The Millard West varsity volleyball team earned a convincing 3-1 win over Class A No. 5 Papillion-La Vista on Thursday, Sep. 16. 

With the win, Millard West, ranked No. 2 in Class A, improved to 16-2.  The Monarchs fell to 5-5. 

The first set was a back-and-forth affair, with the Wildcats prevailing 25-22. Down 7-4 early, Millard West tied the score with two kills by senior middle blocker Sadie Millard and an attack error by Papillion-La Vista. Papillion-La Vista would score the next three points to jump ahead 10-7, but a Millard kill stopped the mini run by the Monarchs. Multiple errors by Papillion-La Vista led to the Wildcats tying the score again at 10-all. 

A pair of aces by junior outside hitter Alanna Bankston and a hitting error by Papillion-La Vista would put the Wildcats up, 17-13. The Monarchs rallied to tie the first set at 22-all, but Millard West scored the last three points to take the first set, 25-22. Millard led all players with six kills in the set. 

“I think our team did really well with getting out of serve receive quickly,” Millard said. “Our serves and running the middles is what helped us win that game. We also were really aggressive and attacked the setter all the time. We made them go out of system a lot as well.”

The Monarchs started the second set with three straight kills by junior Anna Sis, and an attack error by the Wildcats made it 4-0. The Wildcats scored the next four points on three Papillion-La Vista errors and a Millard kill. The Monarchs answered right back with a 3-0 run of their own, prompting a Millard West timeout. Following the timeout, Papillion-La Vista kept momentum and grabbed a 14-7 lead over the Wildcats. Millard West battled back to within 21-19, but Papillion-La Vista scored four out of the remaining seven points to prevail, 25-22. 

“The thing that we wanted to fix going into the third set was communication within our team,” Bankston said. “The second set we weren’t as disciplined on our attacking and serving. The third set our passing was good and we got our middles in system, which helped us defeat our opponents.”

Similar to the second set, the third set began with the Monarchs jumping to a 3-0 lead. Two Bankston kills and a Monarch error tied the score at three, and then Millard West went on a 7-3 run to lead 10-6. The Monarchs persisted, however, scoring the next three points to get within one. The teams were evenly matched throughout the third set, with neither team leading by more than three points until MIllard West scored six straight to lead 23-17. Kills by Millard and junior Skylar Walters were a key to the 6-0 run. Another Millard kill put the set away for the Wildcats at 25-19. 

Papillon-La Vista came out firing to start the fourth, scoring five straight points and eventually leading 9-4. The Wildcats clawed back, however, and took their first lead at 13-12. Papillion-La Vista wouldn’t go away, tying the score at 14. Capped by an ace by senior libero Ella Hazen, the Wildcats retook the lead and went on an extended 7-3 scoring run that prompted a Monarch timeout. The Wildcats would go on to win the fourth set 25-21 on a kill by junior outside hitter Evan Glade. 

“The Wildcats have a very mature and high IQ in how we are mentally approaching games,” head coach Joe Wessel said.  “Even though at times we did not play our best, we were able to push on and be successful. All fundamentals are constantly worked on. We have to fine tune our skill set so we are ready for the postseason.”

Senior Maddie MacTaggert and Bankston led the Wildcat offense with 15 kills apiece. Millard added 12 kills. The Wildcats are back in action on Friday, Sep, 24 at the Papillion-La Vista Invitational.