Potter-Dix wins MAC volleyball championship

The Potter-Dix High School volleyball team continued to show its dominance this season, rolling to the Minuteman Athletic Conference tournament title on Saturday.

The Lady Coyotes won three matches on the day and improved to 21-2 this season.

Top-seeded Potter-Dix defeated rival and No. 2 seed Leyton (17-2) in straight sets 25-22, 25-11 in the championship match of the eight-team event.

Junior Alexus Rozelle had 10 kills and four blocks for Potter-Dix in the title game, and teammate Regyn Hicks added seven kills and 15 digs.

For Leyton, Cheyenne Nickel had a team-high five kills.

“The first set of this match was very competitive and intense,” said Leyton head coach Jodi Craig. “There was a lot of hard hitting and great defense during this set by both teams.

“We had a hard time getting in system the second set, and Potter-Dix capitalized on it,” Craig added. “Our serve receive struggled, so we just didn’t get the opportunity to attack the ball as much the second set.”

Potter-Dix setter Lanie Thies had 24 assists.

“You can tell the foundation that was built with the Potter-Dix girls throughout junior high and their first couple years of high school was strong,” Craig said. “They are fundamentally solid.”

In the semifinals, Potter-Dix dispatched Bayard 25-19, 25-20, and Leyton defeated Creek Valley 25-22, 25-19.

Dawson Sharman led the Potter-Dix attack in the semis with six kills, while Rozelle added three blocks and Hicks provided 19 digs. In Leyton’s semifinal win, Diedra Waite had seven kills, five blocks and 16 digs, Kristine Barnett chipped in 19 digs and Nickel contributed six kills and 14 digs.

Creek Valley’s Payje Misegadis had six kills in the semifinal loss and teammate Joey Straber provided 20 digs.

In the third-place match, Bayard beat Creek Valley in three sets, 12-25, 25-21, 25-23. Misegadis had nine kills for the Storm.

In opening-round matches, Potter-Dix beat Minatare 25-8, 25-9; Leyton topped Banner County 25-8, 25-10; Creek Valley upended Garden County 25-10, 25-20; and Bayard outlasted South Platte 14-25, 25-14, 25-23.