Class 6A State Tournament Recap

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year the team I picked to win it didn't get it done after a perfect regular season. They ended their season with two losses at the state tournament. This year they dropped their second match of the year to St. Jame's and they didn't look back, winning 44 straight matches to be crowned 6A State Champions. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='120008' first='Brooklyn' last='DeLeye'], [player_tooltip player_id='214637' first='Chloe' last='Calgren'], </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='120044' first='Taylor' last='Russell']</strong> capped off a tremendous final campaign for Washburn Rural Lady Blues. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Blues took down Blue Valley West, Blue Valley, and Liberal to earn their spot in the semifinal round outscoring their opponents 150-93 along the way. By going undefeated, they clinched the top spot in the pool and the other three teams would battle it out for the second spot. Both Blue Valleys in the pool handled Liberal with ease and their match at 12:30 would prove to be the one for all the marbles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blue Valley West and Blue Valley both spent weeks in the KC Metro Power 15 this year. The two teams faced off once this year, a Tiger win in four sets in the middle of September. This match had big implications as a chance at a state title was in play. Both teams struggled offensively with Blue Valley hitting .167 and West .042. When looking at those numbers you would think it was a Blue Valley sweep but a 25-22 second set win by the Jaguars kept them in the fight. The strength offensively of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='152172' first='Julia' last='Kinney'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='152162' first='Connelly' last='Kilgore']</strong> and their combined 23 kills was enough to capture a three-set victory and advance to the semifinal round. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='173371' first='Ella' last='Davidson']</strong> led West with 11 kills. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The other pool featured defending state champion Blue Valley North. They started the year strong before hitting a rough patch and some may have counted them out but they showed on day 1 they wouldn't just hand over their title. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='154041' first='Logan' last='Parks']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='119693' first='Janelle' last='Green']</strong> helped lead the Mustangs to an undefeated first day going 6-0 in sets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Like with the other pool, the race for second place was on with three teams more than capable based on their year. Wichita Northwest was the first to be eliminated from the mix after dropping their first two matches. Mill Valley got what would be a crucial win in their second match of the day over Lawrence Free State after losing the opening match to Blue Valley North. The first set went back and forth, with the Jaguars pulling it out 26-24. Freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='154038' first='Ella' last='Florez']</strong> delivered 8 kills on 19 swings to help Mill Valley get the sweep. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Being 0-2, a Grizzlies win would have put three teams at 1-2 in the pool and they tried their best to play spoiler winning the first set, -23. Mill Valley regrouped and took care of business getting the next two, -18 and -21. Florez led the way again with 15 kills, joined by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='152830' first='Kaitlyn' last='Burke']'s</strong> 12. Wichita Northwest was paced by 10 kills each from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='214640' first='Grace' last='Dickerson']</strong> and Alexandra <strong>Workman</strong>. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We moved to day 2 and the top seeds in each pool would face the second seeds. Washburn jumped all over Mill Valley in the first set, dismantling them -9. They showed some fight in the second but still fell short -18. The remaining Blue Valley schools got to see each other again in the other semifinal. The two teams split the previous contests this season. Many think getting the first set is huge and the Tigers got it done with a late run to seal it, -20. The Mustangs could only manage 21 kills in the match and it wasn't enough as Blue Valley earned the sweep. <strong>Tori Gelles</strong> dished out 27 assists and Kilgore had a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blue Valley North didn't have long to hang their heads and dominated Mill Valley to get the 3rd place trophy. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The championship match was a good one. I liked to frame it as the offense of the Blues versus the defense of the Tigers. Of course, the two faced off the previous day but they also saw each other back in September, which also ended in a Washburn Rural sweep. The first set was even early before a Rural run gave them breathing room before finishing the set with a 25-20 win behind strong play from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='201027' first='Jada' last='Ingram']</strong>. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='150068' first='Ryan' last='McAleer']</strong> tried her best to keep the balls off the ground, leading the way with 12 digs in the match but it wasn't enough as Washburn Rural etched out the second set 26-24 to earn a state title. Great effort by Blue Valley playing down the stretch without setter <strong>Kate Peterson</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>All-Tournament Team:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='120008' first='Brooklyn' last='DeLeye'] (Washburn), [player_tooltip player_id='154038' first='Ella' last='Florez'] (Mill Valley), Tori Gelles (Blue Valley), Jenelle Green (Blue Valley North), [player_tooltip player_id='152162' first='Connelly' last='Kilgore'] (Blue Valley), [player_tooltip player_id='152172' first='Julia' last='Kinney'] (Blue Valley), [player_tooltip player_id='201027' first='Jada' last='Ingram'] (Washburn Rural), [player_tooltip player_id='150068' first='Ryan' last='McAleer'] (Blue Valley), [player_tooltip player_id='154041' first='Logan' last='Parks'] (Blue Valley North), [player_tooltip player_id='120044' first='Taylor' last='Russell'] (Washburn Rural), [player_tooltip player_id='120010' first='Sawyer' last='Thomsen'] (Lawrence Free State), [player_tooltip player_id='173372' first='Lily' last='Wedman'] (Blue Valley West)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->