Kansas 6A Substate Shawnee Mission Northwest Sites (Part 2)
In this article:
The postseason is here and this will be my first go-around at covering Kansas postseason. If you are like me and new to the substate versions, then let’s ponder together why it’s called the Shawnee Mission Northwest sites and yet…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe postseason is here and this will be my first go-around at covering Kansas postseason. If you are like me and new to the substate versions, then let’s ponder together why it’s called the Shawnee Mission Northwest sites and yet Northwest is not a host school. After talking to some colleagues and locals, the 4 “substates” are actually hosted by the higher-seeded teams in the four brackets or quadrants. Therefore the following Substates are based on their wins and losses record (winning percentage) as we have Olathe West at #1 (24-6), followed by #2 Olathe Northwest (25-7), #3 Mill Valley (28-8), and #4 Blue Valley (26-9).
I conducted a poll on my Twitter @PrepDigMarshall for each respective Substate and will post their picks and predictions to see who will have a better record!
Mill Valley Substate
The next two substates do not have any play-in matches so it’s just a straight 4-team bracket. First we have Mill Valley taking home court against Olathe East. East ‘s finished the regular season winning their last match against Blue Valley Southwest in a 5-set thriller. Junior Chloe Tyrrell Chloe Tyrrell 5'10" | OH Olathe East | 2024 State KS (314 kills) will play a huge impact in the outcome of this match as the Hawks’ primary offensive weapon. As mentioned in my last article, the funky 6-2 lineup with Audrey Wills Audrey Wills 5'8" | S Olathe East | 2025 State KS will be interesting to see. The biggest concern for the Hawks will be their libero position if Kate Wright Kate Wright 5'8" | DS/L Olathe East | 2025 State KS will be back or not. Mill Valley will fight back with freshman sensation Ella Florez Ella Florez 5'9" | S Mill Valley | 2026 State KS running the hybrid 6-2 offense. During the regular season, Florez and junior Ava Jones Ava Jones 5'6" | S Mill Valley | 2024 State KS dished out 378 and 361 assists, respectively. Saida Jacobs Saida Jacobs 6'1" | MB Mill Valley | 2025 State KS and Ashlyn Blazer Ashlyn Blazer 6'0" | MB Mill Valley | 2025 State KS will provide a more consistent offense through the middle compared to Olathe East’s squad. Mill Valley have too much of the good stuff to lose the first semifinal match.
After watching many Blue Valley Northwest matches in person, I know that this team will be trouble if they get hot at the right time. Freshman Morgan Sears Morgan Sears 5'11" | OH Blue Valley Northwest | 2026 State KS have been killing it (literally) in the middle position. Add in a healthy Lainie Douglas Lainie Douglas 6'3" | OH Blue Valley Northwest | 2024 State KS and I don’t think anyone is stoping this team on Saturday. Olathe North will try to stop the offensive-minded Huskies with Erin Matzke in the middle as the Eagle’s number one blocker. Expect to have senior Kyleigh Connell to provide some offensive spark on the right side. I saw them last against Olathe South and they could not handle the pressure of South’s offense losing in 3 sets during Dig Pink Olathe event. I do not think that they will be able to contain Northwest’s firepower as I will take the Huskies to be the winner of this match.
The final will be interesting on who will serve-receive and defend better. I give the advantage to Blue Valley Northwest with Texas A&M commit, Alayna Pearson Alayna Pearson 5'6" | DS/L Blue Valley Northwest | 2023 State #110 Nation KS , sophomore Summer Anderson Summer Anderson 5'7" | DS/L Blue Valley Northwest | 2025 State KS , and junior Remi Nuss Remi Nuss 5'6" | DS/L Blue Valley Northwest | 2024 State KS . The Huskies will upset the home team and will go to State.
Prep Dig Marshall = Blue Valley Northwest
Twitter Poll = Mill Valley (66%), Blue Valley Northwest (26%), Olathe East pulling the upset (6%)
Blue Valley Substate
In our last quadrant, Blue Valley will host Wyandotte for the first match of the day. The Tigers 10 seniors and libero Ryan McAleer Ryan McAleer 5'5" | DS/L Blue Valley | 2024 State #29 Nation KS should have no issue taking down the Bulldogs in straight sets. Kate Peterson will lead the charge with a plethora of offensive weapons in Julia Kinney Julia Kinney 5'11" | OH Blue Valley | 2023 State KS and Avery Delong Avery Delong 5'11" | RS Blue Valley | 2023 State KS on the pins while Tiana Simmons will be a force in the middle.
The three seniors for Shawnee Mission Northwest will make sure that the Cougars will play in the substate final. Tori Creason Tori Creason 5'9" | S Shawnee Mission NW | 2023 State KS has 757 assists in the season running their 5-1 offense, feeding the other senior hitters Elinor Engel Elinor Engel 6'1" | MB Shawnee Mission Northwest | 2023 State KS (264 kills) and Vix Vilott Vix Vilott 5'10" | OH Shawnee Mission Northwest | 2023 State KS (236 kills). The three Seniors account for more than 60% of Northwest’s points. Junior Kate Reese has been solid in the libero jersey with 327 digs and 310 receptions on the year. Gardner-Edgerton can be a solid team as they took some sets over quality teams and a victory over Lawrence Free State (who’s #4 on the other Substate). The Trailblazer do not have their stats on MaxPreps but lucky for you, I watched them play during the season. They run their 5-1 through Ryleigh Sander Ryleigh Sander 5'6" | S Gardner Edgerton | 2023 State KS and listed at 5’5″ may have trouble defending the Cougars offensive power. They will fight back with junior outside hitter Eleanor Marshall and leftie opposite Elise Hmielewski Elise Hmielewski 5'11" | MB Gardner-Edgerton | 2024 State KS . To be frank, Shawnee Mission Northwest should have little trouble getting to the final showdown against Blue Valley.
The battle of the Seniors is the one needed to be won if you want to go to State. As mentioned above, Blue Valley have 10 Seniors on their roster to Northwest’s 3. The X-Factor in this match is whether or not Brooklyn Farris Brooklyn Farris OH Blue Valley | 2023 State KS and Connelly Kilgore Connelly Kilgore 5'10" | OH Blue Valley | 2023 State KS will have monumental points to swing the match for Blue Valley. The match will go to a decisive set where Blue Valley will be victorious and head to Salina.
Prep Dig Marshall = Blue Valley
Twitter poll = Blue Valley (64%), Shawnee Mission Northwest (36%)
Follow Twitter @PrepDigMarshall to participate in the twitter poll! Use #KSpickemSubstate22 and #SubstatePickEm to find past, current, and future polls!