Kansas 5A Substate Goddard-Eisenhower Sites

We continue the 5A coverage to the other side of the bracket. Coming in with a 27-5 record, we have Maize South taking the number one spot. Andover Central is second with 29-7, Hutchinson is third (27-7), and Bishop Carroll is fourth (26-9).   Maize South Substate   The first Play-in match will feature Salina-South and Goddard. Tough draw for South coming down to Maize South on Saturday morning. They'll look for [player_tooltip player_id='489648' first='Paityn' last='Fritz'] and Baylee Brin to provide their offense. Brooke Webb has been fantastic running their 5-1 offense and collected 708 assists on the year. Goddard doesn't have to travel as far to go to Maize so they'll have the fresher legs. Setter turned libero, Morgan Foos, and Reece Albin are hoping to slow down the Cougars' offense. Foos collected 249 digs and 341 receptions while Albin has 178 digs and received 243 serves. South will have the upper hand in this contest. Maize South will show us why they are the number one team in the Goddard-Eisenhower sites. We start with the dynamic duos in outside hitters [player_tooltip player_id='119709' first='Gracie' last='Morrow'] and [player_tooltip player_id='153936' first='Jillian' last='Gregory'], both have 200+ kills in the season. We talk about offense all the time so let's give some props to their defensive presence. [player_tooltip player_id='515957' first='Carly' last='Koster'] and [player_tooltip player_id='120011' first='Avery' last='Lowe'] will make you think before running middle option as each have 44 total blocks in the season. We can list all of their rosters but for time sake, we take Maize South to cruise on to the final.   The 8/9 match is always tough because teams are close together in terms of records and skills. Valley Center took the first match in the season 25-22, 25-14 against Kapaun Mt Carmel. The Lady Hornets will be led by senior outside hitter Dylan Cochran. Kapaun have a balanced offense led by senior outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='220103' first='Haylie' last='Sanders'] who earned her 500th career kill with 309 coming from this season alone. The Crusaders will go down the graduating class to look for junior [player_tooltip player_id='495668' first='Lizzie' last='Romer'] (206 kills), sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='219717' first='Kaitlyn' last='Cure'] (142 kills), and freshman [player_tooltip player_id='489751' first='Mason' last='Palace'] (139 kills). Kapaun did have a quality 3-set win against Bishop Carroll last week but we will take Valley Center on this one.   For the first substate final, Maize South have too many weapons and will return to Salina next weekend with Tennessee commit, [player_tooltip player_id='150065' first='Camdyn' last='Stucky'] running their offense.   Prep Dig Marshall = Maize South Twitter Poll = Maize South (96.4%)   Andover Central Substate   Hays got the short end of the stick here, going 16-18 on the year and have to be in the play-in match against Salina Central. Hays will look to their senior playmaker in Carly Lang who has 248 kills in the year with 274 digs and 464 receptions. They'll run their 6-2 setting options with Aubree Thomas and Dezarae Smith with 327 and 324 assists, respectively. Their freshman did not want to miss out either as libero Annie Humphrey leads the team in digs (404) and receptions (488). Salina Central do not have their roster updated therefore we do not have any information on them. They had a quality win against Buhler and Junction City in the last week of regular season. We take Hays to win this one to play against host Andover Central. Andover Central will be led by Wichita State commit [player_tooltip player_id='220371' first='Allie' last='Paulsen'] (233 kills, 68 blocks), and dual-sport athlete Maddie Amekporfor (245 kills, 182 digs). Their offense will be handled by [player_tooltip player_id='152835' first='Hayden' last='Snodgrass'] who has 491 assists this season. We cannot forget their always-smiling-but-serious libero, [player_tooltip player_id='221542' first='Willow' last='Deckinger'], to cover the backcourt with her athleticism (267 digs, 351 receptions). Maize South will take the first spot in the final.   The 7-10 matchup will be a head-scratcher for sure as Newton will play Topeka West. Both teams are good. Both teams had quality wins. Newton beat out Andover Central multiple times this season and they are hosting this substate as the number 2 seed. Newton will utilize senior [player_tooltip player_id='515014' first='Emma' last='Rains'] to be their anchor with her 237 kills, 294 assists, and 264 digs this season. They also added two defensive players with junior Abby Koontz (536 digs) and senior Olivia Antonowich (356 digs). Topeka West will try to answer with senior MaKinsey Jones who leads the team in almost all offensive categories. The question will be, can [player_tooltip player_id='495658' first='Siani' last='Sanchez'] (247 digs) and Laurel Parhomek (129 digs), create the opportunities for Jones and setter [player_tooltip player_id='515485' first='Jaya' last='Miller'] to have the passes necessary to succeed? I'm taking 10th seed Newton to pull up the upset.   We have a potential upset in the making for the substate final. Newton handed 3 of Andover Central's 7 losses. They had to go to extra sets to determine the winners in two of those matches. However, those wins were at Newton (2) and at a neutral site (1). This time around Andover Central will have the home court advantage. Andover Central will prevent the upset and move on to State.   