Volleyball quarterfinal winners: Maize South secures best finish in school history
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the KSHSAA opted to have high schools host volleyball quarterfinals with best-of-five matches and the winners advancing to four-team state tournaments to be played on Friday.
There were plenty of Wichita area teams on the court on Tuesday.
Area teams in quarterfinals
6A: Washburn def. Wichita Northwest, 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-15); Garden City def. Derby (22-25, 15-25, 25-17, 25-11, 15-11).
5A: Bishop Carroll def. Newton, 3-0 (25-12, 25-9, 25-14); Maize South def. Great Bend, 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-14).
4A: Andale def. Clearwater, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-18); McPherson def. Clay Center, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-15).
3A: Smoky Valley def. Cheney, 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19).
2A: Hillsboro def. Garden Plain, 3-0 (13-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-11).
1A-I: Pratt Skyline (26-7) at Flinthills (20-12) on Wednesday.
1A-II: Attica def. Otis-Bison, 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-14); Hutch Central Christian def. Marmaton Valley, 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-15, 25-13).
Friday’s state semifinals
6A in Salina: Olathe Northwest (27-0), Washburn Rural (32-4), BV West (22-7), Garden City (19-13).
5A in Salina: St. Thomas Aquinas (24-2), Lansing (26-1), Bishop Carroll (25-2), Maize South (29-6).
4A in Hutchinson: Andale (34-2), McPherson (33-3), Bishop Miege (17-11), Ottawa (23-13).
3A in Hutchinson: Sabetha (36-1), Smoky Valley (30-2), West Franklin (32-3), Goodland (34-5).
2A in Dodge City: Hillsboro (27-3), Smith Center (33-6), Heritage Christian (25-8), Wabaunsee (27-10).
1A-I in Dodge City: Lebo (30-3), Central Plains (28-11), St. John (22-17).
1A-II in Emporia: Hanover (29-6), Attica (28-6), Hutch Central Christian (19-8), Wheatland-Grinnell (24-15).
Maize South secures best state finish in school history
This is the third straight season Maize South has won a sub-state championship, but this season will be the first time it will notch a top-four finish at state.
The Mavericks secured their spot in Friday’s Class 5A semifinals in Salina by easily dispatching Great Bend in three straight sets, 25-12, 25-11, 25-14, on Great Bend’s home court Tuesday.
Although Maize South (29-6) will be the lowest-ranked team in 5A’s final four, up against St. Thomas Aquinas (24-2), Lansing (26-1) and Bishop Carroll (25-2), coach Teri Larson says the Mavericks aren’t satisfied yet with their piece of school history. Maize South won one match in both of its state appearances in 2018 and 2019, but failed to advance to the semifinals.
“This was our goal, not just to make it to state, but to make it to that top four and compete with the big dogs,” Larson said. “One more day of good volleyball and I think we can place even higher than fourth. We’re going in with the mindset of knocking off somebody.”
It was a dominant Maize South performance in its win over Great Bend (20-11). It started with a strong serving night behind Callie Palecki, Rylie Kennedy and Bella Boulanger, which prevented Great Bend from running its system. And when it did, Maize South blocked well with Avery Lowe, Laurel Jones and Cece Young at the net. On offense, Jones ran a nearly flawless offense that featured efficient hitting performances from Gracie Morrow, Lowe, Skylar Lopez and Rylee Karst.
Hillsboro rallies for dramatic five-set win at Garden Plain
No coach ever prepares a worst-case scenario pep talk like the one Hillsboro coach Sandy Arnold had to come up with on Tuesday night when her team’s season was on the line, down two sets in a Class 2A quarterfinal match, in a rowdy environment at Garden Plain.
The Trojans were being steamrolled and their coach let them know about it in the timeout in between sets.
“If we can’t handle the pressure, maybe we should just go home,” Arnold yelled at her team.
What followed next is something that Arnold will remember forever: with the careers of five seniors on the line, Hillsboro rallied to win three straight sets at Garden Plain (13-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-11) to prevail in a battle between two of the top-four ranked teams in 2A.
For the first time since 2014, Hillsboro (27-3) will play in the state semifinals on Friday when it joins Smith Center (33-6), Heritage Christian (25-8) and Wabaunsee (27-10) at the Class 2A championships at Dodge City’s United Wireless Arena.
“I cried a lot,” senior Kinsey Kleiner said. “It was a lot of relief, a lot of happiness. This is just incredible. Definitely one of the best feelings ever.”
So how did Hillsboro transform from a team that looked out-classed in the first two sets to a team that took it to Garden Plain for the next three?
According to Arnold, the Trojans have been that way all season. The best example might even be from the first time they played Garden Plain when they rallied from 24-21 down in the second set to extend the match and then from down six points in the third set to ultimately win 23-25, 30-28, 29-27.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Hillsboro senior Teegan Werth said. “Maybe it takes us a little bit to relax and realize we are a good team.”
