Players to watch at St James Volleyball Slam (Morning Wave)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As summer turns into fall, and student-athletes are coming to tryouts and pre-season activities, one competition stands above the rest if you are in the Kansas City Metro area. St. James Academy and Head Coach Nancy Dorsey unveil the lineup for Saturday's 8 "must-see" matches. If you call yourself a volleyball fan, you do not want to miss this!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A short history behind St James Volleyball Slam is that women's sports were not given any attention, let alone media coverage. St. James Academy's Head Coach Nancy Dorsey was persistent to create a change in this scenario, and met with community leaders and media outlets to create this wonderful event for girls volleyball. The 13th annual "Volleyball Slam" televised event has grown from one match to two matches to now having 8 matches and 16 teams highlighted at the event.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Slated Schedule for Saturday, August 27th:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li><strong>8:00 AM || Olathe East (6A) vs Blue Valley (6A)</strong></li><li><strong>9:30 AM || Lawrence Free State (T5 6A) vs Blue Valley North (1st 6A)</strong></li><li><strong>11:00 AM || Shawnee Mission Northwest (T5 6A) vs Blue Valley Northwest (6A)</strong></li><li><strong>12:30 PM || Lee's Summit West (MO) vs Blue Valley West (2nd 6A)</strong></li><li><em>2:00 PM || Olathe Northwest (3rd 6A) vs Liberty (MO)</em></li><li><em>3:30 PM || Bishop Miege (3rd 4A) vs St. Teresa's Academy (MO)</em></li><li><em>5:00 PM || Washburn Rural (4th 6A) vs Saint Thomas Aquinas (3rd 5A)</em></li><li><em>6:30 PM || Lansing (1st 5A) vs St. James Academy (2nd 5A)</em></li></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With 8 matches for Saturday's full day of volleyball coverage, I will break down the coverage for the first four matches in this article (bolded).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Olathe East vs Blue Valley</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Olathe East graduated both Middle starters and will look to [player_tooltip player_id='172451' first='Chloe' last='Tyrrell'] as their top offensive weapon. Tyrrell led the Hawks in kills for the past two seasons and earned all Sunflower League recognition both years. Sophomores Audrey Wills returns as a setter, and [player_tooltip player_id='219713' first='Kate' last='Wright'] will be playing significant time in the DS/Libero role. Though she played as a pin last year for Olathe East, the Lady Hawks will look to [player_tooltip player_id='219712' first='Lily' last='Wahoff'] to fill in the middle spot, a position she played during club season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blue Valley have a lot of defensive presence on their squad with libero [player_tooltip player_id='150068' first='Ryan' last='McAleer'] (Purdue commit), and [player_tooltip player_id='150070' first='Claire' last='Jones'] running the backcourt. Offensively will run through [player_tooltip player_id='152168' first='Avery' last='Delong'] (Pittsburgh State commit), , [player_tooltip player_id='152172' first='Julia' last='Kinney'], and [player_tooltip player_id='152162' first='Connelly' last='Kilgore']. Add Kate Peterson in the mix as a setter and Blue Valley has a pretty strong core to compete in the Eastern Kansas League.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>**Revision for Blue Valley volleyball team: Senior Kate Peterson is committed to NC State to continue her athletic career after high school. Senior Tiana Simmons and [player_tooltip player_id='214647' first='Kaitlyn' last='Stout'] (both committed to Emporia State) will be huge contributors to Blue Valley's offense while [player_tooltip player_id='214643' first='Brooklyn' last='Farris'] will be the X-Factor for the Lady Tigers. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='150078' first='Caitlyn' last='Cobb'] decided to forego her Senior year due to a previous injury.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":219864,"width":254,"height":393,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/MarshallGoenawan_RyanMcAleer-665x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-219864" width="254" height="393"/><figcaption><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">[player_tooltip player_id='150068' first='Ryan' last='McAleer'] in serve-receive (Photo by Marshall Goenawan)</mark></figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Prediction: Blue Valley</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Lawrence Free State vs Blue Valley North</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The last time these two teams competed against each other was in the 6A Kansas Volleyball State pool play match, where Blue Valley North won in 2 straight sets en route to winning the 6A Championship title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lawrence Free State will return [player_tooltip player_id='120010' first='Sawyer' last='Thomsen'] (California-Berkeley commit), and [player_tooltip player_id='120033' first='Rylee' last='Unruh'] (Washburn commit), alongside Myla Nover-Estes and Fiona VanDyke to its starting lineup to return as a state contender. Incoming Freshmen Annika Lintecum and Ella Roberts will be taking on some key roles as the pin and middle positions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defending State Champ returned four starters, and will bolster its lineup with top setter/right side 6-2 duo in [player_tooltip player_id='119693' first='Janelle' last='Green'] (Cincinnati commit) and [player_tooltip player_id='154041' first='Logan' last='Parks']. Both Green and Parks received First Team All-EKL recognition and All-State nods (Second Team and First Team, respectfully). The Lady Mustangs will be looking to Sophomore outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='173384' first='Jenna' last='McClure'] to carry some of the offensive power. McClure plays bigger than her height and is super crafty on the left pin. She was a huge part of BVN's run to win the title in 2021. [player_tooltip player_id='120030' first='Nora' last='Carlsen'] led the team defensively as she was the dig-leader for the past two seasons. Head Coach Matt Allin is looking forward to seeing Ella Shafer, Aubrey Shaw, and [player_tooltip player_id='173394' first='Natalie' last='Herrington'] fill in the void in the middle position after graduating 2 Seniors in Morgan DeBow (University of Nebraska-Omaha) and Clara Benskin (Colorado State at Colorado Springs).