Lancers stun Vikes, Eagles, to win 3A Sub-State

ARMA -- The anticipated Uniontown-Northeast final never took place in the Northeast Class 3A Sub-State Volleyball Tournament here Saturday.

Third-seeded Southeast wrecked Northeast's plans with a 3-set win in the semifinals and then thwarted Uniontown's State Tournament aspirations with a 3-set win in the championship match.

The Lancers will be the No. 7 seed at the Class 3A State Tournament in Salina this weekend, taking a 29-11 record into a pool that includes No. 2 seed Osage City (38-2), No. 3 Atchison County (38-3) and No. 6 Hillsboro (30-10).

Southeast knocked off Northeast (32-6) in the semifinals, 25-21, 15-25, 25-20, then defeated Uniontown, 12-25, 26-24, 25-16.

"I'm not going to lie," Uniontown head coach Jackie Hall said. "This was a disappointing finish to our season. But Southeast played extremely well and we simply did not make the adjustments that we needed to on the floor during that match.

We had every opportunity in the second set go get the win but simply could not capitalize when we had the opportunity."

Southeast was able to expose gaps in Uniontown's coverage and make tips land frequently in the second set, according to Hall.

"I'm proud of the way we fought back in the third set," Hall said. "But Southeast played great defense and dug everything we sent over. (Setter) Tayler Shook did a great job converting the passes we gave her and our hitters tried their best to find holes but they just weren't there."

Jacy Ermel and Ashley Nietfeld each had 12 kills for the Eagles (34-6). Tiffany Poyner had 37 digs and Tayler Shook had 27 assists.

The Eagles defeated No. 8 Erie (5-30) in the first round, 25-16, 25-14. Ermel had 11 kills in the match while Poyner had 20 digs and Shook handed out 24 assists.

Uniontown faced No. 5 Riverton (22-16) in the semfinals after the Rams upset No. 4 Frontenac (20-14) in the first round, 25-16, 25-11. The Eagles defeated the Rams, 25-11, 25-23 as Ermel and Nietfeld each had 8 kills. Poyner had 23 digs and Shook 23 assists.

The other first-round matches saw Northeast beat No. 7 Cherryvale, 25-7, 25-18. and Southeast down No. 6 Galena, 25-10, 25-12.