The Morrill Lions clinched the Panhandle Conference Volleyball title Saturday, relegating Edgemont to second. Hemingford finished third, while the Hay Springs Hawks took fourth and the Sioux County Warriors were fifth. The Crawford Rams ended play in sixth place.
The Lions defeated Edgemont in the championship 25-22, 23-25, 25-22 to improve to 23-5 on the year. Edgemont dropped to 14-8 with the loss. Morrill opened the tournament with a three-set win over Crawford. The Rams took the first set from the Lions 25-20, but Morrill rebounded and won the next two and the match 25-18, 25-17 to advance. In the semi-finals, Morrill put away Hay Springs 31-29, 25-22.
Edgemont received the first-round bye, and breezed past Hemingford 25-15, 25-17 in the semi-finals to earn their spot in the championship.
The loss dropped Hemingford, now 10-18 on the year, to the consolation bracket, where they took on Hay Springs, now 20-9, for third place. Hemingford opened with a 25-14 win but dropped the second set to the Hawks 13-25. The third set was a close one, with Hemingford finishing on top 25-22 for third. Hemingford opened tournament play with a 25-21, 25-22 victory over Sioux County, while Hay Springs handled Hyannis 25-17, 25-11 in their first round of action.
Sioux County’s loss sent them to the fifth-sixth place bracket, where they improved to 10-9 on the year with a 25-13, 28-26 victory over the Crawford Rams, who are now 2-22 this season. Crawford picked up their second win of the year over Hyannis in second-round action Saturday; the score of that contest has not been reported. Hyannis is now 5-18.