Class 4 Districts 7 and 8 Previews

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Class 4 will be like most years, highly competitive in the Kansas City area with districts 7 and 8. Today we give a look at what will take place this week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 7 (listed in order of seeds) @ Pembroke Hill</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>St. Michael the Archangel, Warrensburg, Belton, Notre Dame De Sion, Pembroke Hill, Lincoln College Prep, Raytown, Grandview, Raytown South</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Michael will enter as the top seed after a very strong 2023 regular season. They have all the right pieces in play to make a deep playoff run with a 23-5 record. They will play Wednesday against the winner of the Tuesday clash between Grandview and Raytown South. We think Grandview will win that match. Other Tuesday matches include Warrensburg, who as the two-seed will take on Raytown. [player_tooltip player_id='539975' first='Janey' last='Van Dyke'] will lead the 18-win Tigers. They shouldn't have a problem with the Blue Jays. The night-cap will see Belton go up with Lincoln College Prep. [player_tooltip player_id='222056' first='Bella' last='Scherfenberg'] has close to 400 kills on the season. Lincoln is 17-5 on the year with losses to two teams in this district (Notre Dame and Pembroke). Karter White is leading the team in assists. We have Belton getting the win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wednesday, St. Michael will take on and take down Grandview. [player_tooltip player_id='124853' first='Mikalah' last='Davis'] and Lily Vanbetter are both averaging over three kills per set. The 4 vs. 5 matchup is a match-up of two local private schools. In their lone time facing off this year, The Storm grabbed the 3-2 win over Pembroke. [player_tooltip player_id='737547' first='Ava' last='Lynn'] is leading the team in kills. On the other side of the net, Pembroke comes in 16-12-3 on the year. The Raiders are winners of six straight. [player_tooltip player_id='150040' first='Zaira' last='Kearns'] and [player_tooltip player_id='261288' first='Dawson' last='Tucker'] have done a good job of running the office. Though Sion grabbed the win in September, look for Pembroke to grab this one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Michael over Pembroke. Warrensburg defeated Belton in early September in four sets. Belton, who is a young team was also figuring out their identity. My gut wants to say Belton but Warrensburg will get it done. St. Michael will be your district champion. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 8 (listed in seed order) @ Platte County</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>St. Pius, Platte County, Smithville, Kearney, Van Horn, William Chrisman, East, Winnetonka</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The higher seeds will host the quarterfinal matches on Tuesday, the 17th. We expect this to go chalk. The tournament will get interesting on Thursday the 19th. Pius and Platte County are two of the more experienced teams in this district and are on pace for a collision course in the finals. Pius should take care of Kearney behind the play of [player_tooltip player_id='150042' first='Avery' last='Ashby'] and [player_tooltip player_id='150046' first='Claire' last='Mosh']. The Bulldogs do have some firepower on the front line with [player_tooltip player_id='222062' first='Madison' last='Browning'] getting close to four kills per set. Platte County is the winner of eight in a row and is peaking at the right time. [player_tooltip player_id='216466' first='Kendall' last='Johnson'] is steady on the pin and Tatianna Murray brings intensity in the middle. I have them over Smithville in the other semi-final. Smithville will at this point be winners of four straight but they don't have the offensive firepower to keep up with Platte County.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The championship should be a good one. Both teams have veteran rosters. Both teams have front-row players who can affect the outcome of a game. They are two teams who are aggressive behind the service line. In their early season match, Pius got the sweep and did so pretty convincingly. Johnson struggled that match going 3 for 21 with 5 hitting errors. We can't imagine that happening again. Both teams have matching defeats to St. Michael. When looking at schedules, my takeaway is Platte County positioned itself for a deep run by playing in particular tournaments and playing top teams in Missouri and Kansas. The difference in my mind will be the defense of Jenna Wheeler and Avery Walter and playing at home. Platte County is my pick for district champions. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->