Kansas 5A State Previews and Predictions

The Kansas 5A State will be at the same site as its 6A counterpart, hosted in Salina at the Tony's Pizza Events Center. The competition will be held on October 28th and 29th. We were 8 of 8 for our predictions in the substate winners. As a reminder on the format, the 8 teams competing will be split up to 2 pools of 4, with the top 2 advancing to the semifinal match on Saturday. Winners move on to play in the Championship match while the losing team will play in a consolation match. We've looked at each of these teams from our substate previews so let's add more players from Substate information.   Pool 1 (seed) team name [record] (1) Overland Park - St Thomas Aquinas [35-3] (4) Andover Central [33-7] (5) Hutchinson [30-7] (8) Wichita - Bishop Carroll [28-9]   Our number 1 seed in the 5A classification is St Thomas Aquinas. We went into a deep dive on Aquinas' roster on the last 5A congratulatory post. We'll just touch base on for our readers on who they have. Leading the way is southpaw hitter and Yale-commit Betsy Goodenow. I changed the position to "hitter" because Goodenow is dominant on the left and right pins for the Saints. Alongside her will be pin hitter [player_tooltip player_id='153937' first='Alea' last='Goolsby'], who was dominant in their wins during substate. In the middle, we'll have Ashlyn Reeves and [player_tooltip player_id='119725' first='Tatum' last='Grimes'] to provide defense and additional offensive firepower. Their terrific duos of setters in [player_tooltip player_id='119691' first='Kelsey' last='Schenck'] and [player_tooltip player_id='222090' first='Alayna' last='Vaeth'] has proven they can run multiple lineup options for the Saints this season. Don't forget Reagan Anderson, Wichita State commit, in the libero jersey, who got the team excited on her kill shot from a broken play during Substate.   The rest of the pool consisted of teams coming from further South and West of Kansas City area, starting with the second seed in Andover Central. The Jaguars will be led by Wichita State commit Allie Paulsen as one of the leaders in kills, blocks, aces, even receptions to name a few. We'll add a couple players who did well from Substate for the Jaguars. Junior Emma Geier had herself a Saturday, collecting 13 kills, good for second on the team behind Paulsen's 15. Adding to the list who is on the X-Factor list will be sophomore middle [player_tooltip player_id='221517' first='Jordyn' last='Washington']. Washington averaged 5.5 kills per match during their substate and was second in blocks for the Jaguars this season. Don't forget about [player_tooltip player_id='152835' first='Hayden' last='Snodgrass'] who runs their 5-1 offense and recorded 49 helpers last weekend. Central listed 8 players on their official MaxPreps roster and was able to implemented their serving specialist in junior Paighton Crumley, who had 36 aces on the season. If not that's not enough, add in libero [player_tooltip player_id='221542' first='Willow' last='Deckinger'] to add 63 aces in the season as well as 289 digs to lead the Jaguars.   Third seed, Hutchinson, go to players are still Maliyah Johnson, who's averaging 4.3 kills per set this season, and Mya Thompson, 3.4 kills per set. Unfortunately, their MaxPreps is not updated for our State preview. We'll go to what we know, senior setter Josie McLean upped her assists this season to 771 from 744 from the regular season. Defensively, they will go to libero Grace Posch, who leads the team with 268 digs and 339 receptions. They cruised by their substate opponents with a 25-16, 25-19 against Maize and 25-14, 25-16 against Eisenhower. They did compete with a few big-time schools during the season, pushed Lansing to a 3-setter in September and took down Maize South at a tournament.   Similarly, the fourth seed in Pool 1 in Bishop Carroll's stats are not uploaded to MaxPreps. From watching them live, this is who I saw: Golden Eagles will look to Lillie Gorges, Ally Larkin<a href="https://prepdig.com/player/ally-larkin/"></a> , and Emma Stallbaumer for the senior leadership to lead the team. They are complimented well with a few freshmen in [player_tooltip player_id='489756' first='Avery' last='McCorry'] and [player_tooltip player_id='489777' first='Brea' last='Martin'] for offensive firepower. Gorges plays as a 6-rotation right side, setting when she's in the back row. Their other setter in their 6-2 lineup is freshman [player_tooltip player_id='355646' first='Allyson' last='Orth'] to make sure that Gorges have the opportunities to swing away in the front row.   Predictions   Aquinas is our clear winner in Pool 1 and then it'll be a free-for-all for second place. I predict a three-way tie with a 1-2 match record for the three remaining teams with Bishop Carroll pulling the tiebreaker in terms of point-differential.   Pool 1: Aquinas, Bishop Carroll, Hutchinson, Andover Central.