Though the 3-0 loss ended its season, the Fort Calhoun volleyball team was in good spirits after a match with Class C1 No. 1 Wahoo.
The Pioneers smiled and laughed as they spent their final moments together.
“We told them they had nothing to lose,” said FCHS coach James Slie at the close of Monday's C1-4 Subdistrict Tournament on the Warriors' home floor. “Go big or go home.”
With that approach, Fort Calhoun played loose and had good performances in defeat.
“When we can actually make some good plays against a solid team that is probably going to win state, they're happy about that,” the coach added.
The loss ended the careers of the Pioneers' six varsity seniors. Kaitlin Smith, Megan Johnson, McKenna Greenwell, Alivia Cullen, Rianna Wells and Ellie Lienemann finished with a 15-11 record during their final season in Fort orange.
“When you go 15-11 on the season, that's a pretty good season,” Slie said. “Would we have have liked to have gone further? Yes, but I think our subdistrict was hella-tough.”
The difficult bracket was headlined by the Warriors, who hadn't lost in 30 matches through Monday. FCHS was unable to provide much resistance during the 25-13 first set, but played competitively and held a late lead during the 25-19 second. Cullen scored the Pioneers' first point with a block before Lienemann's ace gave the road team a 11-10 advantage.
Back-to-back Cullen wins at the net pushed the Fort Calhoun lead to 15-12, but state-favorite Wahoo took control and earned a 2-0 overall advantage.
Sophomore Olivia Quinlan added an ace early during the third set, but the Warriors took firm control and ended the Pioneers' season 25-11.
To reach the second round against one of Class C1's best, FCHS bested Omaha Concordia 3-2 — 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 18-25 and 15-13. The Pioneers notched fast starts to win both the first and third sets before the Mustangs forced a fifth.
Lienemann and sophomore Grace Genoways had the most success on their attacks during the match before Greenwell started the fifth with an ace.
Concordia took a 5-3 lead before Calhoun capitalized on some good luck and was off to the races. Wells saved one ball when she hit it over her head from left to right and it tightroped the net, staying in play. When the Pioneers got it back, Cullen finished the volley with a kill.
A Cullen ace and Lienemann kill to the back corner then put FCHS ahead 7-5. Genoways added two points a long the way before Concordia was unable to handle Lienemann's spike for the 15th point.
That 15th point was good for the Pioneers' 15th win of the season.
“Yes, of course,” Slie said when asked if he'd miss his senior class. “Fundamentally, they enjoyed the game and, for the most part, they work hard when it counts.”
Greenwell set school records in digs while Wells set her's in assists. Cullen and Lienemann were contributors early on in their careers and led the way in kills at the close of them, while Smith and Johnson logged lots of court time.
“They definitely contributed a lot,” Slie said.
And they left the court in good spirits one final time.
