Kansas City Metro Power 15: Week of 9/11

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I didn't do an update last week due to teams just getting their seasons going on both sides of the state line. Today we have our first rankings outside of the preseason. Let's see where we have early movement.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1. St. Thomas Aquinas (5-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Saints move up a spot and remain undefeated to start the year. They earned an opening season win over a short but still talented Olathe Northwest squad. Other impressive wins were over Lansing and traditionally strong Skutt Catholic out of Nebraska. [player_tooltip player_id='222089' first='Grace' last='Martin'] is averaging 3.6 kills per set early in the 2023 campaign. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2. Blue Valley North (11-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We were close to putting them at the top spot but a showdown with Aquinas this week gives them the chance to earn it. A strong showing in the Slam over Lee's Summit and capturing the Olathe South tournament is how the season has started for the Mustangs. Aubrey Shaw is hitting at a high percentage early in the year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3, St. James (8-2)</strong> *</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We don't have the updated record and can't locate all of the results from the weekend, so we playing the guessing game. Nonetheless, wins over Liberty North and Washburn Rural in their first two matches were impressive. They traveled to St. Louis this past weekend for a very competitive tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4. Blue Valley West (5-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West moves up a few slots after a 5-0 start to begin the season. They returned quite a few pieces but a couple of freshmen have made their presence known early. [player_tooltip player_id='173397' first='Allison' last='Heck'] is hovering around .400 in the hitting percentage category. Their only loss so far is to Skutt Catholic. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5. Olathe Northwest (4-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northwest had a really good showing being shorthanded against Aquinas. Their two losses are against our number one and two teams. They swept Bishop Miege and also beat Skutt Catholic. [player_tooltip player_id='119724' first='Jillian' last='Huckabey'] is averaging 5 kills per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>6. Heritage Christian (11-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The thing that has always impressed us about Heritage Christian is they won't duck any tough competition early in the year, which prepares them for their traditional run through the state tournament. They have two losses, one to number 3 St. James and one to a Nebraska team. They grabbed wins over Olathe West and a good DeSoto team. Three players are pacing the team with 3.2 kills per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>7. Olathe West</strong> <strong>(10-4)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Olathe West was on the team to watch list to start the year. They had some returning pieces back but lost a couple of key positions. They are 10-4 early in the 2023 season. Two of those losses come to teams ranked higher in our rankings, and another to a strong Maize South team. [player_tooltip player_id='222099' first='Ella' last='Stowell'] and [player_tooltip player_id='216375' first='Brynn' last='Stowell'] are leading the way in kills and hitting percentage. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>8. Mill Valley</strong> <strong>(6-1) *</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're unsure if they have seven or eight wins as some results aren't put in from the weekend. We do know Blue Valley West dropped them to open the season but then they rolled out four straight wins before the Olathe South tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>9. St. Michael the Archangel (5-0) *</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Michael jumps into the top ten in our updated rankings after big wins over Blue Springs, Platte County, and St. Pius. The Platte County match was a rematch of a sectional battle last year that Platte County won. They did play in a tough tournament this weekend and don't have updated records and stats so we put a * by the record for now. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>10. Spring Hill (8-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spring Hill comes in at ten after a couple of wins over 11th-ranked Blue Valley Southwest. They did suffer a loss to now 12th-ranked Lansing and a top-ten Olathe West team. [player_tooltip player_id='493461' first='Sydney' last='Buscher'] is one of two players with over three kills per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>11. Blue Valley Southwest (8-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Timberwolves enter the rankings at eleven after not being ranked to start the season. They have a win over a good Lansing team and both losses came to 10th-ranked Spring Hill. [player_tooltip player_id='173381' first='Hadley' last='Porter'] is averaging over 3 digs per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>12. Lansing (6-3)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lansing dropped one spot after starting the year 6-3. They have good wins over Bishop Miege and Park Hill South. Their losses are to teams ranked higher presently and Topeka Seaman. Tabor Scanlon is leading the team in assists, aces, and digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>13. Blue Valley Northwest (6-1) *</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We know some matches haven't been updated from the weekend but we have them at 6-1 at the moment. They fought a good Washburn Rural team in the first match in a three-set thriller. They went on to win five in a row leading to. the Olathe South tournament. We know Blue Valley North won it, so guessing there is at least one more loss not accounted for in their record. [player_tooltip player_id='222086' first='Morgan' last='Sears'] is hovering at around 5 kills per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>14. Lee's Summit West (8-3)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They ran into a buzz saw in Blue Valley North to open the year. They won four straight before losing to Liberty North. They had a good showing over the weekend in St. Louis. [player_tooltip player_id='152824' first='Emily' last='Mathis'] is showing up defensively with around 5 digs per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15. St. Teresa's Academy (4-1)</strong> *</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Stars enter the rankings after knocking off Bishop Miege and Pleasant Hill to start the year. Like other teams, we are missing results from the weekend but I feel their matches prior earned them a spot in our rankings. Margot Randall is leading the way offensively. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->