Class 4 District 8 Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>District 8 gets kicked off with four matches today at Kearney High School. It should be a competitive set of matchups.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Teams (in seed order): Platte County, Pembroke Hill, Kearney, Smithville, Van Horn, Lincoln College Prep, Winnetonka, East</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Platte Couty vs. East</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: Platte County; [player_tooltip player_id='216466' first='Kendall' last='Johnson'], [player_tooltip player_id='219756' first='Karlee' last='Riggs'], Emma Harned. East; Shalonna Witherspoon, Karla Martinez</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Platte County will be your top seed after another twenty-win season. This team is balanced and plays solid defense. Emma Harned does a good job of spreading the wealth among her hitters. East comes in winners of four straight and has 16 wins this year. Shalonna Witherspoon leads East in hitting and blocks. Platte County in three. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Smithville vs. Van Horn</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: Smithville; [player_tooltip player_id='216453' first='Kennedy' last='Outler'], Kelsie Gresham. Van Horn; [player_tooltip player_id='123469' first='Sanoma' last='Hunter']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Smithville is the 4th seed entering this tournamnet. They can't expect an easy win over 5th seed Van Horn. The 20 win Falcons team as a player who can make a world of difference in [player_tooltip player_id='123469' first='Sanoma' last='Hunter'] and her four and a half kills per set. We think the depth of Smithville will be too much for Van Horn</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pembroke Hill vs. Winnetonka</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: Pembroke Hill; [player_tooltip player_id='98678' first='Sydney' last='Draper'], [player_tooltip player_id='124217' first='Gretel' last='Robbins'], [player_tooltip player_id='150021' first='Katie' last='Hargroves']. Winnetonka; No Information Available</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second seed Pembroke Hill should have little trouble with Winnetonka. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='98678' first='Sydney' last='Draper'] is among one of the best in the city. As a team, they have only suffered defeat three times in twenty-five matches and have a 14 match streak going. Winnetonka comes in with a record of 6-18-1. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kearney vs. Lincoln College Prep</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='152130' first='Alli' last='Poage'], Kylie Walker. Lincoln Prep; Audrey Verkler, Anabella Verkler</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We still stick with going chalk in the quaterfinal matches and go with Kearney over Lincoln Prep. Poage is the leader in the kills department for the Bulldogs. The Blue Tigers played in a tough Truman tournament a couple of weeks back that should prepare them for this matchup. They have a 15-11 record on the year. Audrey Verkler can score and will be counted on to deliver. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->