The Lady Bobcats bounced back last week from a disappointing MNAC tournament with a two-match sweep on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The squad traveled to Stapleton to face Arthur County and Sandhills Valley in a triangular, coming out the victor in their final regular season contests.

Arthur County was the biggest challenge of the night, entering the match with a 13-12 season record. The Wolves came out scrappy, running right with the Bobcats to the end, pushing the final score of the first set to 25-23. After South Loup squeaked that victory by, the second set came easier, with the Bobcats winning, 25-14.

Sophomore Emma Stallbaumer rallied the troops, leading the stat board in kills with 9 total, while also contributing 1 ace serve and 5 digs. A trio of Bobcats dominated the service line with 2 aces each: Neltje Reiff, Nyachay Haidle and Olivia Fitzgerald. Charli Pandorf led the defense with 9 digs, while Rae Hagler contributed 7. Hagler also came in handy at the net, racking up 11 assists in the contest.

In the second match of the triangular, the Lady Bobcats challenged the Sandhills Valley Mavericks. Set one was another close one, with South Loup edging out Sandhills Valley for a 25-23 win. The next set saw the leaderboard swap, as the Mavericks pulled ahead of the Bobcats to claim victory 25-22. In the final set, it was do or die for South Loup, and the girls brought the heat. The Bobcats won handily 25-18 for a final score of 2-1 over Sandhills Valley.

Junior Asa Starr led the attack this round, with 10 kills to her credit, 1 block and 1 service ace. Stallbaumer was right in there with 17 digs and 2 blocks, while Pandorf and Aubrie Birkel put up 13 digs each. Hagler was in the mix with 12 digs and 25 assists. Hagler, Haidle, Reiff and Stallbaumer each contributed 1 ace serve each.

D1-10 Volleyball Subdistricts began Monday, Oct. 27 with two games in Ansley. The first match, played at 6 pm, between #1 ranked Ansley-Litchfield (21-6) and #4 ranked Sandhills Valley (7-20), resulted in a 3-0 win for the Ansley-Litchfield Spartans.

In the second match, #3 ranked South Loup (8-21) faced #2 ranked Brady (17-7). Brady came out firing on the first set, gaining a 9-point lead quickly before South Loup battled back to within one point 23-22. Brady answered with a quick 3 points to win set one, 25-22. The Eagles started off the second set with hot hands, and South Loup struggled to get a run put together. Brady controlled the set offensively from start to finish, hammering the Bobcats 25-8. South Loup came out fighting in set three, narrowly trailing Brady for most of the set until they took the lead momentarily at the end after finding their rhythm. The teams traded points trying to put the match away, until Brady finally came out on top 26-24 and won the match in a 3-1 sweep, ending the Bobcats’ bid for a district contest.

The district playoffs continued with Ansley-Litchfield and Brady as they competed Tuesday, Oct. 28 for a chance to make it to the state championship, with results not available by press time.