Chieftains Defeat Eagles For Rossville Title

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tonganoxie Chieftains went a perfect 6-0 to win the Rossville Tournament on September 16.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Silver Lake finished runner-up in the tournament and both of the Eagle losses came to Tonganoxie.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at six athletes from the two teams that had the best overall tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I scouted five matches in the tournament watching Silver Lake twice and each of Tonganoxie's four matches. Official stats for the bracket games were not yet available when this report was published.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='355653' first='Finley' last='Rieke'], </strong>6'1”, MH, Tonganoxie, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rieke is a superstar in the making. It's tough to peg a player so young as a Division I talent, but that is exactly where I see Rieke's ceiling. She had 34 kills and 10 blocks combined in the four matches I scouted. She is tall and hits the ball with power. Teams cannot overpass against the Chieftains or defenders will be eating Moltens for dinner.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='495661' first='Mikinzi' last='Smoots'], </strong>5'8, OH, Tonganoxie, ‘24</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Smoot caught me by surprise with her performance during the tournament. She is not the tallest player for Tonganoxie, but she arguably could be the best jumper. She racked up 36 kills and 25 digs in the matches I scouted. She has high academic goals and it is not clear how much she wants to play collegiately, but a JUCO program would be a solid fit for her.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='342343' first='Lucy' last='Rieke']</strong>, 5'9”, MH, Tonganoxie, ‘24</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rieke is a physical specimen who would be a great team player for an NAIA or JUCO squad. She is the emotional leader and strongest player on the team, but once again she may not be 100 percent committed to playing at the college level. She finished with 27 kills and five blocks in the four pool play matches.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219726' first='Ella' last='Bolan']</strong>, 5'11”, OH, Silver Lake, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is no doubt that Bolan is committed to playing collegiate volleyball and she might be one of the best small-school prospects in the Class of 2025. She plays with extreme composure and can crush a solid set. In the two pool play matches I scouted she had 15 kills and four blocks. It was the second time I have watched Silver Lake play this season and Bolan never disappoints.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219727' first='Alana' last='Brewster'], </strong>5'11”, MH, Silver Lake, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The interesting thing about Brewster is that she could be the top hitter for several schools in the area, but is an auxiliary attacker with Bolan on the roster. She can hit a mean cross-court attack and can play six rotations if needed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='459041' first='Jaiden' last='Wise']</strong>, 5'8”, MH/OH, Silver Lake, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wise might be the best pure athlete on Silver Lake's squad. She is quick and can really jump. She has a big reach and communicates well with her teammates. Again, it would be easy to overlook her skills based on the multiple weapons the Eagles possess.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->