 25-15 win.
    Peyton Cox had 10 kills in the match. Sandman totaled nine aces and five kills.
    Paxton, the second seed, beat third seeded Wallace 25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-8 to advance to the subdistrict finals.
Fourth place at RPAC
    With no shortage of quality RPAC teams this season, the Broncos finished in the top four of the conference tournament last week.
    After beating Maxwell and Hitchcock County Oct. 18 in the first two rounds of the tournament, the Broncos headed to McCook the next night for the final two rounds.
    Broncos took on the top seed in the West Division, Maywood/Hayes Center, in the semifinals. The Wolves, 23-2, are fourth in the Class D2 point standings.
    WP fell behind 1-8 to start the match and was never able close the gap in the first set, losing 15-25.
    The Broncos only held serve once the second set and fell 10-25.
    The third set was WP’s best showing in the match. Tied at 11, MHC slowly pulled away. WP trailed 21-22 before losing the match 21-25.
    P. Cox led WP with 12 kills and Sandman added nine kills.
    In the consolation match, WP had a rematch with East Division top seed Alma, 24-5 and ninth in the Class D1 point standings. The teams faced off Sept. 11 with Alma sweeping the Broncos.
    The Cardinals lost to second-seeded Cambridge, 25-27, 25-16, 21-25 and 21-25 in the tourney’s other semifinal.
    WP fell behind 3-8 early in the first set, but Alma was never able to completely shake the Broncos. As the set ran down, WP trailed 17-18 then 22-23. The Cardinals scored the final two points of the set to take the win.
    Alma found another gear in the match’s final two sets. Two of the Cardinals’ first three servers each served five points in the first rotation of the second set. WP got to within five points, 12-17, before falling 13-25.
    The final set had an identical score, 13-25. Rather than early runs in the set, Alma strung together two late runs to finish off the Broncos.
    C. Cox had 11 kills. P. Cox added nine kills.
    MHC avenged an Oct. 2 loss to Cambridge, 24-6 and seventh in the Class D1 point standings, in the finals. The Wolves won 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23.
Face Axtell at Cambridge
    The Broncos wrapped up their regular season against Axtell (18-10) in Cambrige Friday.
    WP Head Coach Katie Lawless said the neutral court match up has a post season feel to it.
    WP saw a 3-3 tie in the first set disappear with a seven-point run by the Wildcats. Though the Broncos limited Axtell’s following runs to two or three points, WP was unable to hold serve and cut into the margin. WP lost the first set 16-25.     The Broncos held a 9-6 lead in the second set, but Axtell nibbled away at its deficit. The teams bounced between one-point leads and ties until WP took a 15-13 lead. That advantage grew to 18-15 before Axtell stormed back with a six-point run. WP trailed 20-21 before Axtell closed the set with four-straight points.
    The third set stayed close to a tie at 11. Six-straight points by the Wildcats were too much for WP to overcome, however. The Broncos closed the gap to four points, but lost the set 21-25.
    C. Cox and Goings tied for a team high in kills with six each. Sandman and P. Cox each had five kills. I. Stehno had three aces.