tammi veerbeek - western christian head coach: "at this very moment i'm so proud we are in the championship game. that was the girls goal every year you want to play on the biggest stage in high school sports. and we've got that opportunity. karsyn winterfeld - western christian junior hitter "they're a very good team. they dug everything. made huge blocks. we were actually on our toes a lot actually too. they came out strong they had nothing to lose they were playing their hearts out and they're a good team.veerbeek: we did have to go through some adversity in this game. and you know what this is the state tournament and that's what it should be. it was two great volleyball teams battling it out. earlier in the day bishop heelan was not as fortunate. falling in the 4a semis to two time defending champion harlan. grace hanno - heelan senior hitter"this year has been crazy, phenomenal, all over the place. i couldn't ask for a better group of girls."mary miller - heelan head coach"by far everything that these girls have gone through what a class act. how could you not call this a success work

tammi veerbeek--"you could tell the experience of being at the state tournament started to pay off in game o and we just kept plugging away and we were able to get the win." alex walker--"the wolfpack cld be on a collision course with unity christian in friday's title match. the knights opening the tournament against sumner- fredericksburg. in the second set, unity down 1-0. we're used to anna kiel's power, but how bout the touch? the tap puts the knights up 14-10. later in the set it's kiel again this time on the block. unity takes set 2 27-25. patty coming up later tonight, gehlen and central lyon square off in a 1a quarterfinal. we'll have that action for you at ten. and tomorrow the nebraska state volleyball tournament gets underway. crofton and stanton faceoff at 330 in class c2 and on the otherside of the bracket, top seed gacc takes on arardia loup city at 5:30 in d-1, emerson hubbaris back at state for the second straight year. the pirates face facebook fan today's picture comes from... earlier today when i got to meet up with the high school choir from my alma mater. you'll b

thought we came out really confident and played really well in game one," said western head coach tammi veerbeek. "we knew we had a height advantage and a size advantage going into this game so we hoped to frustrate them early at the net. you could tell the experience of being at the state tournament started to pay off in that game two and we kept plugging away and we were able to get the win. unity christian - looking to join western in the semis - against sumner-fredericksburg. knights dropped the first set - in the second set, anna kiel gets the kill off the block - helping unity to a 27-25 set win. we go to the fourth set, with the knights down 2-1 in the match - it's kiel again - 23 kills for kiel - keeping but sumner-fredericksburg closes it out to win the fourth set 25-21 - unity is upset, 3-1. "we were not taking anything for granted, there were just some things they were doing today," said unity head coach patty timmermans. "they were on fire and we had a hard time stopping. we found ourselves out of system too much and they were staying in-system and they were able to do what they want

against the wall and volleyball is such a game of momentum swings, they held it for a while," said tammi veerbeek. "and at the end there we just grabbed it just in time to give us enough momentum to finish the match." "i thought we were pushing through good," said ashtyn veerbeek. "all the hard work we put in through the season finally is paying off. we felt like we were on top at the end." western christian will play for the 2a title match against #9 sumner- fredericksburg at 4-45 on friday. at the nebraska state volleyball tournament, top-seeded emerson-hubbard wins their class d1 opener 3-zip to move into friday morning's semfinal at 9. the top seed in d2, o'neill st. mary's, also wins 3-0. two other matches late this afternoon in c2. stanton beats crofton, 3 to 2. in a 5-30 start, guardian angels leads arcadia, 1-zip. central lyon just starting 1a >>> all i can do is follow my heart. >> gwen watched his ex-nanny try to single white female her. >> smiling images of the alleged affair was exposed. >> it's what's coming up right now on "entertainment tonight." >> the nanny's family under siege.

1:39 tammi veerbeek, western christian head coach"it's an amazing feeling. those teams before that fell short, this is for them. they ran into a juggernaut at dike new hartford last four years but those teams were just as good as this team. so we're winning it for all of them. we're a wolfpack family so this state championship goes out to them and these girls that are on this team they just showed heart. and character, and they wanted it and it feels great. 2:03 kaira moss, western christian senior hitterit was hard work, definitely hard work. and sumner is an amazing team they did really well. we were just a really good family this year. we really had to believe in ourselves. like we had to put it on ourselves to believe we could actually do it. 2:16 jacie van schepen western christian senior setter when we came into the locker room we were actually all crying from joy and from happiness. and i know last year we came in and we probably were crying the same obviously from sadness. but this year we were so happy and we just love each other and we love the gam

tammi veerbeek--"it's an amazing feeling. those teams before that fell short, this is for them and these girls that are on this team, they just showed heart and character and wanted it and it felt great." jacie van schepen--"all these years, we have been watching those girls ahead of us and working our buttttoff trying to achieve thth goal and thatatas been our inspiration to be just like them and push and to finally pull it out in the end is a great feeling." payton harmsen--"it's crazy. it's awesome. i have never been on a team like this before and it just felt different the whole season. we are just so close and i cant wrap my mind around this yet. it's awesome." alex walker--"congrats again to western christian. that wraps up our coverage from cedar rapids. at the u.s. cellular center, alex walker, abc9 sports. out in nebraska, semifinal action for three siouxland ams. in c-2, stanton goes to a fifth set for the second straight day and the mustangs advance with a 15- 13 win in that decisive match. on the other side of the