Prep Dig Marshall = Andover Central Twitter Poll = Andover Central (86.7%)   Hutchinson Substate   This will be the fourth time that Hutchinson will play against Maize. Hutchinson swept the series 3-0 during the regular season. In the last outing on Maize's Senior Night, they battled to extra points with scores of 25-13, 28-26, 26-24. Hutchinson will feature their 300+ kill getter in [player_tooltip player_id='122207' first='Maliyah' last='Johnson']. Not far behind is Mya Thompson with 244 kills. Those kills were set up by senior setter Josie McLean with her 744 assists during the season. Defensively will be answered by sophomore libero Grace Posch with her 245 digs and 320 receptions. Maize will answer with all-around player [player_tooltip player_id='120022' first='Gracie' last='Kaumeyer'] (172 kills) and [player_tooltip player_id='456612' first='Joscelyn' last='Buckley'] (168 kills). Senior setter [player_tooltip player_id='122215' first='Kaylee' last='Lively'] is the glue on the team with her 329 assists, adding 208 digs and leading the team in aces with 38. Did you know that she also makes a mean spring roll? Back to volleyball we go! Libero Karsyn Fraser-slothower leads the team in digs (433) and receptions (481) and looks forward to slowing down the Salthawks' offense. Unfortunately for Maize, this won't be the same as Senior Night as Hutchinson will take the match in straight sets.   Eisenhower and Great Bend recently played at Eisenhower's triangular, where the home team winning in a back and forth match (25-16, 16-25, 25-13). Eisenhower do have a leftie playmaker in [player_tooltip player_id='173379' first='Delainee' last='Dexter'], who leads the team in aces (47) and assists (467), while providing 166 kills and 225 digs. Senior Kila Respress will be troublesome for Great Bend as the Tigers' top hitter (210) and blocker (73). Senior defenders Taylor Burkholder and Addison Verbeck will provide the passes as both have 300+ digs and 300+ receptions this season. Great Bend had some solid wins this season in Piper and almost pulling an upset with Blue Valley Southwest. They have a balanced offense with four 140+ kill getters in the season (Valarie Luna - 192, Rylie Duvall - 184, [player_tooltip player_id='493383' first='Kara' last='Feist'] - 156, Makenzie Premer - 147). They run their 5-1 offense through Mersaide Spray who leads the team with 669 assists.This will be a difficult one but we'll go with Eisenhower on this one.   Hosting a big match at home will be an advantage for sure. [player_tooltip player_id='122207' first='Maliyah' last='Johnson'] and Josie McLean will make sure that Hutchinson will win on their home court.   Prep Dig Marshall = Hutchinson Twitter Poll = Hutchinson (77.8%)   Bishop Carroll Substate   Host Bishop Carroll will play Andover in the 4-13 matchup in our last preview from Wichita. Andover will go to their beasts in Sophie Hall and [player_tooltip player_id='495617' first='Gabby' last='Reynolds'] for offensive output (295 and 191 kills, respectively). They do have 2 sophomore setters who's been brilliant this season, [player_tooltip player_id='493422' first='Lauren' last='Heinz'] (337 assists) and [player_tooltip player_id='220101' first='Kaitlyn' last='Gordon'] (335 assists). Kenzie Foster and Lexi Gagnon will work together in the back row as Libero/DS to stop the Golden Eagles' offense. Bishop Carroll made it to State last year and only lost a few players from that roster. No stats are uploaded to MaxPreps but I've seen them enough to know this: They still have senior Lillie Gorges, [player_tooltip player_id='152180' first='Ally' last='Larkin'], and Emma Stallbaumer for offensive firepower. Adding in a few freshmen in [player_tooltip player_id='489756' first='Avery' last='McCorry'] and [player_tooltip player_id='489777' first='Brea' last='Martin'] and the Golden Eagles will have the advantage on this matchup.   Our last semifinal preview will feature Emporia and Arkansas City. Based on records and strength of schedule, Emporia will have the advantage as they took wins from tougher opponents, too many to list. I have not watched either team so this is just looking at statistical input on MaxPreps. Ark City sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='219722' first='Kinzie' last='Perdue'] will lead the offense with her 239 kills alongside fellow sophomore Saliyah Johnson (129) and senior Kamri Pool (159). They'll run a 5-1 offense with Saylor Givens with her 593 assist on the year. Libero Mika Munson will anchor the defense with her 424 digs and 353 receptions. Emporia will answer back with 6'0" freshman sensation, Jade Xu. Xu leads the team in kills (190) and aces (30). Junior setter Alexa Shivley has been consistent with her 561 assists running their 5-1 offense. Junior libero Lexsey Dewitt will be the defensive anchor as she led the team in digs with 261. We give the advantage to Emporia.   There are a lot of predictions and our twitter poll is split with Bishop Carroll, Emporia, and possibly Andover pulling the upset in terms of "seeding". In the final matchup between BC and Emporia, we give the slight advantage to the Golden Eagles. They have more playmakers on the squad as long as they do not mix up their lineups for playing time.   Prep Dig Marshall = Bishop Carroll Twitter Poll = Bishop Carroll (53.8%), Emporia (23.1%)   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Follow Twitter <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.x.com/prepdigmarshall" target="_blank">@PrepDigMarshall</a> to participate in the twitter poll! Use #KSpickemSubstate22 and #SubstatePickEm to find past, current, and future polls!

We continue the 5A coverage to the other side of the bracket. Coming in with a 27-5 record, we have Maize South taking the number one spot. Andover Central is second with 29-7, Hutchinson is third (27-7), and Bishop Carroll is fourth (26-9).