Class 4 State Tournament Recap

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Better late than never but what a 4A tournament that took place. We knew Andale was going in undefeated and attempting to close their perfect season with a state title. Bishop Miege came in with a low seed but you can never count them out considering the conference and schedule they play all season. We thought going in it would come down to those two teams and we had a showdown out the gate as they were the second match of the day in pool 1. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It didn't take long for the undefeated season to come to an end with Miege getting the sweep, -23 -21. [player_tooltip player_id='173376' first='Lauren' last='Lopez'], the sophomore pin led the way with 11 kills on 25 swings. Andale was held to a .141 hitting percentage in the contest behind [player_tooltip player_id='122210' first='Maddie' last='Schrandt']'s 10 kills. This was the start of a good day as the Lady Stags would sweep Paola and Rock Creek with little trouble to seal their place in the semifinal rounds. Andale bounced back and took their frustrations out on those two teams as well to get second place in the pool. Rock Creek got their sole win in the opening match over Paola in straight sets. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pool 2 saw Circle as the favorite coming in and they did little to make anyone believe otherwise winning all three of their matches in straight sets. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='172454' first='Jacqueline' last='Corcoran'] went off for 30 kills over the six sets to give the Thunderbirds the chance to see Andale in the semifinals. The scramble for the second spot would come down to Louisburg and Tonganoxie after the latter beat Clay Center to start the day. The closes match of the day we saw in the first set as the back and forth first set saw Louisburg etch out a 32-30 victory. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='152174' first='Allie' last='Kennedy'] had timely kills in the set and would finish with a match-high 12 at a .458 clip. The second set was less dramatic as the Wildcats won by 7 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The semifinal results went as we thought they would with Miege and Andale getting the opportunity to have another epic battle in the championship. Andale jumped out on Circle in the first set, -12 behind Schrandt and [player_tooltip player_id='120012' first='McKenzie' last='Fairchild'] leading the offensive output. Freshman libero Hayden Grimes was stellar with 12 digs as their team would finish the deal in set 2. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bishop Miege mirrored Andale jumping out with a dominating first-set win, -14. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='152166' first='Ali' last='Olson'] came up big offensively. Junior setter [player_tooltip player_id='119689' first='Ava' last='Martin'] had four players with more than 5 kills as she dished out 21 assists. Louisburg battled in the second but Miege pulled away to get a 25-21 win and a trip to the championship. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A rematch of game 1 for both schools as Andale hoped to avenge their only loss of the year. Both sets were back and forth as the lead changes were constant. Like with the first match, Andale struggled with errors as they hit under .100 for the match. On the other side, the unsung hero would be [player_tooltip player_id='493386' first='Kirston' last='Verhulst']. She got it going in this match as she helped Miege pull out a 25-22 first-set win. Andale got out fast in the second set but Miege stayed close before the back-and-forth play. Lopez made play after play and had a match-high 12 kills. In the end, Miege had the upper hand and clinched a state title with a 32-30 victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third-place match saw Circle win in two.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All-Tournament Team</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gabby Anderson (Bishop Miege), [player_tooltip player_id='495650' first='Kasia' last='Baldock'] (Tonganoxie), [player_tooltip player_id='172454' first='Jacqueline' last='Corcoran'] (Circle), [player_tooltip player_id='120012' first='McKenzie' last='Fairchild'] (Andale), [player_tooltip player_id='152174' first='Allie' last='Kennedy'] (Louisburg), [player_tooltip player_id='219714' first='Ayla' last='Klingenberg'] (Rock Creek), [player_tooltip player_id='173376' first='Lauren' last='Lopez'] (Bishop Miege), [player_tooltip player_id='119689' first='Ava' last='Martin'] (Bishop Miege), [player_tooltip player_id='152166' first='Ali' last='Olson'] (Bishop Miege), [player_tooltip player_id='495580' first='Grace' last='Rowland'] (Andale), [player_tooltip player_id='122210' first='Maddie' last='Schrandt'] (Andale), Reagan Smith (Circle)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->