Class 5 Preview: Districts 5 and 6

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Postseason time! We bring you some previews to prepare you for the week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>District 5</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rock Bridge, Battle, Helias, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Blue Springs South, Smith-Cotton, Fort Osage, Hickman</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This district is a three-team battle with one dark horse. The top three seeds are capable of winning this district along with the winner of Blue Springs and Grain Valley.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top seed Rock Bridge comes in 19-6. They hold a recent win over Battle last week and own a win over third seed Helias Catholic. [player_tooltip player_id='237014' first='Maeve' last='Rush'] leads the Rock Bridge attack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Battle is 18-8-7. When they take the court they will depend on [player_tooltip player_id='540290' first='Janaya' last='Weitkemper'] to help navigate them through the rounds continuing her stellar play. Battle does own a win over Helias, beating them in five sets. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Helias has the most wins in the district with 26. As mentioned, they have suffered losses to the top two seeds but [player_tooltip player_id='540282' first='Hannah' last='Hentges'] is known for going off and could elevate her team to a big win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blue Springs and Grain Valley have split their two matches this season. They play tougher schedules in my opinion and would not be surprised if either won a semifinal match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>My pick, hmmm...let's go with Helias Catholic to shake things up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>District 6</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ozark, Nixa, Lebanon, Kickapoo, Republic, Glendale, Willard, Branson</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ozark is the top seed with their 33-3 record. The impressive part is every team they have faced from this district they have defeated this season, including a sweep of Nixa a week ago. They have gotten great play from the trio of [player_tooltip player_id='219778' first='Tara' last='Venable'], [player_tooltip player_id='219783' first='Skylar' last='Hilton'], and [player_tooltip player_id='237807' first='Reece' last='Cook']. Cook has tallied over 1,000 assists this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nixa comes in with 30 wins to only 3 defeats. They have also played many teams in the district and beat all of them except for Ozark. They also have a win over Kansas City power Liberty. [player_tooltip player_id='490209' first='Gwen' last='Kubik'] has been steady offensively while [player_tooltip player_id='487562' first='Mara' last='Coulter'] has been lights out defensively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For me, it will come down to Ozark and Nixa battling it out for the district champion. After seeing the Ozark sweep a week ago, it's hard for me to pick Nixa and Ozark will be raising the district plaque. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->