The Millard West Varsity Volleyball team had an extensive and strong season, facing off against many tough schools. They were able to finish out their season with a record of 28-7, placing second in the state.

The Wildcats’ season started with a tournament where they faced off against five schools including Lincoln East, Millard North, Millard South, Waverly and Papio South. They were able to win four of these games, losing to the Titans 2-1. Although they took a loss early in the season, the momentum was still flowing with a starting record of 4-1.

The next games on their schedule were Skutt, Omaha Northwest, Fremont, Lincoln North Star, Elkhorn South, Bryan and once again, the Patriots. Millard West did not let their stride go to waste and won all of these games to obtain a record of 11-1.

“Having new faces on the team really made us get to know them personally and start connecting on the court,” senior Ella Hazen said. “Knowing that we had so much potential and love for the game made us keep our stride throughout the whole season.”

This led into another tournament where they started off with a loss to Elkhorn North. Despite the hit to their record, they stayed strong for the remainder of the tournament and crushed Millard South, the Storm and the Mustangs, not letting one team take home a set. Following this, the Wildcats had two more wins against Papillion-LaVista and Bellevue West before getting back on the road for another tournament.

“What motivated us was each other,” senior Eluria Ahl said. “We didn’t play for ourselves, and before every game, we agreed to play for each other. This really kept us motivated because we didn’t want to let each other down.”

This time, they were able to start with speed, but finished with less power. They won two matches against Roosevelt and the Monarchs but ended up losing the last two games to Papio South and Lincoln Southwest. Although they lost these games, within the tournament they only gave up two sets. Following this, they were able to defeat Marian and then take down the Silver Hawks, taking home the win for the regular season game.

After the big win against Lincoln Southwest, the Wildcats fell again versus the Titans. Then, they won three more games against Omaha Westside, Gretna, and Millard North to make their record 23-5.

“With any season you face different obstacles and win or learn moments,” coach Joe Wessel said. “We set goals at the beginning of the season and it is always an amazing experience to see our Wildcat Student Athletes accomplish so much.”

Coming close to the end of their season, they played in their final season tournament, winning to Omaha North and losing to Bellevue West. This led into the playoffs where they took on the Mustangs, Monarchs and Warriors to lead them to the finals against the Titans.

“We knew we could make it to state and get far so we worked towards that goal everyday until we got to the championship,” Hazen said. “Especially during State, knowing that the game I was playing could be my last game as a senior motivated me the best.”

Although they were able to quickly defeat the other teams, Omaha Westside and Papio South made the Wildcats push themselves. The Warriors game was taken by the Wildcats in the fifth set to take them to play in the finals. After this, they lost all three sets to Papio South to become runner up in the playoffs.

Despite the final loss in the championship, Millard West had a lengthy and hard fought run to make their 2021 season one to remember.