Q’s Class 6A Preview: Up For Grabs
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Regardless of what the experts think, Class 6A is up for grabs with a loaded field. I was seven of eight in my picks of who would advance. I tried to get fancy and go for a big upset or…
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Continue ReadingRegardless of what the experts think, Class 6A is up for grabs with a loaded field. I was seven of eight in my picks of who would advance. I tried to get fancy and go for a big upset or I would have been eight for eight. Nonetheless, here are the eight teams and what I expect to happen this week. As a refresher, the top two teams from each pool advance to the final four.
Pool 1: 1. Blue Valley North, 4. Blue Valley West, 5. Washburn-Rural, 8. Maize
Pool 2: 2. Mill Valley, 3. Olathe Northwest, 6. Garden City, 7. Manhattan
Pool 1
Blue Valley North (34-3)
Key Players: Logan Parks Logan Parks 5'11" | S Blue Valley North | 2025 State #8 Nation KS , Janelle Green Janelle Green 5'9" | S Blue Valley North | 2024 State #68 Nation KS , Jenna McClure Jenna McClure 5'8" | OH Blue Valley North | 2025 State KS , Felicia Wu Felicia Wu 5'6" | S Blue Valley North | 2024 State KS , Reese Maslowski Reese Maslowski 5'10" | OH Blue Valley North | 2027 State KS , Jaden Goldberg Jaden Goldberg 5'7" | DS/L Blue Valley North | 2026 State KS
Blue Valley North started the year winning their first twenty-five matches, before losing to second-seed Mill Valley. They lost again in the same tournament and have won eight straight since their last defeat to Mill Valley again. This team relies heavily on Logan Parks Logan Parks 5'11" | S Blue Valley North | 2025 State #8 Nation KS and Janelle Green Janelle Green 5'9" | S Blue Valley North | 2024 State #68 Nation KS to make things happen. Jenna McClure Jenna McClure 5'8" | OH Blue Valley North | 2025 State KS has been a key scorer on the pin with over 200 kills on the year. Freshman Reese Maslowski Reese Maslowski 5'10" | OH Blue Valley North | 2027 State KS has been reliable. The defense and passing of Felicia Wu Felicia Wu 5'6" | S Blue Valley North | 2024 State KS will be key in their march toward a state title.
Blue Valley West (29-9)
Key Players: Lily Wedman Lily Wedman 5'8" | S Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS , Peyton Kubick Peyton Kubick 6'1" | OH Blue Valley West | 2027 State KS , Alex Myers Alex Myers 6'1" | RS Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS , Ella Davidson Ella Davidson 5'10" | OH Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS , Allison Heck Allison Heck 6'0" | MB Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS , Brookelyn Hatton Brookelyn Hatton 5'4" | DS/L Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS , Alyssa Young Alyssa Young 5'8" | DS/L Blue Valley West | 2026 State KS , Carlie Pandjaris Carlie Pandjaris 5'8" | OH Blue Valley West | 2026 State KS
The scary thing is all the players listed above are juniors or younger. Every loss this year comes to a team in the state tournament in Kansas. The other defeat came to Skutt Catholic out of Nebraska. It was a wait-and-hold-your-breath moment in week one when Lily Wedman Lily Wedman 5'8" | S Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS went down. She bounced back and has been back in the driver’s seat since. Peyton Kubick Peyton Kubick 6'1" | OH Blue Valley West | 2027 State KS made her mark early in the season and the freshman has been stellar all year. Scoring shouldn’t be an issue for this team and the eyes will be on Hatton, Young, and Pandjaris to keep the ball off the floor.
Washburn Rural (28-10)
Key Players: Jada Ingram Jada Ingram 5'11" | MB Washburn Rural | 2024 State #61 Nation KS , Zoe Canfield Zoe Canfield 5'9" | S Washburn Rural | 2024 State KS , Stella Kelly Stella Kelly 5'9" | S Washburn Rural | 2026 State KS , Layla Collins Layla Collins 5'11" | OH Washburn Rural | 2025 State KS , Destiny Ochs
We know little about Washburn from the statistical lens. They don’t post their stats. They went through a rough patch in their schedule in mid-September before finding a rhythm and going on a winning streak of their own. A big win over Maize South to close out the regular season was a big confidence booster. Jada Ingram Jada Ingram 5'11" | MB Washburn Rural | 2024 State #61 Nation KS will be looked upon to carry the load offensively. The only team in this pool they’ve faced is Blue Valley West, with West winning the most latest contests a couple of weeks ago.
Maize (19-18)
Key Players: Joscelyn Buckley Joscelyn Buckley 5'11" | OH Maize | 2024 State KS , Chloe Linville Chloe Linville 6'0" | MB Maize | 2024 State KS , Lauren Welch Lauren Welch 5'6" | DS/L Maize | 2025 State KS , Jordyn Bird Jordyn Bird 5'7" | S Maize | 2024 State KS , Bethanie Haag Bethanie Haag 5'4" | DS/L Maize | 2025 State KS
Maize ended the season in a tough tournament that saw them pick up some losses to some pretty good competition. They have a win over one team in the state tournament, Garden City. Joscelyn Buckley Joscelyn Buckley 5'11" | OH Maize | 2024 State KS has led the way for them offensively with around 3 kills per set.