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Pool 2 (seed) team name [record] (2) Lenexa - St. James Academy [33-3] (3) Maize South [31-5] (6) Topeka - Seaman [30-8] (7) Lansing [26-8]   Our first seed in Pool 2 is the state runner-up last year in St. James Academy. We all know about [player_tooltip player_id='154039' first='Reese' last='Messer']'s playmaking capability for the Thunder so that will not be a surprise. Outside hitter Ella Goodwin was hitting well at their substate last weekend and expecting her to continue her roll for State. We often talk about [player_tooltip player_id='119723' first='Julia' last='Headley'] as she is the Thunder's leading hitter but we need to recognize her counterpart in Kate McKnight who's been solid all season with her 0.344 hitting percentage. We love to talk about offense because it's more exciting but the secret sauce for St James is that they have 4 outstanding defensive players to take the backcourt. Leading the way is libero [player_tooltip player_id='119694' first='Mya' last='Bolton'] as their dig and reception leader. [player_tooltip player_id='216373' first='Katelynn' last='Blaesing'], Lauren Brown, and [player_tooltip player_id='150067' first='Heidi' last='Devers'] round up the quartet, each with 180+ digs and 230+ receptions during the season.   Maize South took their opponents in straight sets during their substate. Once again, their stats are not updated in MaxPreps yet so we'll rely on whom we know on their roster. [player_tooltip player_id='153936' first='Jillian' last='Gregory'] and [player_tooltip player_id='119709' first='Gracie' last='Morrow'] will be the go-to players in the pins positions. We forgot to mention another pin-hitter in Mallory Pruitt who got the final kill at Substate to send the Mavericks to State. They have a tall presence in the front row, with 6 players over 6 feet. We mentioned 5 of the 6 last time and we're going to add Cece Young on the list with her 6'2" frame into the picture (no pun intended). Don't forget that they have 6'2" [player_tooltip player_id='150065' first='Camdyn' last='Stucky'] (Tennessee commit) running the offense in their 5-1 offense.   No stats on MaxPreps but fortunately for you, we scouted a lot of teams this season, including our third seed in Seaman. [player_tooltip player_id='119804' first='Brooklyn' last='Gormley'] will be a force in the middle for the the Vikings. They'll still look for [player_tooltip player_id='173374' first='Meagan' last='Mills'] to provide the majority of the offense, complimented by leftie opposite in [player_tooltip player_id='349386' first='Jaida' last='Stallbaumer']. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='219715' first='Campbell' last='Chabot'] impressed me when I watched them with her quick defensive maneuvers and athleticism to get to the ball. Will they be the dark horse in the pool as Seaman was one of the three teams that took a set from 6A powerhouse Washburn Rural this season?   The defending 5A State Champion is Lansing falls all the way to the 4th seed in Pool 2 and the 7th overall. We mentioned a few times regarding their senior playmaker in Skylar Weaver and junior power hitter in [player_tooltip player_id='119810' first='Anna' last='Laincz']. We're gonna add a few more dimensions in their magical lineup with middle Virginia Van Der Werff. She's been the quiet one but put up one of the bigger blocks for Lansing (53 blocks this season). As long as their defensive unit in libero, Jessi Ritchhart, and defensive specialist, Taelyn Jones, can provide the necessary ups, Tabor Scanlon will be able to set up Lansing hitters with controlled and tempo sets.   Predictions   There's been a talk of "strength of schedule" affecting teams during Substate. I feel like the seedings doesn't really matter so we'll go with our gut feeling for our predictions.   Pool 2: St James, Lansing, Seaman, Maize South   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Semifinals   Aquinas vs Lansing St. James vs Bishop Carroll   Championship   Aquinas vs St. James   Aquinas swept St. James at their home- and away- series. Will St. James able to create the magic to right the ship or will Aquinas' dominance during the regular season stands tall against the opposition?   Kansas 5A Volleyball State Champion: Aquinas   <a href="https://prepdig.com/player/jenna-mcclure/"></a>

The Kansas 5A State will be at the same site as its 6A counterpart, hosted in Salina at the Tony's Pizza Events Center. The competition will be held on October 28th and 29th. We were 8 of 8 for our predictions in the substate winners. As a reminder on the format, the 8 teams competing will be split up to 2 pools of 4, with the top 2 advancing to the semifinal match on Saturday. Winners move on to play in the Championship match while the losing team will play in a consolation match. We've looked at each of these teams from our substate previews so let's add more players from Substate information.