Class 5 District 8 Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Postseason time! Let's jump right into our previews of what will go on in District 8 of Class 5 starting this week!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Teams in order of seeds: Liberty, Liberty North, Park Hill, Park Hill South, North Kansas City, Staley, Central (St. Joseph), Oak Park</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Liberty vs Oak Park</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: Liberty; [player_tooltip player_id='99216' first='Ashley' last='Mullen'], [player_tooltip player_id='153930' first='Abigail' last='Mullen'], Aisha Aiona. Oak Park; [player_tooltip player_id='123470' first='Kira' last='Cherry'], Kaylee Coleman</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I may be giving away our prediction but we stated Liberty will be my pick for state champion so they handle Oak Park with ease. Stay healthy in this match Blue Jays, please. [player_tooltip player_id='123470' first='Kira' last='Cherry'] has had a great career for Oak Park and we hope to see her have a good final match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Park Hill South vs. North Kansas City</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: Park Hill South; [player_tooltip player_id='102555' first='Isabel' last='Day'], [player_tooltip player_id='222075' first='Sydni' last='Lafasciano'], [player_tooltip player_id='219763' first='Peyton' last='Liming']. North Kansas City; [player_tooltip player_id='99224' first='Calissa' last='Minatee'], [player_tooltip player_id='150047' first='Madelyn' last='Ottis']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park Hill South has played well over the course of the last month taking Liberty to five sets and beating rival Park Hill in five. They are getting tremendous play from Lafasciano and Liming on the pins. Day made the transition to libero weeks back and has helped ball control. North Kansas City still has Minnesota commit Minatee so they are a threat but the Panthers will be too much in this matchup. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Liberty North vs Central </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: Liberty North; [player_tooltip player_id='119226' first='Carlie' last='Cisneros'], [player_tooltip player_id='152821' first='Lauren' last='Wright'], Abby Christian. Central; Katie Miller, Hannah Watson, Rylee Kanatzar</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>North is a team that exceeded our expectations this season with what we would call an "inexperienced varsity lineup". The setting duo of Wright and Christian have been phenomenal this fall and of course, Cisneros is all world. Central has battled this year and can put together some good performances. Kanatzar works hard to find her hitters and Miller has been steady on the pin. The Eagles with a sweep. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Park Hill vs. Staley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players: Park Hill; [player_tooltip player_id='119223' first='Shaye' last='Koski'], [player_tooltip player_id='152152' first='Emily' last='Pella'], Emily Waston. Staley; Ady Horn, [player_tooltip player_id='184732' first='Reese' last='Massey'].</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park Hill has shown flashes of being a really good team this fall. [player_tooltip player_id='119223' first='Shaye' last='Koski'] is one of a handful of players in this district to reach 1000 kills this year. [player_tooltip player_id='216456' first='Emily' last='Watson'] is a steady libero. Staley had a rough go this year but has been in several matches. Veteran setter Ady Horn keeps the ship afloat. Park Hill shouldn't have many problems. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->