KC Power 15: Week 7

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The KC area volleyball gauntlet continues with another week of top teams facing off with mixed results. Winning matters! Who you beat matters! Who you play matters. And even if you lose, did you show up? We state that to say big movement in polls typically occurs when a team has a big week knocking down good opponents. So with that said, another shake-up at the top!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1. St. Thomas Aquinas (29-3)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aquinas jumps back to the top from the 4th spot in this week's rankings. It would seem Liberty would just slide up to the top spot in our rankings this week but the Saints earned this one. They started the week beating a ranked Blue Valley Southwest team. They followed that up by taking down last week's number one team St. James, beating them in straight sets -22, -18. They also beat Seaman before traveling to Nebraska and beating local foe St. Teresa's, and then Nebraska teams Skutt and Papillion. [player_tooltip player_id='119725' first='Tatum' last='Grimes'] 75 blocks are a team lead. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2. Liberty (28-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Blue Jays didn't lose this week but got a scare from Park Hill South in a five-set thriller. They had a three-win week and finishes regular season play this week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3. St. James (25-3)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. James had a solid week with a win over #4 Liberty North in St. Louis. They did get dropped by Lafayette and we mentioned the Aquinas loss in the above notes. [player_tooltip player_id='119723' first='Julia' last='Headley'] is averaging 2.6 kills per set in a balanced line-up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4. Liberty North (23-5)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles will hold steady in the 4th spot despite a couple of losses in tournament action in St. Louis. We again don't punish teams for going out and playing tough competition. They got beat by the same Lafayette team that beat St. James, and St. James. [player_tooltip player_id='119226' first='Carlie' last='Cisneros'] picked up her 1,000th career kill this week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5. Olathe Northwest (20-6)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The only blemish on their schedule this week was a four-set loss at the hands of Washburn Rural this week. They were able to grab a couple of wins to stake claim to a Sunflower conference title this week. [player_tooltip player_id='119703' first='Emmy' last='Sher'] has over 100 digs for the Ravens.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>6. Olathe West (23-4)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Owls (we love an owl mascot by the way) had two wins this week, including one over Mill Valley. [player_tooltip player_id='120040' first='Ava' last='TeStrake'] is leading the team in kills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>7. Blue Valley (22-7)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We don't have all the updated scores to know if this is accurate and we tried to do some social media research and came up with nothing so we can only operate with the information at our disposal. We say that to say Blue Valley moves up one slot. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>8. Lansing (22-5)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lansing had one hiccup last week to undefeated league champion Seaman out of Topeka. Jessi Ritchhart is pacing the team in the dig category. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>9. Lee's Summit West (18-8)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A light but perfect week for LSW as they prepare for a showdown with Liberty North later in the week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>10. Shawnee Mission Northwest (22-9)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three more wins for the Cougars but they will be in a battle with #8 Lansing later this week. [player_tooltip player_id='171295' first='Elinor' last='Engel'] and [player_tooltip player_id='152169' first='Vix' last='Vilott'] are both averaging over 3 kills per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>11. Blue Valley Northwest (18-9)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They were beaten again by then #1 ranked St. James but delivered a win over Blue Valley West to move up some slots. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>12. Heritage Christian (24-7)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The real question is, do they lose again this year?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>13. Mill Valley (26-7)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Back in the polls this week we see Mill Valley, after capturing a tournament title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>14. Pembroke Hill (20-3)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hill has had a solid season and to break up the Kansas streak of teams we add them to the mix this week. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='98678' first='Sydney' last='Draper'] earned her 2000th assist this week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>T15. Blue Valley West (19-11), Lawrence Free State (21-12), Blue Valley Southwest (19-12), Baldwin (28-3)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We didn't know who we wanted to put here so here you go!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->