tammi veerbeek--"you could tell the experience of being at the state tournament started to pay off in game two and we just kept plugging away and we were able to get the win." alex walker--"the wolfpack could be on a collision course with unity christian in friday's title match. the knights opening the tournament against sumner- fredericksburg. in the second set, unity down 1-0. we're used to anna kiel's power, but how bout the touch? the tap puts the knights up 14-10. later in the set it's kiel again this time on the block. unity takes set 2 27-25 to tie up the match. but they lose the third and struggle in the fourth. kiel a 23 kill performance to keep the knights within striking distance, itjust wasn't enough. jaden seehaus finishes it off the cougars shock unity christian, the knights go home early. patty timmermans--"we fought. we gave it everything we had. things didn't seem to roll our way quite as much as you'd hope to and i've gotta give credit to sumner- fredericksburg, they played an awesome match." alex walker--"unity christian ends its season with a 36-5 record. from ceda

against the wall and volleyball is such a game of momentum swings, they held it for a while," said tammi veerbeek"and at the enthere we just grabbed it just in time to give us enough momentum to finish the e tch." "i thought we were pushing through h od," said ashtyn erbeek. "all the hard work we put in through the season finally is paying offffwe felt like we were on top at the end." western christian will play for e 2a title match against sumnene fredericksburg at 4-45 on fridada tonight t class 1a -- top-ranked centralalyon facing fourth-ranked sidney -- who's on a 29-match winning streak. it was a battle - first set - lions stave off set-point with a faith henrichs kill. but the cowgirls close it out - mackenzie hulsing serves up an ace and sidney wins the first set. second set - jenessa herman gives the cowgirls a taste of their own medicine - ace there. but the cowgirls take set two - lexy larsen had a game-high 22 kills - lions in a hole, two sets to none. tonight just wasn't cenrtral lyon's night - the cowgirls hot-streak continued - blanking the lions in three games. "it wasn't a blowout by

"okoboji's a good, quality squad," said western coach tammi veerbeek. "they had a lot of seniors so we wanted that trip back to state the girls earned it tonight." "we've worked hard all season for this," "we went to those big better at those. it's just a great feeling knowing now to go back." western christian will play next wednesday at 2, against #15 council bluffs st. albert. in lemars, #2 unity christian facing #12 lawton-bronson -- a 2a state tournament berth on the line. eagles strike first -- l-b sets it up and jenna wede spikes it on top. the set -- deidra noteboom gets kill to give the knights a 25 to 12 victory in set one. the eagles keep it close in the 2nd set -- jaecee kamm spikes it off a unity defender to cut the deficit to three. but the knights regain momentum -- josie blankespoor and allison timmermans team up for the block. unity beats l-b 3-1. they'll play next wednesday at 2 o'clock aginst sumner fredericksburg. other regional finals in 1a. top-ranked central lyon sweeps bishop garrigan to go to state. gehlen catholic also earns a

"the last four years, i've had some outsanding volleyball teams," said tammi veerbeek, head coach of western hristian. "i ean oustanding volleyball teams, probablylysome of the best teams i've ever oached in my 20 years and they fell short so this is kind of redemption for them too.. "i've never been onna team likee this bebeore and it juut felt different the wholeleeason," saididpayton rmsen, a seeior with westtn chriitian. "we were so close and i just can't wrap my mind around this yet, t's just awesome." the wolfpack finish with a 43-5 record, dropping 15 sets all season. in cedar rapids, sa curtiss, ktiv sportsfource. state semis in nebraska, emerson-hubbard taking on johnson- brock. second set - look at the defense by payton blanke - getting a hand on it - and getting rewarded with a kill. the pirates would win the set by just two points, 25-23 - shelby utech with the block as e-h evens the match at 1. the pirates play well in the third set too - kylieelt with the set winner at emerson-hbbard is a set away from their first appearance in the state finals. but the pirates drop set

thought we came out really confident and played really well in game one," said western head coach tammi veerbeek. "we knew we had a height advantage and a size advantage going into this game so we hoped to frustrate them early at the net. you could tell the experience of being at the state tournament started to pay off in that game two and we kept plugging away and we were able to get the win. unity christian - looking to join western in the semis - against sumner-fredericksburg. knights dropped the first set - in the second set, anna kiel gets the kill off the block - helping unity to a 27-25 set win. we go to the fourth set, with the knights down 2-1 in the match - it's kiel again - 23 kills for kiel - keeping unity's hopes alive. but sumner-fredericksburg closes it out to win the fourth set 25-21 - unity is upset, 3-1. "we were not taking anything for granted, there were just some things they were doing today," said unity head coach patty timmermans. "they were on fire and we had a hard time stopping. we found ourselves out of system too much staying in-system and they were able to do what th