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AXTELL - If there was one team the Axtell Wildcats didn't want to play in the first round of the state volleyball tournament, it was probably Cambridge.

But Cambridge is exactly who the Wildcats drew, and Axtell will have to beat the Trojans for a third time this season if it wants to advance in the D-1 State Volleyball Tournament.

The match is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Friday at Pershing Center in Lincoln.

"It's always hard to beat somebody three times in a season. Both times we've played them, they've been really good games where a break here or there and it could have gone either way," Axtell coach Brad Nelson said. "We're just going in with the mindset that it's going to be the same way, and we're going to have to play our best to beat them."

It took the Wildcats' best in the D1-5 District Final as Cambridge became the first to push them to five games all season. The Trojans (21-6) also took Axtell to three games in an early-season tournament.

Cambridge has one of the top players in the tournament in six-foot junior middle hitter Shelby Shultz, who tops the D-1 field with 360 kills. Schultz is also near the top of the field in blocks with 104. She had 23 kills and seven blocks against Axtell in the district final match.

Traci Keyser provides a compliment to Schultz with 230 kills while freshman Frankie Petersen has 105 kills and 456 set assists. Schultz leads the team with 51 ace serves.

"We've got to try to get a few more touches on their big hitters, and their off-speed stuff really hurt us at times at the district match, so we've been working on anticipating that," Nelson said.

The Wildcats have a big hitter of their own in senior middle hitter Kelsey Wells, who is right behind Schultz with 328 kills and 72 blocks. Tracia Norblade adds 211 kills to the Axtell attack while Jade Runge has 112 and Haley Axtell has 100.

Setter Paige Wendell has 357 set assists and a team-best 51 ace serves. Katie Lundeen and Kaylie Mellema have combined for 297 set assists.

Most of Axtell's key players were also on the roster in 2004, when the Wildcats made their last trip to Lincoln. That trip ended with a first round loss to Freeman, who the Wildcats could see in the semifinals Friday night.

"A lot of the girls two years ago were on the team that went to state. This isn't anything we haven't seen," Nelson said. "They're used to playing in big games."

The Wildcats will have to come up big in three matches if they want to continue one of the best seasons in school history. At 24-1 Axtell has the second-best record in the state in all classes, behind only unbeaten Bellevue West in Class A.

Axtell hasn't won a match at state since 1993, when the Wildcats won the school's third state volleyball title. This year's version of the Wildcats has lost only to Shelton in the seventh match of the season, reeling off 18 wins in a row since then. Of those 18 wins, 15 have been sweeps.

"I think (there's a little more anticipation)," Nelson said. "I think the girls are in the mindset that they want to go play three games, and they have the ability to do that."

e-mail to:

chris.basnett@kearneyhub.com