Class 5 Districts 7 and 8 Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Win or go home is here! We are into the postseason for Missouri and we will start our previews with some of the matches slated to kick off on Tuesday, the 17th.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 7 (Listed in order of seeds) @ Lee's Summit North</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Lee's Summit West, Carthage, Raymore-Peculiar, St. Teresa's, Lee's Summit North, Lee's Summit, Neosho, Joplin, Ruskin</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top seed Lee's Summit West is the favorite in our eyes. They have been consistent and strong all season. Joplin and Ruskin will open things up on Tuesday before everyone gets to join the fun on Thursday. The winner of the play-in match gets Lee's Summit West. In the quarterfinal round, we will go chalk with the top seeds getting the wins. The most intriguing match is the 4 vs 5. St. Teresa's record is under .500 but they play what we would consider a strong schedule. The same can be thought of about the 5th seed as they play in the tough suburban conference. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lee's Summit West has three players averaging over two kills per set led by [player_tooltip player_id='493090' first='Kamryn' last='McDonald']. We think the ability to spread the ball around will lift them over St. Teresa. In the other semi, Carthage comes in strong defensively being led by Riann Schwartz but the offense is lacking. Izzy Bowen for Ray-Pec is getting over three kills a match and will get her team to the finals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lee's Summit West has too much and will take down Raymore-Peculiar in the finals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 8 (Listed in order of seeds) @ St. Joe Central</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Liberty North, Liberty, Staley, Park Hill, Park Hill South, North Kansas City, Central, Oak Park</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All teams will play on the opening night, the 17th. I believe the first matches will be hosted by the higher seeds. There isn't going to be a lot to unpack here. Liberty North and LIberty will face off again in another epic battle with [player_tooltip player_id='119226' first='Carlie' last='Cisneros'] and [player_tooltip player_id='153930' first='Abigail' last='Mullen'] facing off. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Before we get to that though, the slight upset we see happening in the quarterfinals will be Park Hill South over Park Hill. The two have split the two matches this year with Park Hill winning the latest in a sweep. [player_tooltip player_id='222074' first='Parker' last='Kimball'] had a big night from the middle but the pins we believe will determine this one and we lean towards Peyton Limming and [player_tooltip player_id='222075' first='Sydni' last='Lafasciano'] in the rubber match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From there, Liberty North takes down South, and Liberty beats North Kansas City. Both Liberty schools will get to travel to St. Joseph to play a match an hour away. Even though the match last month was a five-set thriller, we think the Eagles and their experience will lift them over the Blue Jays. [player_tooltip player_id='152821' first='Lauren' last='Wright'] and [player_tooltip player_id='153934' first='Emma' last='Christian']'s decision-making in big matches will be the difference maker. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->