It didn't end with a win, but for the first time in three state tourney appearances, the Nemaha Central Thunder advanced to the 3A State Semifinals going 2-1 in pool play Friday at White Auditorium in Emporia.  The Thunder finished  2-1 after straight set wins against Silver Lake and Erie, but falling to Hesston in two games in the last match.  Yet, Silver Lake was eliminated because they needed three sets to beat Hesston, and the Swathers and Thunder extended their season with Hesston winning the pool based on head-to-head victory over Nemaha Central.  

Nemaha Central started the day against defending state champ Silver Lake and played great out of the gate.  They led 4-0 in game oneand pulled away late from a 15-15 tie to claim a 25-19 victory.  The Thunder took an early advantage again in game two, but fell behind by a couple points before tying the set at 18-18.  It looked like Silver Lake would tie the match leading 23-21, but after a timeout by Coach Jessica Koch, the Eagles committed their second error serve and Jacy Dalinghaus delivered a couple aces as Nemaha Central scored four straight points to rally for the 25-23 victory and sweep, that proved to be the difference in extending the season by an extra day.    

Nemaha Central had no problems beating Erie 25-13 and 25-9, but never really got going or led much of their final match, falling to last year's 3A State runner-up, Hesston 25-20, 25-19.  

The Thunder got anther big day from kill leader Laura Macke while Ashley Hammes had a nice serving match against Erie and Ashley Larkin delivered several kills in that match.  Riley Bontrager played great as the setting after shaking some early nerves while Angela Holthaus and Sara Kuckelman were consistent on the net and really exerted themselves in the final two matches.  Allison Rottinghaus had several big digs in the backrow while Mattea Rettle keep everyone fresh rotaing in as the libero.  Coach Koch cleared her roster against Erie as Amanda Stallbaumer, Bailey Schmitz and Lexi Lueger got to see the state tournament action.  

Nemaha Central will play pool A champion Cheney in the semifinals at 10:00 AM on Saturday morning in Emporia with live coverage on KNZA 103.9 FM.  Top seed Hays-TMP will play Hesston in the other 3A semifinal.