Meridian Volleyball Earns Berth At State Volleyball - 2017 - Class D-1
Championship Game Saturday, Nov. 11th @ Devaney - 11:00 a.m.
Click here to view state brackets... Meridian is D1
Host Letter with pertinent information for fans, coaches, etc... Click here to read...
Coverage of @MeridianMustang and @bds_eagles at state volleyball this Thursday-Saturday on @KUTT995. #nebpreps #GoMustangs
Meridian Tops Blue Hill in 5, Advances to 2nd Straight State Title
BY Jon Kipper | November 10, 2017
LINCOLN, Neb. – The Meridian Mustangs are in the state championship for a second straight year and they’ll be playing a familiar foe.
Meridian defeated Blue Hill in the Class D1 semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday in five sets – 25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-11.
Sophomore Halle Pribyl of Meridian recorded 28 kills in the win. Rylee Pieper added 22.
Blue Hill’s Kacey Allen led the way for the Bobcats with 25.
Meridian will have a rematch against Johnson-Brock on Saturday in the state finals. The Eagles defeated Meridian in five sets last year.
Meridian Swepts Elkhorn Valley in 3, Advances to 2nd Day
BY | November 9, 2017
LINCOLN – The Meridian volleyball team made it look easy Thursday night as the top seeded team in Class D1 swept #8 Elkhorn Valley 25-17, 25-15, 25-14 in the first round of the state tournament.
The Mustangs had a big night serving the ball as they combined for 13 aces in the match, led by three each for Josiee Sobotka and Halle Pribyl. Hailey Schafer, Jaicee Sobotka and Rylee Pieper also added two apiece.
Even when Elkhorn Valley successfully received the serve they still had a relentless Meridian attack to contend with. Pribyl paced Meridian with a match high nine kills with Piper adding seven. Hannah Ollendick led Elkhorn Valley with nine.
Meridian is on to the state semifinals where they will face a Blue Hill team that dispatched Heartland in four sets. That semifinal will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Pinnacle Bank Arena and can be heard live on Ol’ Red 99.5.
By Luke Nichols/Daily Sun sports editor
Meridian will be the No. 1 seed in Class D1 this weekend at the NSAA State Volleyball Championships.
The Lady Mustangs earned the top spot despite losing to Johnson-Brock twice during the season -- their only two losses of the season. Johnson-Brock is the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
Meridian (29-2) will play eighth-seeded Elkhorn Valley (17-11) Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln East High School.
With a win, the Mustangs would move on and play at 11 a.m. Friday at Pinnacle Bank Arena against the winner of Heartland (20-9) and Blue Hill (26-5).
By earning the top seed, Meridian avoids having to beat both Johnson-Brock and Bruning-Davenport-Shickley during the tournament. BDS (26-5) is the No. 3 seed and will open against sixth-seeded Clarkson/Leigh (25-8) at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Meridian has beaten BDS three times during the season, but proved to be the Mustangs' toughest competition besides Johnson-Brock. It took five sets for Meridian to defeat them in the subdistrict final.
Johnson-Brock (31-1) is the second seed and will open against seventh-seeded Bertrand (20-9).
If the higher seeds win, Johnson-Brock and BDS would clash in the second round.
The Class D1 State Championship match is slated for Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Meridian's two losses on the season have come at the hands of Johnson-Brock. The Lady Eagles defeated Meridian in the MUDECAS Championship Match is straight sets 25-18, 25-21. They lost to them in the district championship last week in three sets 25-16, 25-16, 26-24.
Johnson-Brock's lone loss on the season was a three set loss to Lincoln Christian 25-16, 23-25, 25-22.
If Meridian and Johnson-Brock meet in the state championship on Saturday, it would be a rematch of last year's state championship match. Johnson-Brock claimed the championship in four sets 18-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-21.
It will be Meridian's sixth appearance at state. They've never won a championship, but finished runner-up in 1980 and 2016. They finished third in 2009.
