State Line Tidbits: What We’ve Learned After a Month
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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…
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Continue ReadingThe 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.
Blair Oaks hasn’t skipped a beat
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 Autumn Bax Autumn Bax 5'11" | RS Blair Oaks | 2024 State #188 Nation MO and Bailey Braun Bailey Braun 5'10" | OH Blair Oaks | 2024 State MO to score points and Libby Juergensmeyer Libby Juergensmeyer 5'7" | S Blair Oaks | 2024 State MO to spread the ball around. Gabby Horn Gabby Horn 5'10" | OH Blair Oaks | 2025 State MO has been key this year also in helping the team to a 23-5-1 record.
Miege takes their lumps but…
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. Ava Martin Ava Martin 5'10" | S Bishop Miege | 2024 State #77 Nation KS recently passed the 2,000 assists plateau. Lauren Lopez Lauren Lopez 5'10" | OH Bishop Miege | 2025 State KS and Kirston Verhulst Kirston Verhulst 5'8" | OH Bishop Miege | 2025 State KS continue to get kills from the pin.
Kansas 5A will be tough to call.
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 Tatum Grimes Tatum Grimes 6'2" | MB St. Thomas Aquinas | 2024 State #184 Nation KS are back and will be in the hunt. They were knocked off last week by Reese Messer Reese Messer 5'11" | S St. James | 2025 State #6 Nation KS and St. James, who figured to be in the conversation. A break-out team this year could be Blue Valley Southwest. Willow Wineger and Taylor Stanley Taylor Stanley 6'1" | OH Blue Valley Southwest | 2026 State KS 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.
Maize South has knocked off some stiff competition this year to show they will be in the hunt behind Camdyn Stucky Camdyn Stucky 6'1" | S Maize South | 2024 State #97 Nation KS and company. Emporia has a team mixed with veteran play and youth and could be a dark horse with Jade Xu Jade Xu 6'0" | OH Emporia | 2026 State KS 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 Jordyn Washington Jordyn Washington 6'0" | MB Andover Central | 2025 State KS leading the way. Spring Hill and Topeka Seaman round out the early teams with strong chances of making noise.
Southwest Missouri stand up!
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. Reagan Baade Reagan Baade 5'8" | OH Ozark | 2024 State MO and Tara Venable Tara Venable 5'11" | OH Ozark | 2026 State MO 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 Paige Pearcy Paige Pearcy 5'4" | DS/L Nixa | 2024 State MO 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. Kya Johnson Kya Johnson DS/L Kickapoo | 2024 State MO has over 5 digs per set to lead the team.