As weekends go, it was a very good one for Norris coach Christina Boesiger.
She guided her Titans to six wins and the school’s first championship at the competitive Lincoln Public Schools Invitational. After locking up the title with a victory over Lincoln North Star on Saturday, the Boesiger family watched daughter Maisie and her Nebraska teammates sweep Arizona at the Devaney Center that night.
“It really was an awesome weekend,” the coach said. “Winning that tournament for the first time was special and then we ended the night at the Bob.”
Norris moved to 20-0 and didn’t drop a set at the two-day LPS tournament while posting five victories over Class A schools and one over Class B Lincoln Pius X. The Titans have been on a roll since capturing their third championship and first since 2014 in last year’s state tournament final.
Boesiger’s squad finished 38-1 in 2024, losing only to Papillion-La Vista South at the LPS tournament. The Titans, who had won four of the previous five LPS Invites, passed this year in favor of a national tournament in Las Vegas this past weekend.
“Our goal is to just take the season week by week,” Boesiger said. “We wanted to go 7-0 last week and we were able to do that, so that was quite an accomplishment.”
Norris started the week last Tuesday with a gritty five-set road win over Waverly. The Titans won the final set 15-13 before riding that momentum into Friday’s pool-play portion of the LPS tournament.
“That match against Waverly was a classic EMC (Eastern Midlands Conference) rivalry,” Boesiger said. “It was physically and mentally exhausting.”
Some might have expected the Titans to be in rebuilding mode after graduating seven seniors from last year’s powerhouse. But the return of Boesiger’s daughter Malorie at setter has played a key role in this team’s success.
She had a solid freshman season before sitting out last season due to injury. Malorie leads the state in assists with 595, almost 140 more than second-place Hailey Hoff of Aurora.
“It’s so great to see her back out on the court,” Christina Boesiger said. “She’s got a really good knowledge of the game, and our hitters are thriving.”
The main beneficiary is outside hitter Alli Bornschlegl, who leads the state in kills with 240. London Meints, Kaelynn Lottman and Loryn Piening each have more than 100.
The coach said her team felt no added pressure heading into the season as the defending champion.
“We look at it as a new opportunity each year,” she said. “I don’t think our players have any sense of fear and I feel like we’ve already improved so much.”
Norris will have another busy week with a dual against Lincoln Standing Bear on Tuesday and the Lincoln Pius X Invitational on Saturday.
Looking ahead, the Titans have a home match against Class B No. 5 Gretna on Sept. 30 and the EMC tournament Oct. 11. Three days after the tournament, there’s a road match against Class B No. 3 Elkhorn North.
“The season is a grind, but we all understand that,” Boesiger said. “We’ll continue to learn with each match and hopefully it will get us where we want to go at the end of the season.”
Columbus Lakeview coach wins his 400th
Congrats to Columbus Lakeview coach K.C. Belitz, who recently netted career victory No. 400 when the Vikings captured the Boone Central Invitational.
Belitz, in his 19th season at Lakeview, is 18th among active coaches in wins.
National tournament showing
Papio South and Omaha Skutt both finished 3-2 over the weekend at the 64-team Durango tournament in Las Vegas.
The event drew many of the top teams from across the nation, including seven of the top eight in MaxPreps’ national Top 10.
Rankings update
That seven-win week by Norris was enough to boost the undefeated Titans into the overall No. 1 spot.
Four of the top five teams in the overall Top 10 — Norris, Waverly, Elkhorn North and Omaha Skutt — compete in Class B. The lone Class A squad in that group is No. 2 Papillion-La Vista South.
The newcomer to the overall Top 10 is Lincoln North Star, which checks in at No. 8. The Navigators finished as the runners-up in the LPS Invite.
Top matches this week
Class A: Tuesday: Omaha Marian at Papillion-La Vista South; Lincoln Southeast at Lincoln Southwest; Millard South at Millard West. Thursday: Omaha Westside at Lincoln North Star. Friday-Saturday: Allison Weston Invitational (at Papillion-La Vista).
Class B: Tuesday: Lincoln Pius X at Lincoln North Star; Gretna at Gretna East. Thursday: Omaha Skutt triangular; Waverly at Gretna. Saturday: Lincoln Pius X tournament; Aurora Invitational.
Class C-1: Tuesday: Lincoln Lutheran triangular. Thursday: David City at Columbus Lakeview; Lincoln Lutheran at Clarkson/Leigh. Saturday: Adams Central Invitational; Holdrege Invitational.
Class C-2: Tuesday: Norfolk Catholic triangular; St. Paul at Adams Central. Thursday: Omaha Concordia at Oakland-Craig; Fremont Bergan at Yutan.
Class D-1: Tuesday: Overton at Brady. Thursday: Amherst at Overton. Saturday: Sutherland Invitational.
Class D-2: Tuesday: SEM at Ansley-Litchfield. Thursday: Wynot triangular.
mike.patterson@owh.com, 402-444-1350, twitter.com/MPattersonOWH
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