Kansas 6A Substate Wichita Southeast Sites

We continue the coverage for Kansas 6A Substate to our Wichita Southeast sites with Washburn Rural taking the number 1 spot at 38-1, 2nd seed goes to Wichita Northwest with 31-4. Liberal at number 3 with 25-8 and Lawrence Free State as the 4th seed with a 23-12 record.   We will go to each respective host sites for our breakdown.   Washburn Rural Substate   Washburn Rural sits atop of seeding only losing 1 match all season to 5A perennial powerhouse St James Academy. They await the winner of Dodge City and Wichita South. Neither teams recorded stats on MaxPreps and it's a little difficult to see who they have. We're going with Dodge City due to their 5 wins based on KSHSAA record. The Lady Blues, winner of the last 36 matches and dropped only 2 sets in that span, will give their next opponent the blues who will play against them. They are led by Kentucky commit, [player_tooltip player_id='120008' first='Brooklyn' last='DeLeye'], as she looks to add more accolades to her name. They add more offensive power from 6'2" [player_tooltip player_id='120044' first='Taylor' last='Russell'] and middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id='201027' first='Jada' last='Ingram']. If that's not enough, junior setter [player_tooltip player_id='119699' first='Zoe' last='Canfield'] is committed to University of Kansas Women's basketball team. Washburn Rural will take the first semis and will play the winner of this next match.   The evenly matched 8/9 seeds sit at 16 wins apiece in the season (based on MaxPreps). Derby will look to sophomore outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='493402' first='Lily' last='Waters'] for their offensive output. Waters is ranked 4th in Kansas 6A kill leader with 273 in the season. Senior setter Lauren Boothe leads the team with 473 assists and will look to spread the offense with 3 other Panthers hitters who has 100+ kills this season (Avery Kelley, [player_tooltip player_id='489655' first='Lilly' last='Like'], Brooke Rice). Manhattan holds the higher seed and will have the experience to take the match. Notable wins for the Indians were Shawnee Mission South, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, and Olathe East. Senior libero Wesley Zeka will defend the backline against Derby. Zeka has 335 digs in the season, good for fourth best in the 6A classification behind Derby's [player_tooltip player_id='514620' first='Addison' last='Foster']. Overall, Manhattan played better teams during the season to give them the edge over the Panthers.   The Substate final will be a formality as Washburn Rural will not be stopped to return to State. They won the series 3-0 in match play and Manhattan did not come close to put up a fight during the regular season.   Prep Dig Marshall = Washburn Rural Twitter Poll = Washburn Rural (almost unanimous at 96%)   Wichita Northwest Substate   Our play-in match feature Wichita West and Junction City. There's no available information on MaxPreps for Wichita West, however, we found that their lone win was against Hartford (IA-DII) back in August. We will take Junction on the play-in match with their 8 wins and notable wins against Leavenworth and Topeka. Wichita Northwest will come out blazing with a strong senior core from last year's squad. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='120021' first='Payton' last='Benoit'] leads the team in digs while [player_tooltip player_id='214641' first='Alexandra' last='Workman'] is a dual threat in the middle. Add in junior Nina Mitchell and the Grizzlies will have plenty of opportunities to attack and defend the middle. Listed as a DS on MaxPreps, we all know that [player_tooltip player_id='214640' first='Grace' last='Dickerson'] is Northwest best hitter as she leads the team with 169 kills. We will see Northwest play again in the substate final.   We have Wichita East and Lawrence playing for an opportunity to knock off the host team out of State playoff. East's defensive presence starts with senior libero [player_tooltip player_id='120023' first='Jordan' last='Bruckner'] and outside hitter Jaidynee Vontress. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='489765' first='Claire' last='Buss'] may have an impact on the outcome of the match with her versatility on the outside position. Don't confuse them with Lansing but the Lions from Lawrence will be troublesome for East. They don't have their stats up on MaxPreps but I watched Lawrence play at the Lansing Invitational. Their 2 outside hitters in Harper Dye and [player_tooltip player_id='119733' first='Seenane' last='Brewer'] will bring the heat, while 6'1" middle Geme Ajekwu will be a difference maker for the Lions. Though there's no stats to backup what I saw in person, I believe that Lawrence will take the match.   We see Wichita Northwest winning the substate final on their home court behind senior setter [player_tooltip player_id='120034' first='Brailee' last='Bogle']'s performance.   Prep Dig Marshall = Wichita Northwest Twitter Poll = Wichita Northwest (85.7%)   Liberal Substate   Liberal Redskins played in 3 different states this season based on their geographical location. They will have home court advantage as the three other teams are traveling 200+ miles to play in the Liberal substate. Senior Rylie Hallman will be the difference maker as she's the leader in almost all statistical categories for the Redskins. Libero Diana "Lizzy" Cisneros is their defensive and passing playmaker as she collected 410 digs and 543 receptions in the season. Topeka Trojans might be out of their comfort zone in the match. They won once in the last 18 matches. We will take the smart choice in Liberal to win this match.   In the 6-11 matchup, 6th-seed Wichita North should have the upper hand against Haysville Campus. We know some of North's players from club ball with one named [player_tooltip player_id='493491' first='Tori' last='Buss']. She leads the team kills, serves and service aces. Campus do not have stats uploaded to MaxPreps but looking at their roster, they returned a few notable players in Kaylee Martinez and Bailey Pearce. Do they have the ability and players necessarily to break an 11-match losing streak? We have North moving on from this matchup.   In the end, the fresh legs and hometown advantage will be beneficial for Liberal as they will take the substate title.   Prep Dig Marshall = Liberal Twitter Poll = Liberal (72.7%)   Lawrence Free State Substate   In our last substate preview, host Free State will play first against Wichita Southeast. Southeast will look for senior outside hitter,Jada Livingston, to spark the offense while sophomore Rylie Malget will try to slow down the Thunderbirds' offensive firepower. Free State have a lot of weapons in their arsenal. California commit [player_tooltip player_id='120010' first='Sawyer' last='Thomsen'] will have a field day running slides from Washburn commit [player_tooltip player_id='120033' first='Rylee' last='Unruh']. They'll rely on Myla Nover-Estes and [player_tooltip player_id='150069' first='Fiona' last='VanDyke'] on the pins to take care of business. We take Free State on this match.   Garden City and Wichita Heights will play the 5-12 matchup afterwards. Garden City fell short in going to state as they faced Washburn Rural in their substate last year. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='173378' first='Piper' last='Harris'] returned as City's top hitter after recording 304 kills this year, an upgrade from 278 kills in her freshman year. Adeleena Unzueta, libero for the Buffaloes, will be responsible for the return game as she led the team with 240 digs and 525 receptions. It looks like they run a 6-2 systems with 2 setters earning 445 and 343 assists, Lexi Arwine and [player_tooltip player_id='537182' first='Aleeya' last='Cruz'], respectively. Heights is trying to get their feet back after losing 11 out of the last 12 matches to end the regular season. In short, Garden City will take the final opportunity to win a spot to go to State.   Our substate final may be a grind but Free State have too many all-around firepower to outlast Garden City. The Thunderbirds will round up the final team going to Salina next weekend.   Prep Dig Marshall = Free State Twitter Poll = Free State (84.6%)   <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 coverage for Kansas 6A Substate to our Wichita Southeast sites with Washburn Rural taking the number 1 spot at 38-1, 2nd seed goes to Wichita Northwest with 31-4. Liberal at number 3 with 25-8 and Lawrence Free State as the 4th seed with a 23-12 record.