HOLCOMB — Despite having some quality teams in the past, the Ellsworth Bearcat volleyball team is headed to the state tournament for the first time since 1997. Going 29-8 in the regular season, the Bearcats put on an impressive display in the postseason, winning their regional games by an average of 9.3 points per game, followed by two big wins over No. 6-ranked Holcomb and No. 10-ranked, and league rival, Beloit. The Bearcats went 1-2 against Beloit in the regular season, but picked the right time for revenge in the postseason.

Ellsworth traveled to Holcomb Saturday for KSHSAA Class 3A Substate action, taking on Beloit in firstround action. In the opening set, the two teams fought neck and neck in a match that featured 11 ties and eight lead changes. With the score 11-8 and Beloit owning the biggest lead of the game thus far, Ellsworth head coach Kristy Rodriguez called a timeout to regroup her team, leading to a 5-0 run and 13-11 Bearcat lead.

Following that, the two teams played to a 20-20 tie. Immediately following, Beloit was “in the net,” giving the Bearcats a 21-20 advantage that led to four straight service points, courtesy of senior Elyse Haxton, with the final point of the set finished off by a monstrous block from senior Josie Kueser, to give Ellsworth a 25-20 win.

In set two, Ellsworth led wire-to-wire, leading by as many as 10 points two different times, with the score 17-7 and 19-9. Beloit, however, attempted to make a couple of different runs, but it was too little, too late, as the Bearcats won the set 25-19 and the match 2-0.

In the second match of the day, Ellsworth clashed against host team the Holcomb Longhorns. In set one, Holcomb took an early 2-1 lead before Ellsworth regained the lead at 3-2. After the two teams played to an 11-11 tie, the Bearcats outscored the Longhorns 14-10 to win the set 25-21.

In the second set, both teams played to a 5-5 tie, when the Bearcats started to pull away. The set and match were finished off by a kill from senior Lexi Moore, as Ellsworth won the set by a score of 25-19 and the match 2-0.

Stat leaders:

Sophomore Kinly Place — 9 service points, 8 kills, 3 blocks, 19 assists, 15 digs Senior Jo Lindsley — 7 service points, 8 kills, 1 block, 22 digs Senior Elyse Haxton — 11 service points, 12 kills, 16 digs Senior Reagan Hansen — 7 service points, 23 assists, 6 digs Senior Lexi Moore — 5 service points, 15 kills, 2 blocks Senior Kelli Rodriguez — 12 service points, 21 digs Senior Josie Kueser — 4 big time blocks The Bearcats qualified for substate after winning the Goodland Regional Oct. 21. Ellsworth defeated Phillipsburg 25-10, 25-10; Scott City 25-22, 25-13; and host team Goodland 25-23, 25-16.

Ellsworth not only had an impressive day on the scoreboard, but also in the stat book, which included: Place — 23 service points, 14 kills, 27 assists, 23 digs Moore — 20 service points, 25 kills, 2 blocks, 14 digs Lindsley — 17 service points, 11 kills, 3 blocks, 26 digs Hansen — 17 service points, 5 aces, 26 assists, 9 digs Haxton — 20 service points, 25 kills, 34 digs Rodriguez — 6 service points, 4 assists, and 33 digs Kueser — 8 kills Ellsworth will travel to Hutchinson Sports Arena Thursday to compete in the KSHSAA Class 3A State Volleyball Tournament. Coming in as the No. 5 seed, the Bearcats will start the tournament by taking on No. 4 Wichita Trinity at 10 a.m., followed by No. 1 Silver Lake at 1 p.m., then closing out pool play at 2 p.m. against Hesston. If the Bearcats make it out of pool play, they will play at 9 a.m. Saturday. Saturday’s brackets will be updated on the KSHSAA website at the conclusion of pool play Friday.