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":219865,"width":258,"height":388,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/StJamesSlam_Marshall2021-6680-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-219865" width="258" height="388"/><figcaption><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">[player_tooltip player_id='119693' first='Janelle' last='Green'] attacks the ball during the 2021 St James Slam (Photo by Marshall Goenawan)</mark></figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Prediction: Blue Valley North</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Shawnee Mission Northwest vs Blue Valley Northwest</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A few programs can say they have a 4-year varsity player in their program. Shawnee Mission Northwest has 3 of its own. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='120038' first='Tori' last='Creason'], [player_tooltip player_id='171295' first='Elinor' last='Engel'], and [player_tooltip player_id='152169' first='Vix' last='Vilott'] will lead the way for the Lady Cougars volleyball program. Creason (Truman State commit) led the state in assists last year as a Junior, while Engel (Central Missouri commit) and Vilott (Pittsburgh State commit) provided the offense for SMNW. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='150072' first='Olivia' last='Martin'] (known as "Liv") rounds up the offensive firepower for the squad. Martin was invited to the Under Armour All-American NEXT Camp Series this past season as one of the top players in America. Losing Libero Vivian Kieffer (St. Louis University) is hard to replace, however, the Lady Cougars will be looking to Junior Hailey Laurent and Kate Reese to anchor up the defensive end. Incoming Freshman Julia Anisimova should be making a big impact at the high school level, coming off a great club season on one of the top 14-Open level teams in the country.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blue Valley Northwest will answer defensively with Senior Libero [player_tooltip player_id='122202' first='Alayna' last='Pearson'] (Texas A&amp;M commit) who logged 504 digs in the 2021 season and has 972 digs heading into her Senior season. The Lady Huskies will look to [player_tooltip player_id='152171' first='Avery' last='Ahlers'] to provide leadership as the team captain as well as an offensive presence. Ahlers was Blue Valley Northwest's lead attacker last season. Junior Lainie Douglas is returning from a knee injury. Standing at 6'3", Douglas will play on the left pin and will be difficult to contain defensively. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='219710' first='Marly' last='Burbach'] is back as the starting setter in a 5-1 offense.&nbsp;Senior [player_tooltip player_id='214673' first='Akayla' last='Kador'] came off an injury late in club season and hoped to have a great high school season to finish off her prep career. In addition, 3-year varsity returners junior [player_tooltip player_id='152834' first='Remi' last='Nuss'] and [player_tooltip player_id='152837' first='Lauren' last='Croom'] should provide some consistency to the Lady Huskies volleyball program. Be on the lookout for incoming Freshman Morgan Sears to help the Lady Huskies this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Prediction: Shawnee Mission Northwest</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Lee's Summit West (MO) vs Blue Valley West</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This match is deemed to be the battle of the underclassmen! Both Lee's Summit West and Blue Valley West graduated a large portion of their programs this past season and will look towards their underclassmen to fill in the void.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lee's Summit West (LSW) will look to Junior [player_tooltip player_id='216020' first='Ryanne' last='Wattree'] to fill the firepower after losing three players who combined for just under a thousand kills last year. Wattree registered 203 kills last year as a sophomore. LSW will also look to Junior [player_tooltip player_id='179749' first='Ava' last='Anderson'], who found her way into the lineup late in the year and that experience will be counted on this fall. After dishing out over 200 assists last season, senior Aubrey Kohl looks to take over the setting responsibilities. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='219754' first='Addison' last='Lindemann'] is back after leading the team in digs as a freshman.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the majority of the 2021 squad graduated, Blue Valley West is looking to their sophomore-heavy class to take over the program. Not only they played together at BVW, Sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='173371' first='Ella' last='Davidson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='173372' first='Lily' last='Wedman'] also played together during club season. There should not be any issues in the setter-hitter connection between these two. Wedman, an All-State setter, already registered more than 1,000 career assists in her freshman year. Davidson, MB, will likely transition to outside hitter after the Lady Jags lost seven seniors. Varsity returners [player_tooltip player_id='173397' first='Allison' last='Heck'] and [player_tooltip player_id='216401' first='Ava' last='Hefner'] will round up the firepower for BVW in the middle position while Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='173395' first='Brookelyn' last='Hatton'] will be taking over the libero role. New to varsity this year is, another, Sophomore Alex Myers. Myers is likely to have an immediate impact on the pin to compliment Davidson's firepower.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":219851,"width":258,"height":387,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/08/StJamesSlam_Marshall2021-6789MG-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-219851" width="258" height="387"/><figcaption><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">[player_tooltip player_id='173372' first='Lily' last='Wedman'] setting in 2021 St James Slam (Photo by Marshall Goenawan)</mark></figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Prediction - Blue Valley West</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The afternoon wave preview will be posted shortly.</span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->