State Line Tidbits: What We’ve Learned After a Month

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The season got going near the end of August on both sides of the state line. So today, I will spend some time talking about what has been learned over the last month. This won't be an exhaustive list with so many happenings but here are the things that caught my attention.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Blair Oaks hasn't skipped a beat</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a coaching change, some may have expected the team to take a step back but that hasn't been the case for Blair Oaks. Any coach inheriting this team was going to be in good shape with the return of [player_tooltip player_id='124226' first='Autumn' last='Bax'] and [player_tooltip player_id='150054' first='Bailey' last='Braun'] to score points and [player_tooltip player_id='234314' first='Libby' last='Juergensmeyer'] to spread the ball around. [player_tooltip player_id='476879' first='Gabby' last='Horn'] has been key this year also in helping the team to a 23-5-1 record. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Miege takes their lumps but...</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We aren't surprised most years by Bishop Miege's record heading into post-season play. With a strong returning group, we did expect their season to have more wins but don't be alarmed. The traditional 4A school plays a heavy 5A/6A schedule during the year. [player_tooltip player_id='119689' first='Ava' last='Martin'] recently passed the 2,000 assists plateau. [player_tooltip player_id='173376' first='Lauren' last='Lopez'] and [player_tooltip player_id='493386' first='Kirston' last='Verhulst'] continue to get kills from the pin. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kansas 5A will be tough to call.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We'll stay in Kansas to talk about how deep class 5A is this year and how it's hard to give a clubhouse leader right now. The reigning state champions, St. Thomas Aquinas with [player_tooltip player_id='119725' first='Tatum' last='Grimes'] are back and will be in the hunt. They were knocked off last week by [player_tooltip player_id='154039' first='Reese' last='Messer'] and St. James, who figured to be in the conversation. A break-out team this year could be Blue Valley Southwest. Willow Wineger and [player_tooltip player_id='222097' first='Taylor' last='Stanley'] have helped lead this team to a 20-6 record. You can never count out Lansing, who has a rich tradition of making a state tournament appearance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Maize South has knocked off some stiff competition this year to show they will be in the hunt behind [player_tooltip player_id='150065' first='Camdyn' last='Stucky'] and company. Emporia has a team mixed with veteran play and youth and could be a dark horse with [player_tooltip player_id='357545' first='Jade' last='Xu'] doing numbers. Andover Central has been rolling full steam ahead at 24-1. They have three players averaging. at least three kills per set with [player_tooltip player_id='221517' first='Jordyn' last='Washington'] leading the way. Spring Hill and Topeka Seaman round out the early teams with strong chances of making noise. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Southwest Missouri stand up!</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are getting great volleyball this fall from the southwest portion of Missouri with Nixa, Kickapoo, and Ozark having strong months. Ozark boasts a 15-2 record heading into the month of October. [player_tooltip player_id='150036' first='Reagan' last='Baade'] and [player_tooltip player_id='219778' first='Tara' last='Venable'] have driven the offensive production. Nixa sits at 17-3 currently in the season, with a loss to the before-mentioned Ozark earlier this week. They started the season on a double-digit winning streak. Jacy Bray runs the offense with close to 600 assists on the season. The defense hasn't been too shabby with [player_tooltip player_id='495297' first='Paige' last='Pearcy'] holding it down in the libero jersey. Kickapoo out of Springfield has 21 wins to only 4 defeats in 2023. We matched Nixa's 11 straight wins to begin the season before losing to Nixa. They would drop 4 of 6 matches before starting a new streak of nine. [player_tooltip player_id='342439' first='Kya' last='Johnson'] has over 5 digs per set to lead the team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->