Kansas 3A State Previews and Predictions

The Kansas 3A State Volleyball competition will be at the same site as 4A competition in Hutchinson Sports Arena on October 28th and 29th. We'll take a glance on the teams competing below.   Pool 1 (seed) team name [record] (1) Seneca-Nemaha Central [42-1] (4) Cheney [35-4] (5) Beloit [34-5] (8) Lindsborg-Smoky Valley [32-8]   It's impressive when you're at State but it is incredible to have a 42-1 record for Nemaha Central. Their only loss is to Royal Valley in 3 sets. From our research on MaxPreps, Senior pin hitter, [player_tooltip player_id='122209' first='Addy' last='Holthaus'], will be the Thunder's go-to player. Holthaus currently sits on 293 kills, and 384 digs as a 6-rotation player. They feature another senior in Ella Larkin (let's not confuse her with Ella Larkin from Bishop Carroll who's playing at LSU). Oddly enough NV's Larkin is similar to LSU's, as an all-around athlete, recording 217 kills and 381 digs with 326 serve receptions. They will run the 6-2 offense with Lillian Schultejans (481 assists) and Elli Rusche (417 assists). We'll give some love to the sophomore middle [player_tooltip player_id='465558' first='Cali' last='Honeyman'] who has 193 kills this season.   Cheney is our second seed with the 35-4 record. The pools are so close together in terms of wins so who will be their game changer? We look to Campbell Hauge who has 303 kills, 41 aces, and 64 blocks in the season to lead the Cardinals. In terms of leader, setter Elina Bartlett leads the team with 743 assists running their 5-1 offense. Defensively, they'll look to two dynamic passers and defenders in [player_tooltip player_id='495598' first='Jailyn' last='Adolph'] and Alex Bittner, with each having 300+ returns and 400+ digs.   Ranked third in pool 1 is Beloit with their 34-5 record. If you like offense, then watch for Beloit's [player_tooltip player_id='173375' first='Addison' last='Budke'] with 498 kills this season with a 0.377 hitting percentage! The robin to the batman in this case is [player_tooltip player_id='119714' first='Mylie' last='Brown'] with 265 kills. Other than Budke and Brown, their next closest kill-getter sits at 114 in Cassandra Thompson while adding team-high 59 blocks.Looking at 2 "Follis" names on the roster, twins Jaidyn and Kailyn are specialists in their own ways. [player_tooltip player_id='493498' first='Jaidyn' last='Follis'] leads the team with 931 assists while [player_tooltip player_id='493503' first='Kailyn' last='Follis'] is the back court leader with 420 digs and 493 receptions.   The 8th-seed and 4th in our pool is Smoky Valley from Lindsborg. The small schools do not get the exposure they need because we are missing out on junior [player_tooltip player_id='152836' first='Hope' last='Duncan']. Duncan leads the Vikings in kills (406), digs (389), and receptions (461). Not to be outdone is sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='219951' first='Katja' last='Blanchat'] who leads the team in hitting percentage (0.281), blocks (77), and second in kills (357) to Duncan. Without a good setter, they would not have those numbers so look for junior [player_tooltip player_id='172463' first='Adrian' last='Hazelwood'] to run the offense with her 864 assists on the year.   Predictions   It's hard to overlook a 42-1 record and three top four finishers from last year's State competition. I am guessing a 2-1 tiebreaker, and 1-2 tiebreaker for the pool of death.   Pool 1: Cheney, Smoky Valley, Beloit, Nemaha Central.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Pool 2 (seed) team name [record] (2) Riverton [37-2] (3) Goodland [36-3] (6) Eureka [30-6] (7) Olathe - Heritage Christian [31-7]   Riverton is the first seed in pool 2 (2nd overall) with a 37-2 record. Once again, if you like hitters and offense, you'll be in for a treat. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='120032' first='Jacy' last='Thomasson'] is one of the best in the state of Kansas with 536 kills this season and is the sole leader with a .506 hitting percentage. They also have junior [player_tooltip player_id='119803' first='Elizabeth' last='Wells'] (7th in the state with a 0.376) contributing 237 kills this season. If that's not enough, Thomasson and Wells are the two top blockers for the Rams as well with 86 and 47, respectively. Senior setter Morgan Compton should eclipse the 900-assist mark this weekend as she sits at 887. Sophomore Lexie Mallatt is not to be outdone in the libero spot, earning top digs (343) and receptions (428) for the Rams.   With a 36-3 record, Goodland is the second seed in our pool of heavy hitters. They have two hitters surpassing 300 kills in [player_tooltip player_id='120041' first='Talexa' last='Weeter'] (364) and Lindsay Cure (309). That's not it for these two athletes. Cure also leads the team in blocks (118) while Weeter adds 298 digs and 351 receptions to her stat sheet. However, junior libero Haley Bierman still leads the team in reception with 396. Not to be outdone, will we see [player_tooltip player_id='120029' first='Olivia' last='Lehman'] eclipse the 1,000-assist milestone this weekend as she sits at 933 with 3 matches on Saturday?   Eureka squeaked by to take the number 6 spot with a 30-6 record. It doesn't really matter since number 7, Heritage Christian, is still in their pool with a 31-7 record.   Eureka would love to do better than going 0-3 in pool play like they did last year. They will look to senior [player_tooltip player_id='214653' first='Maggie' last='Miller'] to lead the team with her 381 kills on the offensive side, junior Ashley Singhateh dual threat at the net with 54 blocks and 255 kills, and freshman sensational blocker in Brenna Rucker with 91 blocks.   I'm not sure on how Heritage Christian, the defending 3A state champion and 2A state champions 2 years ago, falls to the last seed in the pool and 7th overall. Their losses were to 5A and 6A opponents, notably St James, Seaman, and even to Nebraska's powerhouse Papillion-LaVista South. No need to worry as that won't sway the Chargers. They are led by [player_tooltip player_id='119708' first='Rachel' last='Van Gorp'] (Iowa State commit) and [player_tooltip player_id='119704' first='Cy' last='Rae Campbell'] (Wake Forest commit). Van Gorp and Campbell lead the team in kills with 314 and 216, respectively. Not far behind them is junior Grace Schmedding with 198 kills. Those kills will go through Maci Hazel (688 assists) and Anna Schenck (241). They usually run a 5-1 offense so we'll see if they have any changes for State. New-to-position [player_tooltip player_id='216387' first='Lauren' last='Jacobs'] has fit in nicely in the libero spot as she replaced their lone senior from last year's championship team.   Predictions   Eureka and Goodland would love to better their 0-3 pool play record from last year. HCA is still out favorite. It'll be a 3-way tie for second place with the teams going 1-2 record during pool play.   Pool 2: Heritage Christian, Riverton, Eureka, Goodland.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Semifinals   Cheney vs Riverton Heritage Christian vs Smoky Valley   Championship   Cheney vs Heritage Christian   It'll be a repeat from last year's championship match. Will we a three-peat or will Cheney revenge last year's match in three?   Kansas 3A Volleyball State Champion: Heritage Christian   <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/jenna-mcclure/"></a>

The Kansas 3A State Volleyball competition will be at the same site as 4A competition in Hutchinson Sports Arena on October 28th and 29th. We'll take a glance on the teams competing below.