1996 Volleyball Team – 2026 Hall of Fame Inductee
The 1996 Pius X Volleyball Team came into the season having graduated 5 starters from the 1995 State Semifinal squad. All the ’96 Bolts ended up doing is going through the season undefeated against Class B competition and winning Pius X’s 1st State Volleyball Championship!
During the season, the Bolts were champions of the Norris Invitational and their own Pius X Invitational. In addition, they played in tournaments made up primarily of Class A competition…the LPS Classic, the Lincoln Northeast Invitational and the Lincoln East Invitational.
During District and State play is when the Bolts showed their dominance. The 1996 season was still played in the sideout scoring era where only the serving team could score points. At Districts they beat Plattsmouth 15-2, 15-6 and claimed the District Championship over Platteview 15-6, 15-7. In the State Quarterfinals, they bested Elkhorn 15-5, 15-7 and took down Ogallala in the semis 15-9, 15-9. In the televised state final, Pius X defeated Omaha Gross Catholic 15-4, 15-6. If you are keeping tabs on the postseason results, the Bolts average set score was 15-6…a dominating performance for their 1st State Championship and a final record of 24-6!
The ’96 Bolts finished as the #1 team in the Class B ratings and was the beginning of a 3-peat winning state championships in ’96, ’97 and ’98!