“Maybe it takes us a little while to get used to the flow of the game and the energy in the gym,” Kleiner offered up, laughing.
“I think they just want to give me gray hair,” Arnold said.
After going down two sets, Hillsboro’s intensity raised and so did its execution on the court. The Trojans started to serve better, which put Garden Plain (29-8) out of system and stopped the onslaught from hitters Brooke Hammond and Alli Puetz, and they also started to pass better, thanks to Kori Arnold, Dani Klein and Werth, which allowed Kleiner to improve the quality of looks for hitters like Jessica Saunders, Sammie Saunders and Werth.
Arnold’s challenge during the timeout after going down 2-0 also helped spur the change.
“We knew it was now or never,” Werth said. “If we didn’t do it now, then we were going home and that would be a crappy way to go home if we lost in three.”
“They don’t like it when I yell at them, but they kind of do,” Arnold said, grinning. “I guess it gets them going.”
Andale hopes third time is a charm for 4A title run
Almost all of Andale’s team were there last year at state to experience the heartbreak of losing in the state championship match. That same core is back and motivated to bring the first state championship to Andale in school history.
The Indians looked every bit of a championship team on Tuesday in winning at Clearwater in three straight sets, 25-18, 25-18, 25-18. Andale (33-2) will be joined by McPherson (33-3), Bishop Miege (17-11) and Ottawa (23-13) on Friday in the Class 4A semifinals at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
“The biggest thing that stuck out to me is their willingness and their desire to treat every point the same,” Andale coach Kaylie Bergkamp said. “We really turned the corner on that. If we get down a few points, we can fight it out. We hit .300 as a team on Saturday (at sub-state) and we did the same thing tonight. Our team is just extremely selfless. They don’t care who gets the ball or the dig or the assist and you could see that in our play.”
Andale’s offense was in perfect synchronization on Tuesday, as Annabeth Baalmann was able to feed McKenzie Fairchild, Katelyn Fairchild, Maddie Schrandt and Jaley Eck seamlessly. The Indians also had a strong performance from their back row featuring Schrandt, Katelyn Fairchild, Megan McCormick and Grace Gorges.
Andale took fourth in 2018, second in 2019 and hope to win the 4A title in 2020 behind their wealth of postseason experience.
“If you look at our roster, every one of those kids has state experience and that’s a difference-maker,” Bergkamp said. “They have come up short and they know what it feels like to come that close to a championship. We’ve talked about it and it really is just a matter of a few points. So that’s why we’re focused on every point the same.”
Bishop Carroll dominant in run to Class 5A semifinals
The senior class at Bishop Carroll has been with the program for four straight trips to the state tournament. Now the five seniors will look to give the program its first state trophy in more than a decade.
Carroll delivered perhaps its most impressive performance of the season, considering the stage and the opponent, when it dispatched a talented Newton team in three straight sets, 25-12, 25-9, 25-14, on Tuesday.
The Golden Eagles (25-2) will be joined by St. Thomas Aquinas (24-2), Lansing (26-1) and Maize South (29-6) in Friday’s Class 5A final four in Salina.
It was one of Carroll’s best defensive outings of the season, as the back line of Lily Ebright, Ella Larkin, Riley Daugherty and Ashton George were routinely in position for digs thanks to the walls formed by Kenzie Dugan, Caroline Hybl and Tori Brake.
McPherson prevails in hostile road trip to Clay Center
McPherson experienced a first on Tuesday playing in a small gymnasium in Clay Center where the sound reverberated and made everything difficult to hear during a Class 4A quarterfinal match.
But that was far from the first patch of adversity McPherson has faced this season and the Bullpups conquered Clay Center — and the rowdy environment — in three straight sets, 25-23, 25-22, 25-15 to advance to Friday’s Class 4A semifinals in Hutchinson along with Andale (33-2), Bishop Miege (17-11) and Ottawa (23-13).
“That was the first time this season we had been in a gym where you couldn’t hear,” McPherson coach Christy Doile said. “We couldn’t hear each other make calls out there, so I think that’s why we got off to a little slow start there in the beginning. We just had to stress to the girls to be louder and say it more than one time.”
McPherson actually trailed 18-12 in the first set to Clay Center (26-7), but won 12 of the next 15 points to rally for victory. The Bullpups once again fell behind in the second set, this time 22-18, before they rallied to win seven straight points to take the second set.
On top of the noise, Clay Center presented a problem by sending as many as three blockers to try to prevent McPherson setter Brett Doile from funneling the entire offense through Rhian Swanson, a 6-foot sophomore already committed to Kansas volleyball.
Doile was proud of how her team adjusted and McPherson cruised in the third set to a victory that sent the Bullpups to the state semifinals for the first time since 2015 when they lost in the 4A championship match.
“I just told our girls that they’re playing out of their minds and you have to stay clam when you get to this level,” Doile said. “That’s what happens. People are going to play better than ever and they’re going to test you and you’ve got to be able to handle it and stay together. I’m super proud of my girls for doing that.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 7:24 PM.
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