St. James Volleyball Slam Morning Top Performers

Volleyball is off and running in the KC Metro. The annual St. James Volleyball Slam was not short of big-time players. Here are some who caught our attention during the first four matches.   Tiana Simmons - MB - 2023 - Blue Valley   Simmons looked good in the match and stood out to us immediately. She showed she can score in front of the setter and had a powerful swing on the slide. She also caused havoc in the blocking department sending many attacks back.   Kate Peterson - S - 2023 - Blue Valley   Peterson was phenomenal in the contest. She had great sets throughout the match allowing her hitters to let it rip. We were also impressed with her blocking and defense.   [player_tooltip player_id='152172' first='Julia' last='Kinney'] - OH - 2023 - Blue Valley   Kinney showed so many shots in the 8 am match to keep the defense guessing. She went cross-court, corner, through the block, roll...a little bit of everything.   [player_tooltip player_id='150068' first='Ryan' last='McAleer'] - L - 2024 - Blue Valley   The number of times the Olathe East bench jumped up or the crowd cheered thinking a point was scored only to be disappointed due to McAleer doing her thing. She was her usual impressive self and even showed off the hands with an overhead two-hand set to the pin for a kill.   [player_tooltip player_id='172451' first='Chloe' last='Tyrrell'] - OH - 2024 - Olathe East   Tyrell was a bright spot for Olathe East in this match and kept them in it with her offensive play-making ability.   Karlie Perell - S - 2025 - Olathe East   We have to give a shout-out to Perell as she did a good job of getting swings for her team. When she was able to get her feet set she placed the ball in good spots for her hitters. During out-of-system balls she still managed to get the ball on the net.   [player_tooltip player_id='154041' first='Logan' last='Parks'] - RS/S - 2025 - Blue Valley North   She showed the whole toolkit this morning. Parks put down some balls with authority and pulled the string a time or two. She also delivered some great sets when she rotated into the setter position. Let us not forget to add her top spin served caused headaches throughout the morning for passers.   [player_tooltip player_id='119693' first='Janelle' last='Green'] RS/S - 2024 - Blue Valley North   Passing dimes all match and even saw her take some high-quality swings for kills. Greene made everything look easy on the court this morning.   [player_tooltip player_id='216198' first='Sophia' last='McIntyre'] - RS - 2023 - Blue Valley North   The smooth southpaw had some timely kills from the right side through the match and maybe none bigger than finding the floor to tie the match at 22s in set 2.   [player_tooltip player_id='120010' first='Sawyer' last='Thomsen'] - MB - 2023 - Lawrence Free State   Thomsen was unstoppable in the middle and put down a few slides. Her blocking proved to be huge sending back quite a few attacks throughout the contest. We can't leave out the aces she dropped in.   [player_tooltip player_id='150069' first='Fiona' last='Van Dyke'] - OH - 2024 - Lawrence Free State   We loved Van Dyke's energy and competitiveness. She took some great swings from the left side that powered through defenders. She took a couple of big swings, including one out of system late in set 2 then dropped in two aces to close out set 2.   [player_tooltip player_id='120033' first='Rylee' last='Unruh'] - S - 2023 - Lawrence Free State   When the match is tight, her decision-making was on point! Nothing frustrates me more than a setter not going to their hot hand when they need one. Unruh also did a good job of deciding when to dump on two for an easy point.   [player_tooltip player_id='221225' first='Lainie' last='Douglas'] - OH - 2024 - Blue Valley Northwest   Douglas was a consistent scoring threat from the pin when she checked into the lineup. She also provided some big-time blocks when the team needed a lift.   [player_tooltip player_id='219710' first='Marly' last='Burbach'] - S - 2025 - Blue Valley Northwest   The young setter looked very experienced on the court this morning. She was efficient with her sets and had very limited ball-handling errors during the match.   [player_tooltip player_id='122202' first='Alayna' last='Pearson'] - L - 2023 - Blue Valley Northwest   The defender has some big defensive plays in this match when her team needed them. She also came thru down the wire in set three with some aces and tough serves that kept the opponents out of system.   Halley Laurent - DS - 2025 - Shawnee Mission Northwest   Laurent was really good at navigating the back row defensively. She also has numerous aces throughout the contest.   [player_tooltip player_id='120038' first='Tori' last='Creason'] - S - 2023 - Shawnee Mission Northwest   Creason did a tremendous job of running the offense and getting balls out to her hitters on the pin and in the middle. She had to chase down some tough balls but was still able to make lemons out of lemonade.   [player_tooltip player_id='150072' first='Olivia' last='Martin'] - MB - 2024 - Shawnee Mission Northwest   Martin was able to deliver time and time again in the middle for the Cougars. She was also deadly behind the service line with quite a few aces in the match.   [player_tooltip player_id='179749' first='Ava' last='Anderson']- MB - 2024 - Lee's Summit West   Anderson had her own little block party going on early in the match. She followed that up with some strong offensive output.   Zoe Barnes - S - 2023 - Lee's Summit West   I was very impressed with Barnes throughout the contest, not only with her sets but her decision-making.   [player_tooltip player_id='173372' first='Lily' last='Wedman'] - S - 2025 - Blue Valley West   She showed why she is one of the premier setters in the class not only in the state but in the country. Her confidence and ability in her skill set were on display with the difficulty of sets she dished out.   [player_tooltip player_id='227605' first='Alex' last='Myers'] - RS - 2025 - Blue Valley West   The young pin has some talent and she had a strong start to the match, scoring the first three points. She had some key kills and aces in the second set that helped West gab some momentum and run away.   [player_tooltip player_id='222087' first='Carlie' last='Pandjaris'] - OH - 2026 - Blue Valley West   The freshman looked very good early on in the match and we saw no first-match jitters. She attacked fearlessly and was able to get a few kills early in her high school career.

Volleyball is off and running in the KC Metro. The annual St. James Volleyball Slam was not short of big-time players. Here are some who caught our attention during the first four matches.