It’s been several years since the Lincoln Southeast volleyball team was a legitimate postseason contender, but there’s reason to believe that this season’s squad will be the one to break through.
A Southeast program that last made the state tournament in 2017 and had posted losing records each of the last five seasons wasn’t able to hang with its rival on Tuesday night.
Perennial state championship qualifier No. 6 Southwest swept the No. 10 Knights 3-0, but Southeast’s progress was on display.
Of the 11 players in Southeast’s varsity rotation this fall, just three are seniors. The Knights’ go-to players for kills are young, too: sophomore Haleigh Bauer and junior Emery Williams are the lone players on the team with 100 or more kills.
Leading the way is Bauer, a 6-foot-3 hitter whose ability to rise high into the air and swing her arm in a ferocious arc immediately stands out.
“We’re still working on connections with her setter, but Haleigh’s an awesome kid,” Southeast head coach Abby Fox said. “She fights for each game, she puts a lot of points down for us and we’re excited to have her for two (more) years.”
One of the state’s top 2028 volleyball recruits, Bauer totaled 11 kills in a match against Southwest where she hardly left the court.
Unlike other top outside hitters, who might exit the court or struggle when they’re rotated into the back row, Bauer appeared comfortable in every spot.
“Defensively, she’s doing her job — she’s calling out plays for the other team — and we also have her as a back-row threat for attacking when we need her,” Fox said. “Keeping her on the court is what we want to do because she’s a leader on our team.”
Also a talented server whose first-set ace kickstarted one of Southeast’s best stretches against Southwest, Bauer launched a multitude of powerful kills throughout the match.
A strong presence at the net has always been a hallmark of Bauer’s game, but it’s the all-around nature of being a volleyball player — digging balls, making the right passes and serving — in which she’s taken a major leap.
Following up on a club volleyball season for VCNebraska where she played middle blocker, Bauer has moved into a new spot at outside hitter for Southeast.
“It was definitely rough for me at the start, but I worked on it a lot in practice and my teammates have helped me a lot and been really understanding,” Bauer said.
There’s a long way to go before Southeast can realize its postseason dreams, but the Knights have already gotten closer than they’ve been in years.
Having started the season 7-1 before running into a tough stretch of opponents, Fox is hopeful that Southeast will emerge as a stronger team because of it during the final month of the regular season.
“We came out strong at the beginning of the season, so we’ve just seen tougher competition lately who we need to step up against,” Fox said.
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Luke Mullin
Husker football/baseball reporter
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