Kansas 2A State Championships Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kansas Class 2A State Previews are here! Who will walk away as the top dog after the final whistle at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge City Kansas?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hillsboro at 39-1 will be </strong>your top seed and a favorite to walk away as state champion&nbsp;this weekend. After coming up just short a year ago, they hope to take home the top prize this year. They haven't tasted defeat since losing to larger Circle in three sets on September 10th. That would be a 31-match win streak on the line entering the big dance. They have a lot of firepower with juniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='119710' first='Zaylee' last='Werth']</strong> and <strong>Savannah Shahan</strong>. They emerged as leaders a year ago and the taste of defeat is still lingering in their mouths. Werth is averaging 5.4 kills per set, Shahan 4.1. &nbsp; The backcourt leader is senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='171299' first='Kori' last='Arnold']</strong> and her 384 digs. Setter <strong>Ella Suderman </strong>continues to be steady, dishing out 836 assists.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Second seed and defending state champion&nbsp;<strong>Smith Center</strong>&nbsp;made us look like experts a year ago claiming the state title we predicted. They will enter with a record of 36-4 as they look to defend their title. They have back enough contributors to the roster to run it back led by setter [player_tooltip player_id='172452' first='Camryn' last='Hutchinson']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Inman and their 34-5 record will come into the tournament as the third seed. </strong>They are winners of ten in a row. They do own a win over Garden Plain, who is also in the tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Meade and their 31-7 will be the fourth seed</strong>. They own a 13-match win streak. They have a balanced offensive attack led by the duo of middle <strong>CC Krier</strong> and outside <strong>Carlie Martin</strong>. Martin is also a force defensively averaging close to 5 digs per set. <strong>Ryleigh Foster</strong> will run the offense after a season with just under 600 assists.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Winchester-Jefferson County North will be the fifth seed</strong>&nbsp;and enters with an almost identical to last year's 32-win season with a 30-8 record. They have rolled off 9 in a row. <strong>Macy Thompson, Claire Jobbins</strong>, and the <strong>Bertels sisters of Korrie and Kaydee</strong> are back from last season's state qualifying team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sixth-seed Garden Plain (30-9)</strong>&nbsp;is a team making another trip to Dodge City. They get high-quality matches throughout the season being near Wichita. They do have a loss to Inman, who is in this tournament along with undefeated Class 4 Andale.&nbsp;Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='171297' first='Sydney' last='Puetz']</strong> led the way last year defensively and didn't lose a step this year with 441 digs. <strong>Ryleigh Stuhlsatz</strong> took over the primary setting duties to dish out over 700 assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Blue Rapids-Valley Heights and their 25-13 record will be the seventh seed.</strong>&nbsp;They have been up and down year but closed the year with three wins. They are a young team depending on many freshmen and sophomores. The experience will enable them to be a team who should see the tournament for years to come. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The final team and eighth seed will be St. Mary's Colgan (23-16).</strong>&nbsp;They came in as the 8th seed a year ago and hope to have success this time around.&nbsp; Lauren Torrance was here a year ago and after a season averaging 4 kills per set, she hopes to take the next step with her team. The tandem of <strong>Addi Dewey</strong> and <strong>Caroline Imhof</strong> has been good in the 6-2 for this squad. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pool 1: Hillsboro, Meade, Winchester JCN, St. Mary's-Colgan</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pool 2: Smith-Center, Inman, Garden Plain, Blue Rapids-Valley Heights</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Advancing: Hillsboro, Meade</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Advancing: Smith Center, Inman</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hillsboro over Inman</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Smith Center over Meade</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our prediction: Rematch with Hillsboro claiming the title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->