4A State Recap: Miege Does it Again

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was the year I thought Bishop Miege would be dethroned as state champion. The record didn't bother me, as the last year or two they've had close to .500 records entering the state tournament. They play one of the tougher schedules in the state and it's what in my opinion prepares them for the gauntlet called the state tournament. The difference with Miege versus many other 4A schools, they have some of the top club players in the state on their team, which gives them the talent advantage. With all of that being said, I picked Clearwater to win it all this year, and Miege answered by saying the title returns to Shawnee Mission for one more year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Pool 1</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When Clearwater defeated Miege in their opening match, I felt even better about my pick. The sweep put the top seed at an early advantage in pool play joining Andale as the first two teams to clinch a win. The Stags would get the first back-to-back match of the afternoon and get by Eudora without much drama to even their record to 1-1. The next match started with one of the more entertaining sets of the day, going extra and Andale winning it 30-28 over Clearwater. That first set appeared to deflate the top seed as Andale would dominate set 2, winning it -14. Miege would handle Andale to join them at 2-1 for the day. The final match would be big. A Clearwater win would invite a three-way tie. Eudora could play the spoiler with a win. They would win the first set to put Clearwater in a must-win situation and they responded by taking the second. However, Eudora would go on a mid-set run and finish it 25-16 to get their first win of the tournament and end Clearwater's dream season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Pool 2</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McPherson ran through the second pool as I expected, winning all of their sets along the way. The fight was for the second spot and it was drama-filled with three teams finishing 1-2. The tie-breaker would work in favor of Louisburg due to their three-set loss to Holton, which gave them three total set wins. The first set was huge as Louisburg escaped with the second 30-28 win of the day. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Semifinal</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The champs made very quick work of Louisburg, 25-10, 25-17. The Class 4A player of the year, [player_tooltip player_id='173376' first='Lauren' last='Lopez'] had 6 kills in this match, while [player_tooltip player_id='493386' first='Kirston' last='Verhulst'] tallied 7 and freshman Georgia Lemay added 6. [player_tooltip player_id='119689' first='Ava' last='Martin'] dished out 22 assists in the win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second match was a lot closer but McPherson took care of business in two after a -21, -17 sweep. McPherson doesn't enter stats, so I'm unable to highlight the stat leaders for the match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Finals</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The championship match was uneventful as Miege dominated the opponents in two quick sets, -12, and -14. The winners hit .327 for the match. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='342341' first='Gabby' last='Anderson'] was huge behind the service line with five aces in the contest. The champs placed three on the all-tournament team in Lopez, Martin, and Verhulst. The runner-ups were paced by [player_tooltip player_id='489345' first='Brooke' last='Doile'], [player_tooltip player_id='495588' first='Alex' last='Romero'], and [player_tooltip player_id='489341' first='Ava' last='Romero'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">3rd Place Match</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Andale dropped the first set in a close battle 23-25 but made a big statement in set 2, winning it 25-8. That momentum was enough to deliver another impressive set in the third, winning 25-16. [player_tooltip player_id='357543' first='Hayden' last='Grimes'] and [player_tooltip player_id='495580' first='Grace' last='Rowland'] were named to the all-tournament team for Andale. Louisburg was represented by Hailey Sword. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">All-tournament team from teams not in the semifinals</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='172454' first='Jacqueline' last='Corcoran']; Circle, Kezy McArtor; Clearwater, [player_tooltip player_id='495573' first='Cora' last='Miller']; Holton</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->