Pool 1 Predictions: Blue Valley North and Blue Valley West advance
Pool 2
Mill Valley (32-5)
Key Players: Kaitlyn Burke Kaitlyn Burke 5'10" | OH Mill Valley | 2024 State KS , Riley Riggs Riley Riggs 6'0" | OH Mill Valley | 2027 State KS , Saida Jacobs Saida Jacobs 6'1" | MB Mill Valley | 2025 State KS , Ashlyn Blazer Ashlyn Blazer 6'0" | MB Mill Valley | 2025 State KS , Ella Florez Ella Florez 5'9" | S Mill Valley | 2026 State KS , Corinne Schwindt Corinne Schwindt 5'8" | DS/L Mill Valley | 2026 State KS
I’ve said this a couple of times now but I didn’t expect this season from Mill Valley. They dropped their opening match to Blue Valley West. Ok, not a big deal. They were then defeated by Blue Valley North. Again, not a big deal. They then lost to Olathe South and to me that was a big deal. But they said don’t worry about us and went and won 13 straight, including wins over Olathe Northwest and Blue Valley North. They are now on a 12-match win streak entering the state tournament. Ella Florez Ella Florez 5'9" | S Mill Valley | 2026 State KS has had a good second season leading the team. A key thing to keep an eye on this weekend is the play of Saida Jacobs Saida Jacobs 6'1" | MB Mill Valley | 2025 State KS and Ashlyn Blazer Ashlyn Blazer 6'0" | MB Mill Valley | 2025 State KS . They have been big at the net turning back attacks.
Olathe Northwest (31-5)
Key Players: Skyler Pierce Skyler Pierce 6'3" | OH Olathe Northwest | 2024 State #4 Nation KS , Jillian Huckabey Jillian Huckabey 6'0" | OH Olathe Northwest | 2024 State #74 Nation KS , Lauren Roedinger, Emmy Sher Emmy Sher 5'8" | DS/L Olathe Northwest | 2024 State KS , Katie Mccormick, Addisen Horn Addisen Horn 5'8" | S Olathe Northwest | 2024 State KS
Like Mill Valley, went down in the first match to St. Thomas Aquinas. The second match was Blue Valley North. Then ten straight wins before dropping a match to a down Blue Valley team. Today they won 17 matches in a row and playing as well as anyone in the state. Pierce and Huckabey are both averaging over 4 kills per set, so as they go this team will go. Roedinger has been good in the middle and Sher holds down the back row.
Garden City (25-13)
Key Players: Piper Harris Piper Harris 5'10" | OH Garden City | 2025 State KS , Kamdyn Carr, KJ Pinchon, Lexi Arwine
Garden City is back to state after a 25-win season. They were slow out the gate losing six of their first nine matches but caught lightning in a bottle, going on a 13-match streak. They are the only team not holding a win over a state-qualified team in classes 5 or 6A. Piper Harris Piper Harris 5'10" | OH Garden City | 2025 State KS has paced the team in kills with Lexi Arwine dishing the ball around to her hitters.
Manhattan (23-14)
Key Players: Bailey Busch Bailey Busch 5'7" | OH Manhattan | 2027 State KS , Tatum Tindall Tatum Tindall 6'1" | MB Manhattan | 2024 State KS , Jaden McGee Jaden McGee 5'10" | MB Manttan-Ogden | 2024 State KS , Dakotah Garcia, Addison Cox, Serania Fonoti Serania Fonoti 5'6" | S Manhattan | 2027 State KS
Manhattan was tested early, embracing a five-match losing streak to some of the better teams in the state. They bounced back to win three straight before another short losing streak to another group of tough teams. I said last week in my district preview, that those losses are what made me pick them to advance to state. They beat the teams they were supposed to beat and competed against better competition. Cox and Fonoti have done well in the 6-2 running the show. Busch and Tindall are the key offensive weapons.
Pool 2 Predictions: Mill Valley and Olathe Northwest advance
Semi-Finals:
Blue Valley West vs. Olathe Northwest
Two of BVW’s defeats came to Olathe Northwest this season. We discussed the quote-unquote youth of the team. On the other side, the Ravens are a senior-laden team with two of the top players in the state and country. We like ONW to advance.
Blue Valley North vs. Mill Valley
My on my. What a match. We shared earlier, that Mill Valley holds the advantage this year in head-to-head matchups. It’s hard to beat a team three times they say but Mill Valley does have more offensive weapons on paper. Blue Valley North also has players who’ve played in big games before. That is the key in our mind, who is ready for the biggest match in their high school careers, and that scale tips towards BVN to get the win.
Championship
I can’t call it. But if I was forced to then I’m picking Blue Va…wait Olathe…I really can’t I hope for a great match if these two teams meet up.
3rd Place
Mill Valley over Blue Valley West
Olathe Northwest is the pick I think