The Blair High School volleyball team went 1-2 Saturday, finishing sixth at the Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) Tournament at Waverly.
Coach Becca Mellema's Bears lost a fifth-place match to Class B No. 8 Elkhorn — 25-20, 25-21 — after splitting matches with Lincoln Northwest and No. 4 Bennington in pool play. They dropped the match with the Badgers 25-12, 25-10, but beat and eliminated the Falcons from their first EMC tourney.
BHS won the first set with Northwest 25-16. Two-straight Schuyler Roewert serves went unreturned to cap the Bears' 1-0 lead.
Nicki Wendt then beat a Falcon block for a 23-11 lead in the second set. Ellia Klanderud then notched an ace before Norah Cloudt's kill secured match point at 25-13.
BHS is 9-15 this season. It next hosts and plays Bennington again today at 6:30 p.m.
Bears beat Gross
Prior to the EMC Tournament, Blair hosted and defeated Omaha Gross in straight sets Thursday. The Bears won 3-0, earning 25-22, 25-23 and 25-17 set victories.
First, Roewert notched a block and watched as the Cougars hit the ball outside the lines for the first set point.
Then, to close the second set, the Bears' Peyton Ogle capped a long rally with a kill to give her team a 2-0 advantage. The home team then won the third when Gross was called for a rotation violation.
