Class 2 Recap

<p>We are to the final class we had an opportunity to do an actual preview for prior to the state championships. Due to my physical location, I don’t see much Class 2 action except for the videos that are accessible, which aren’t many across the state. We knew Smith Center came in as the runner-up from the previous season and with Heritage Christian jumping up a class, would this be their year to shine? Or would it be the battle-tested Ellinwood claiming top prize?</p> <p>In our predictions, we almost went chalk and went with the top two teams from each pool except for trading Wabaunsee with Hillsboro thus joining Smith Center, Ellinwood, and Jefferson County North. We then went with the top two teams and overall seeds to play for the title with Smith Center being crowned champion. Let’s see what went down.</p> <p>The first thing to happen was Garden Plain saying to heck with your predictions and winning their pool going 3-0. The other thing to happen would be the other three teams in that pool going 1-2 and needing a tie-breaker to determine the second team to advance. That team would be the before-mentioned Ellinwood team. This means our predicted championship match could take place in the semi-final round if Smith Center handled their business.</p> <p>Well, Smith Center did do work and won all three matches in straight sets to advance to the semis. The second seed in the pool, Hillsboro would in fact hold the seed winning two matches. </p> <p>Semifinal number one would pit the top two teams coming into the tournament and Smith Center didn’t blink sweeping Ellinwood -20, -11. Senior Ashlyn Long led the way with 12 kills, followed by 8 from Tallon Rentschler. Junior Maile Hrabe dropped 4 aces behind the service line to go with her 8 digs. Gabrielle Jacobs paced Ellinwood with 7 kills.</p> <p>In the other match, Garden Plain entered hot and hoped to keep that momentum against a tough Hillsboro team, who were eager at an opportunity for a rematch with Smith Center. Garden Plain was fast out the gate in the first set and used that to grab a 25-19 win. Hillsboro settled down in set two and improve their passing to run away 25-17. The third set was more back and forth with both teams laying it all out on the court. In the end, Hillsboro emerged 25-22 for a chance to face Smith Center again. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="105662" first="Sammie" last="Saunders"] went smooth off for Hillsboro with a game-high 16 kills. [player_tooltip player_id="119710" first="Zaylee" last="Werth"] added 15 of her own to give them 31 of their teams 36 kills in the match. Defender junior Kori Arnold was all over the court with 25 digs in the match. [player_tooltip player_id="123123" first="Brooke" last="Hammond"] had 14 kills on 48 swings for Garden Plain.</p> <p>The championship match would be a rematch from the previous day where Smith Center would sweep Hillsboro, including a 25-15 set. Set 1 in this match would be much better with both teams trading blows and short runs. In the end, Smith Center did enough to grab the first set -23. That set may have been the emotional dagger in Hillsboro’s championship hopes as they would come out flat and Smith Center would take advantage winning the second set and state title going away, -12. Long and Rentschler would again lead the way with a combined 22 kills. Setter Camryn Hutchinson had 16 assists. Saunders was the only Trojan hitter to reach double digits with 10 in the loss. </p> <p>Garden Plain would capture the third-place trophy after dropping a close first set and dominating the second. </p>