The Johnson County Central volleyball team has been so close the past two years. Last season, after a 23-5 regular season, the Thunderbirds lost two postseason games to Bishop Neumann and Freeman to end their promising season one game before the state tournament. Two years ago it was a similar fate. They’d lose to Freeman in the sub-district championship and Yutan in the district final – again falling a game shy of a state tournament berth.

On Thursday night in Lincoln, it was a similar foe in a much different setting for the T-Birds. JCC brought their magical 31-0 season to Lincoln for the first round of the Nebraska Class C2 State Volleyball Tournament. The T-Birds, the lone undefeated team remaining in the state of Nebraska, put their perfect record on the line Thursday night. Standing in their way was that familiar foe – the Yutan Chieftains. Yes, that same Yutan squad that ended JCC’s season just two years ago. Thursday night was a chance for the T-Birds to return the favor.

Yutan came out swinging and the T-Birds looked a little discombobulated early on in the first set. It was the Chieftains who would jump out to an early 9-4 advantage. The T-Birds, as they had done all year, rallied and with Ashley Beethe coming back into the front row JCC went on a run that saw them tie and eventually pull away from Yutan. JCC ended up taking the first set 25-17. It was a 21-8 run to end the set. Yutan wasn’t phased by the run though. They would come out and battle point-for-point with the T-Birds before pulling away toward the middle of the second set. It was a set the Chieftains would take 25-17.

That set gave the Chieftains some life and I believe showed many in the crowd that these teams were going to be in for a battle. The third set was much like the second – with both teams battling and neither creating much separation. It was the T-Birds who would create that first bit of separation and they wouldn’t look back. Taking the third set 25-19 and taking a 2-1 lead. Facing elimination, Yutan came out calm and confident in the fourth set. Their attack was relentless on the evening led by Senior Mylee Tichota.

It was back and forth with neither team able to take more than a one point advantage – that is until the Chieftains were able to go on a 3-0 run midway through the set. The T-Birds continued to fight, feeding both Ashley Beethe (37 Kills on the night) and Harley Lubben (18 Kills on the night). The Yutan squad that wouldn’t go away took that fourth set though, 25-17. Tied 2-2, it was a winner take all sprint to 15.

You want to be the team that jumps out to a lead in that race to 15 and the T-Birds appeared to have some life right away starting the set with an ace serve. Yutan would fight, point-for-point, until they were able to create a little bit of separation and force a T-Bird timeout. Credit JCC for their continued fight – they are a team that had played just a few four set matches all year – let alone a fifth. The Chieftains though were just too much for the Thunderbirds on this evening. The set would end in a 15-11 Yutan win and they would take the match 3-2.

One side of Pinnacle Bank Arena sat stunned at what just happened – the other roared with what they just accomplished. Until Thursday, 31 times a team had stepped onto the court with the T-Birds in 2025 and 31 times those teams had failed to beat JCC. It was a heartbreaking defeat that this T-Bird team has seen multiple times over the past few seasons. Twice in the past three years the Chieftains have now ended JCC’s bid for a title. In 2023 and 2024 T-Birds were close.  This year they were a game “closer,” but the end result was unfortunately the same. A magical season came to a sudden halt in Lincoln at 31-1.

It’s going to take some time for many around the T-Bird program to not focus on the “1” in the loss column. That number, for so much of the season, meant something different for this T-Bird team. #1 team in Class C2, #1 seed in the State Tournament, #1 seed in the ECNC Tournament. Thursday night, that number took on a completely different meaning – at least for a while.

In Tecumseh, Nebraska, this team inspired a community though and that alone will have a lasting impact.  It may take some time to remember the good. However, this team will be remembered not for the “1” but for the “31”. It was a special team and a special season for a team that won’t be forgotten. There are little girls in Tecumseh picking up a volleyball today not because of the “1” but because of the “31” and THAT is the lasting impact many will remember down the road.