KC Metro Power 15: Week 1

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now that we have volleyball played on both sides of the state line. Let's get week one of our rankings going!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1. Blue Valley West (3-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We will see a lot of jockeying early in the season, I'm sure, with so much good volleyball! The new number one team in the metro is Blue Valley West. They opened the season with a win over then-No. 2 Blue Valley Southwest in a crosstown showdown. They followed that win with a sweep of 5th-ranked Olathe West. [player_tooltip player_id='480396' first='Peyton' last='Kubik'] and sister [player_tooltip player_id='807962' first='Jensen' last='Kubik'] are pacing the team offensively, both averaging over 3.5 kills per set. [player_tooltip player_id='518345' first='Nyah' last='Harris'] and Sasha Cromer are both doing a good job of running the offense early in the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2. St. Thomas Aquinas (4-1) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Saints started the year with a win over previously top-ranked Mill Valley in the St. James Volleyball Jam. They have one loss early in the year to a traditionally strong Omaha Skutt team. They also have a win over ranked Park Hill South. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3. Mill Valley (2-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mill Valley drops just a couple of spots after dropping their opener to now 2nd-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas in three. They have won their next two matches, including one under the lights versus Piper. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4. Blue Valley Southwest (3-1) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Southwest only drops a couple of spots after their opening season loss at the hands of our top-ranked team. They are now on a three-match winning streak. They have a balanced attack going early in the year with [player_tooltip player_id='222097' first='Taylor' last='Stanley'], [player_tooltip player_id='472938' first='Hailie' last='Vaughn'], and [player_tooltip player_id='222092' first='Willow' last='Weninger']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5. Olathe West (3-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Owls stay put in the 5th position after a win over then 6th-ranked Lee's Summit West. They dropped a match to the now top-ranked Blue Valley West team. [player_tooltip player_id='446251' first='Kylee' last='Webb'] is off to a good start for Olate West.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>6. St. James (8-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Thunder moved up one spot to six after a win over the top ten-ranked Lansing at the time. They are off to an 8-1 start, losing a tough match to Olathe Northwest in three. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>7. Lee's Summit West (2-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We drop the Titans' only spot after losing to the 5th-ranked Olathe West to start the season. They won a couple of matches last week in four sets. We mentioned that to start the season, we would be interested in the next player up besides Massengill. It looks like [player_tooltip player_id='815662' first='Lauren' last='Newbold'] has answered the bell early in the year, averaging just under 3 kills per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>8. Park Hill (5-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park Hill played three matches in three days last week and took care of business, along with a couple of 2-1 wins in a tri over the weekend. The team runs a 6-2 and is getting good play from setters Tessa Walker and Myer Cohara. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>9. Park Hill South (5-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Panthers are 5-1 to start the year, with that 1 coming at the hands of 2nd-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas. They own a win over a good Lansing team. [player_tooltip player_id='838860' first='Sydni' last='Lafasciano'] is off to a fast start, averaging over four kills per set. The Park Hill teams are set for an early-season clash this Thursday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>10. Belton (1-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Belton drops a couple of spots only due to other teams playing both more and better competition. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>11. Platte County (5-1) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Platte County slides up one spot after going 3-1 in Nebraska. They have a showdown on Tuesday with 10th-ranked Belton. [player_tooltip player_id='525837' first='Malin' last='Cole'] is pacing the offense in the absence of [player_tooltip player_id='828322' first='Miah' last='Omoike']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>12. Maranatha Christian (1-0) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Maranatha Christian has played one match and challenged themselves by playing Odessa, a Missouri Class 3 school. [player_tooltip player_id='809610' first='Elizabeth' last='Gilmore'] and [player_tooltip player_id='808029' first='Maggie' last='Brisk'] tallied 12 kills in the contest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>13. Lee's Summit North (5-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Broncos enter the rankings in week one after a 5-0 start to the season. They defeated talented Smithville and Pembroke Hill in the Smithville Quad over the weekend. [player_tooltip player_id='485632' first='Leighton' last='Benne'] played well from the setter position, and [player_tooltip player_id='357615' first='Piper' last='Bahr'] was effective on the pin Saturday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>14. Lansing (2-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With their two losses to two top-ten ranked teams, Lansing deserves to hang around in the rankings, as we appreciate them challenging themselves early in the year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15.</strong> <strong>St. Michael's (3-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As with Lansing, we aren't going to punish a team early for playing tough competition. 3-2 to start the year with losses to Topeka Hayden and St. James, two teams that made deep postseason runs last year. [player_tooltip player_id='732904' first='Jordan' last='Redd'] has started her senior season off with 48 kills. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->