Class 5 Districts 15 and 16

District play is upon us, which also features a new format this year that doesn't require teams playing sectional matches on the same day! We will take a look at some of the districts around the state and see which teams and players are must-watch. And of course, we will give some predictions and see how often we are wrong! Class 5 District 15 Last year we anticipated a Liberty North v Liberty district title showdown but Park Hill South said, "nope", taking down Liberty 3-1. We will see that rematch in the semi-finals with a chance to face Liberty North in the finals. Liberty North will come in as the top seed and will take on the winner of the 4/5 match-up between North Kansas City and William Chrisman. We will go with North Kansas City in that match. In the games we have seen them this year, like most teams, everything is depended on their first pass. When they are in system [player_tooltip player_id="99224" first="Calissa" last="Minatee"] has been money from all over the court. She has been dominant in the middle, on the slide, and taken some swings from the back row. Another standout for them this year has been Sr. OH [player_tooltip player_id="122726" first="Yanni" last="Washington"]. She has shown an ability to take over a contest on the pin and has been stellar defensively. They should win their first game but will have their season end to Liberty North. Liberty North is the defending state champions and returned a majority of their key pieces. Pins [player_tooltip player_id="119226" first="Carlie" last="Cisneros"] and [player_tooltip player_id="41825" first="Isabel" last="Zimmerman"] picked up where they left off last fall and winter/spring with their high-level play. Defensively, Abby Christian is zeroing in on 400 digs this year. With a 29-3 record and those three losses coming against some of the top teams in the bi-state region, they are primed for a repeat. The Liberty/Park Hill South match is a tough one to call as I've seen both teams live a few times this year. Both teams are experienced and do the little things well. South just completed an undefeated run through their conference. Liberty's only defeats were to Liberty North in conference action. Park Hill South is excellent in serve receive, led by [player_tooltip player_id="102449" first="Keegan" last="Good"] and [player_tooltip player_id="102555" first="Isabel" last="Day"]. Day and Sr. MB [player_tooltip player_id="102458" first="Alex" last="Dvorak"] have held down the Panthers in the kill category, both owning more than 200. The setter tandem of Camryn Ludtke and Emma Kimbrel have done their part to keep the offense flowing. On the other side of the net, Liberty hasn't been too shabby themselves with the first pass. When they deliver a 2+ ball, recent UCLA commit [player_tooltip player_id="99216" first="Ashley" last="Mullen"] has options on the pins with [player_tooltip player_id="99217" first="Madi" last="Corf"] and little but bigger sister [player_tooltip player_id="153930" first="Abigail" last="Mullen"]. Corf just eclipsed the 1000 kill mark in her career last week. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="119195" first="Rebecca" last="Wright"] will be counted on to get the offense in sync in the passing game. We are going to go with Liberty over Park Hill South with the pins being the X-Factor. In the cross-town rivalry, we will pick Liberty North for the trifecta over Liberty to keep their aims at a repeat intact. Class 5 District 16 Oak Park will host the District 16 action and will also open up play against Staley n the 5 vs. 4 contest. These two teams just faced off last evening with Staley winning easily in three. Expect the same results Thursday night at 6 pm. Oak Park has struggled this year but [player_tooltip player_id="123470" first="Kira" last="Cherry"] has shown flashes of good play. They have struggled in first pass this year and have had difficulty getting in system to get quality swings for their hitters. On the other hand, Staley has had good passing from Sr. Libero [player_tooltip player_id="119205" first="Kalia" last="Morris"]. They spread out the scoring load among a handful of players but Sr. Macy Tauke is averaging 3 kills per set. Junior Ady Horn has worn two hats, hitter and setter this year sitting second on the team in kills and leading the team in assists with over 500. They will earn the right to play top seed Platte County in the semi-finals. As mentioned top seed Platte County is back in class 5 after making a final four trip in class 4 a season ago. They return many of the familiar faces that took them on that journey and hope to get one step closer to a return. Setter [player_tooltip player_id="119200" first="Emerson" last="Walter"] running the 5-1 this season has the team clicking offensively. Of course, we must give props to the passing of Morgan Cox and Mary Grace Hunter. Hunter has also been a surprise on the pin this season paired with Sr. [player_tooltip player_id="41803" first="Kate" last="Brown"]. Brown has over 300 kills and the team goes as she goes. Park Hill is the second seed and has captured two district titles in the last three years, including a win over Platte County in the championship a few seasons ago. The two teams have already played this year with the Pirates earning the sweep. Park Hill will take on St. Joe Central in the semi-finals. With the pieces returning, we expected the Trojans to be a team a few games over .500 but inconsistency in passing and setting have been hard to overcome. Juniors [player_tooltip player_id="119223" first="Shaye" last="Koski"] and [player_tooltip player_id="119222" first="Aisha" last="Aiona"], both staples in the lineup since their freshman seasons have been bright spots. Those two alone should be enough to get through St. Joe. Senior Isabella Flaska has been the offensively spark plug this fall with 201 kills. Senior Anna Davis is averaging close to 14 digs per match to lead the defense. We have Platte County beating Park Hill for the third time this season to win another district title and advance to Sectionals.