Washburn Rural And Garden City Finish Seasons

<p>Washburn Rural and Garden City are two very different teams, but both ended their seasons in the 6A Consolation Game at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina.</p> <p>The Junior Blues are a very young squad that does not start even one senior. They’ll look to continue to make a regular trip to the State Tournament in the years to come.</p> <p>Garden City is a senior-laden team that came from back from being two sets down to favorite Derby to qualify for the State Tournament. The Buffaloes have three seniors hoping to get college offers in order to extend their playing careers.</p> <p>Here is a scouting report on the young Washburn Rural club.</p> <p><strong>LS, Brooklyn DeLeye, 6’1”</strong> – DeLeye, “The Dominator”, is just  a sophomore, and has a very high ceiling. She controlled Rural’s early round-robin victories. The left side hitter is a talented two-way player. She shows the ball no mercy when she strikes it. She is tall and has a huge swing. She is a slam dunk Division II talent with four in-state schools who should be involved in her recruitment.</p> <p><strong>LS, </strong><strong>Taylor Russell, 6’0” –</strong> Russell is one of three sophomores starting for the Junior Blues. She can jump and communicates well. It’s more difficult to project what level she could play at, but she is a no-doubt college prospect, possibly more along the lines of a DII or NAIA fit. Russell in the rest of the Class of 2023 will be a solid corps for coach Kevin Bordewick to build around.</p> <p><strong>MH, Jada Ingram, 5’11” –</strong> The Rural freshman had a big game in the Junior Blues opening victory over Olathe Northwest.  She is tall and has an athletic frame. She will be one to watch as she gains further varsity experience and improves her skills and strength.</p> <p>Garden City was a gritty team but did not have enough height up front to keep up with the other three Final Four teams.</p> <p>Here is a scouting report on the Garden City squad.</p> <p><strong>MB, [player_tooltip player_id="105534" first="Abby" last="Ellerman"] , 5’9” (’21 Ranked No. 54) –</strong> The Buffaloes senior has an athletic frame and is a solid Junior College prospect. She was a nice net-front presence for Garden City. She finished the regular season with 163 kills and 42 blocks. Ellerman plays up to the competition as she had her best match of the day in the semifinal loss to Blue Valley West.</p> <p><strong>OH, Julie Calzonetti , 5’10” –</strong> Calzonetti is a slick player that could help out a Western Kansas or Eastern Colorado program. She has a nice serve, quick feet, and was the leader for the surprise team in the 6A Final Four. She entered the state tournament with 196 kills and 221 digs.</p> <p><strong>OH, McKenna Jagels 5’7”</strong> – Jagels is the owner of a nice serve. She hits the ball hard and spots it well. She is the rawest of the three-top talented players for the Buffaloes. Jagels finished the regular season with 166 kills and 230 digs</p>