St. James Volleyball Slam Morning Top Performers
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Volleyball is off and running in the KC Metro. The annual St. James Volleyball Slam was not short of big-time players. Here are some who caught our attention during the first four matches. Tiana Simmons – MB – 2023 –…
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Continue ReadingVolleyball is off and running in the KC Metro. The annual St. James Volleyball Slam was not short of big-time players. Here are some who caught our attention during the first four matches.
Tiana Simmons – MB – 2023 – Blue Valley
Simmons looked good in the match and stood out to us immediately. She showed she can score in front of the setter and had a powerful swing on the slide. She also caused havoc in the blocking department sending many attacks back.
Kate Peterson – S – 2023 – Blue Valley
Peterson was phenomenal in the contest. She had great sets throughout the match allowing her hitters to let it rip. We were also impressed with her blocking and defense.
Julia Kinney Julia Kinney 5'11" | OH Blue Valley | 2023 State KS – OH – 2023 – Blue Valley
Kinney showed so many shots in the 8 am match to keep the defense guessing. She went cross-court, corner, through the block, roll…a little bit of everything.
Ryan McAleer Ryan McAleer 5'5" | DS/L Blue Valley | 2024 State #29 Nation KS – L – 2024 – Blue Valley
The number of times the Olathe East bench jumped up or the crowd cheered thinking a point was scored only to be disappointed due to McAleer doing her thing. She was her usual impressive self and even showed off the hands with an overhead two-hand set to the pin for a kill.
Chloe Tyrrell Chloe Tyrrell 5'10" | OH Olathe East | 2024 State KS – OH – 2024 – Olathe East
Tyrell was a bright spot for Olathe East in this match and kept them in it with her offensive play-making ability.
Karlie Perell – S – 2025 – Olathe East
We have to give a shout-out to Perell as she did a good job of getting swings for her team. When she was able to get her feet set she placed the ball in good spots for her hitters. During out-of-system balls she still managed to get the ball on the net.
Logan Parks Logan Parks 5'11" | S Blue Valley North | 2025 State #8 Nation KS – RS/S – 2025 – Blue Valley North
She showed the whole toolkit this morning. Parks put down some balls with authority and pulled the string a time or two. She also delivered some great sets when she rotated into the setter position. Let us not forget to add her top spin served caused headaches throughout the morning for passers.
Janelle Green Janelle Green 5'9" | S Blue Valley North | 2024 State #68 Nation KS RS/S – 2024 – Blue Valley North
Passing dimes all match and even saw her take some high-quality swings for kills. Greene made everything look easy on the court this morning.
Sophia McIntyre Sophia McIntyre 5'10" | RS Blue Valley North | 2023 State KS – RS – 2023 – Blue Valley North
The smooth southpaw had some timely kills from the right side through the match and maybe none bigger than finding the floor to tie the match at 22s in set 2.
Sawyer Thomsen Sawyer Thomsen 6'2" | MB Free State | 2023 State #145 Nation KS – MB – 2023 – Lawrence Free State
Thomsen was unstoppable in the middle and put down a few slides. Her blocking proved to be huge sending back quite a few attacks throughout the contest. We can’t leave out the aces she dropped in.
Fiona VanDyke Fiona VanDyke 6'1" | RS Lawrence Free State | 2024 State KS – OH – 2024 – Lawrence Free State
We loved Van Dyke’s energy and competitiveness. She took some great swings from the left side that powered through defenders. She took a couple of big swings, including one out of system late in set 2 then dropped in two aces to close out set 2.
Rylee Unruh Rylee Unruh 5'11" | S Free State | 2023 State KS – S – 2023 – Lawrence Free State
When the match is tight, her decision-making was on point! Nothing frustrates me more than a setter not going to their hot hand when they need one. Unruh also did a good job of deciding when to dump on two for an easy point.
Lainie Douglas Lainie Douglas 6'3" | OH Blue Valley Northwest | 2024 State KS – OH – 2024 – Blue Valley Northwest
Douglas was a consistent scoring threat from the pin when she checked into the lineup. She also provided some big-time blocks when the team needed a lift.
Marly Burbach Marly Burbach 5'11" | S Blue Valley Northwest | 2025 State KS – S – 2025 – Blue Valley Northwest
The young setter looked very experienced on the court this morning. She was efficient with her sets and had very limited ball-handling errors during the match.
Alayna Pearson Alayna Pearson 5'6" | DS/L Blue Valley Northwest | 2023 State #110 Nation KS – L – 2023 – Blue Valley Northwest
The defender has some big defensive plays in this match when her team needed them. She also came thru down the wire in set three with some aces and tough serves that kept the opponents out of system.
Halley Laurent – DS – 2025 – Shawnee Mission Northwest
Laurent was really good at navigating the back row defensively. She also has numerous aces throughout the contest.
Tori Creason Tori Creason 5'9" | S Shawnee Mission NW | 2023 State KS – S – 2023 – Shawnee Mission Northwest
Creason did a tremendous job of running the offense and getting balls out to her hitters on the pin and in the middle. She had to chase down some tough balls but was still able to make lemons out of lemonade.
Olivia Martin Olivia Martin 6'1" | MB Shawnee Mission NW | 2024 State KS – MB – 2024 – Shawnee Mission Northwest
Martin was able to deliver time and time again in the middle for the Cougars. She was also deadly behind the service line with quite a few aces in the match.
Ava Anderson Ava Anderson 6'3" | MB Lees Summit West | 2024 State MO – MB – 2024 – Lee’s Summit West
Anderson had her own little block party going on early in the match. She followed that up with some strong offensive output.
Zoe Barnes – S – 2023 – Lee’s Summit West
I was very impressed with Barnes throughout the contest, not only with her sets but her decision-making.
Lily Wedman Lily Wedman 5'8" | S Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS – S – 2025 – Blue Valley West
She showed why she is one of the premier setters in the class not only in the state but in the country. Her confidence and ability in her skill set were on display with the difficulty of sets she dished out.
Alex Myers Alex Myers 6'1" | RS Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS – RS – 2025 – Blue Valley West
The young pin has some talent and she had a strong start to the match, scoring the first three points. She had some key kills and aces in the second set that helped West gab some momentum and run away.
Carlie Pandjaris Carlie Pandjaris 5'8" | OH Blue Valley West | 2026 State KS – OH – 2026 – Blue Valley West
The freshman looked very good early on in the match and we saw no first-match jitters. She attacked fearlessly and was able to get a few kills early in her high school career.