Tournament Preview: Class 5A Eastern Sub State

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Dig Kansas Nation thanks for your support. I am proud to announce that Prep Dig Kansas now has 290 total subscribers. That is exciting news and has the site closer to achieving 300 subscribers and moving up the ladder for leading sites in the Prep Dig family.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is my third and final report today which previews the Class 5A Eastern Sub State.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This report provides insight on all four Sub State brackets and one prospect to watch from each grouping.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sub State 1: </strong>Blue Valley Southwest (Host), Turner, Shawnee Heights, Basehor-Linwood</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='516250' first='Evelyn' last='Igbenebor']</strong>, 5'9”, MB, Blue Valley Southwest, ‘27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I have seen every team but one play in this Sub State and I think it could be highly competitive. Igbenebor is a prospect I have not featured much on a loaded Southwest roster. She is currenlty ranked No. 83 overall in the class of 2027 by Prep Dig Kansas. She is fourth on the team with 131 kills. The Timberwolves are the No. 1 Seed in the Eastern Substate. Southwest (30-5) will open against Turner (9-21). The winner of that match will face the winner of No. 8 Seed Shawnee Heights (17-18) and No. 9 Seed Basehor-Linwood (17-18).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sub State 2</strong>: St. Thomas Aquinas (Host), Leavenworth, Spring Hill, Highland Park</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='222090' first='Alayna' last='Vaeth']</strong>, 5'9”, S, St. Thomas Aquinas, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vaeth is the floor general for the No. 2 seeded Saints. She has registered 792 assists in 74 sets. That number eclipses her freshman and sophomore assist totals combined. She is currently ranked No. 18 overall in the Kansas Class of 2026. &nbsp;The Saints (28-5) open the postseason against No. 15 Seed Leavenworth (13-21). The winner will face the winner of the match between No. 7 Seed Spring Hill (19-19-17) and No. 10 Seed Highland Park (12-12).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sub State 3</strong>: St. James Academy (Host), Schlagle, Lansing, Piper</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='154039' first='Reese' last='Messer']</strong>, 5'11”, S, St. James Academy, ‘25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For being ranked No. 6 overall in the Kansas Class of 2025, Messer has not gotten a ton of attention of late. She has verbally committed to USC to continue her playing career. She leads the Thunder in kills with 279 to go along with 539 assists in 79 sets. The Thunder (26-6) are the No. 3 Seed in the East and host Schlagle (10-18) in the first round. The winner will advance to play the winner of No. 6 Seed Lansing (21-13) and No. 11 Seed Piper (14-16).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sub State Four</strong>: Sumner Academy (Host), KC-Washington, Pittsburg, De Soto</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='222094' first='Kylie' last='Groves']</strong>, 5'4”, S/DS/L, De Soto, ‘26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Groves is currently ranked No. 88 overall in the class of 2026. She has collected 367 assists and 149 digs for the Bobcats. De Soto(15-19) is the No. 12 Seed in the East and will play No. 5 Seed Pittsburg (22-12) to open Sub State. The winner will face No. 4 Seed Sumner Academy (17-4) and No. 13 Seed KC-Washington (8-13).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->