The Superior Express -

The Lawrence-Nelson volleyball team faced a rough road to qualify for the state tournament. A schedule weighted toward class D-1 and C-2 schools put the Raiders at a disadvantage in the wildcard point standings, They were faced with the prospect of having to win their sub-district bracket and district match to reach the state tournament at Lincoln.

Lawrence-Nelson accomplished step one when they roared back, at Roseland, last Tuesday, from a two-set deficit to defeat Franklin, 17-25, 19-25, 25-17, 26-24 and 15-9, for the subdistrict D2-6 win. The victory advanced the team to the District D2-3 final match played at Arapahoe High School at Arapahoe.

The Raiders, seeded at number 14, went up against the third seeded Maywood-Hayes Center Wolves. The Wolves were way too much for Lawrence-Nelson as they were handed a three-set, 10-25, 14-25 and 15-25 , loss and an exit from the playoffs.

`Emma Epley and Kara Menke had 17 kills apiece at the net against Franklin. Aleah Heikkinen accounted for 11 kills. Kylie Beard added six kills. Katelyn Mazour came up with four kills. Sydney Biltoft counted three kills. Beard and Elsa Jorgensen scored with two aces each. Biltoft owned three blocks. Jorgensen lobbed up 15 digs. Heikkinen and Mazour provided 12 digs each. Menke finished with eight digs. Hanna Skinner accounted for seven digs. Jorgensen finished with five digs. Emily Troudt landed two digs. Beard had a dig.

Heikkinen topped the Raiders kill chart with nine against Maywood-Hayes Center. Epley provided six kills. Biltoft stepped up with four kills. Mazour zeroed in on two kills. Beard had a kill. Epley lined through two aces for the Raiders. Heikkinen contributed 16 digs. Jorgensen added 10 digs. Epley produced nine digs. Skinner handed in eight digs for the match. Mazour came up with seven digs. Biltoft owned two digs. Beard and Menke had a dig apiece.