Entering this season, there was a sense of urgency for Omaha Marian coach Rochelle Rohlfs and her Crusaders.

With five seniors back from the squad that went 33-6, Rohlfs knew she'd be fielding a very competitive team. But she also realized that 2008 state runner-up Papillion-La Vista South would have a powerhouse lineup that included three outstanding freshmen — two who already had committed to Nebraska (Kadie and Amber Rolfzen) and one (Kelly Hunter) whose older sister Lindsey was an All-American setter at Missouri.

In other words, the future was now at Marian, those freshmen were only going to get better.

The Crusaders responded on the opening weekend of the season, defeating the Titans in the Bellevue Invitational final. The teams that were ranked 1-2 most of the season would meet two more times before colliding in the Class A final.

Beating a tough opponent four times presented a major challenge to Rohlfs and her Crusaders, and the first of six championship matches Saturday didn't ease the anxiety. Grand Island Central Catholic was trying to accomplish the same feat against Columbus Scotus in the Class C-1 final, but lost a dramatic five-set match for the title.

“Our coaches talked about that,” Rohlfs said, “but we didn't bring it up to our players. And we thought it might be a good omen that we were using the same locker room as Scotus.”

Marian finished off its championship run with a four-set victory against the Titans to secure the school's first volleyball title since 1999. Today, the 42-1 Crusaders are crowned as the undisputed No. 1 team in the Nebraska Top 10.

“This is by far the best team I've ever coached,” Rohlfs said. “We were just solid at every position.”

Those five seniors — Jordann Wilson, Melanie McCormick, Ellie Pesavento, Michelle Pettit and Julianne Mandolfo — all played key roles for the Crusaders. They combined primarily with juniors Andrea Spaustat and Morgan Ogorzaly-Eaton and sophomores Lauren Sieckmann and Katie Elman to nail down the school's fourth title in its 24th trip to state.

And coach Gwen Egbert's Titans? After two straight trips to the Class A finals, can the school's first championship be far away?

Congratulations: In addition to Rohlfs and her Marian squad, kudos to the champions in the other five classes. Those winners were Class B Omaha Gross (Korrine Schuster), Class C-1 Columbus Scotus (John Petersen), Class C-2 David City Aquinas (Jody Pelan), Class D-1 Exeter-Milligan (Darcy White) and Class D-2 Greeley-Wolbach (Todd Beck).

Goodbye, Lincoln: Before the state tournament moves to Grand Island the next two years, a few random thoughts on this year's event:

• It's not hard to see why Nebraska coach John Cook doesn't want to leave the NU Coliseum in favor of the more spacious Devaney Center. The atmosphere at the old barn can be electric, and there were some great final matches this year.

• Props to John Petersen for getting the job done again. The Shamrocks lead the state in titles (14), appearances in the finals (20), state tournament wins (55) and state tournament matches (65).

• Special recognition also should be paid to GICC coach Sharon Zavala. Her Crusaders lost a heartbreaker in that C-1 final to Scotus and her longtime friend Petersen, but — as always — she was very gracious in defeat.

• Mention should also be made of the job coach Julie Studnicka did at Clay Center this year. In the final season before the school consolidates with Sandy Creek, the Wildcats finished as the Class D-2 runner-up.

• The fact that the Grand Island radio people were broadcasting almost every final says a lot about the quality of volleyball in that area. A word of warning to the teams that will be traveling to GI for next year's tourney.

• Grand Island officials were at the tournament speaking with many people — including sportswriters — about what will be needed when the tournament shifts west. After eating concession stand stuff for three days, any sort of hospitality room with real food would be welcome.

• Public address announcer Steve Lemon from Bellevue West did a nice job at the tourney. He worked all four Class A matches Thursday, six semifinal matches Friday and all six finals Saturday. A grind, but he maintained his enthusiasm to the end.

Predicting the future: Only two of my predicted six winners (Marian, Gross) were able to pull through at state. To that end, I'm having my crystal ball overhauled and will use a more scientific method when the state basketball tournament rolls around.

Now, where did I put those tea leaves?

Contact the writer:

444-1350, mike.patterson@owh.com

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