Class 3 Quarterfinal 2 and 3 Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With Class 3 still moving forward with 16 districts, one match had to be played before getting to today's quarterfinal matchups. We have some good ones this afternoon being hosted in Odessa and Jefferson City.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Quarterfinal 2</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pleasant Hill (24-8) vs. Odessa (24-10)</strong> <strong>3:00 PM</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Chicks went into St. Pius X (Kansas City) Thursday and jumped on them right away taking a commanding 2-0 lead. The Warriors fought back to force a decisive 5th set. The final set was even at five until Pleasant Hill went on a 3-0 run to force a Pius timeout. Pius fought back but the visitors went on a 3-0 run of their own to win it 15-12. Senior <strong>Gracie Layton</strong> put the team on her back when they needed a crucial side out. The defense shined bright keeping many balls in play and probably most impressive was the team's serve receive as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='168899' first='Abygail' last='Widhalm']</strong> and libero <strong>Shannon Ruckman</strong> passed lights out. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Odessa made the trip to St. Joseph to take on Benton and walked away with a four-set victory. The Bulldogs needed extra points to squeak out a 27-25 first-set dub. The Cardinals had a late run in the second set to escape with a 25-21 win before Odessa closed it out winning two straight. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='221012' first='Rylee' last='Adams'] </strong>led the charge offensively along with the precise setting of <strong>Lilly Malizzi </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='737573' first='Lanyn' last='Sisk']</strong> in their 6-2 system. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction: The ball control of Pleasant Hill really impressed us along with their all-out pursuit of every ball in the gym. Their passing was some of the best we've seen this season, which allows their offense to be in sync. We like Pleasant Hill to advance to the final four. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Quarterfinal 3</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lutheran North (23-15) vs. Blair Oaks (30-3-1)</strong> <strong>1:00 PM</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This should be a good one. The Cougars arrived after taking down John Burroughs in straight sets in their last match, which now makes them winners of 4 straight. The tandem of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='170035' first='Maya' last='Griggs']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='150022' first='Mattie' last='Reynolds']</strong> combined for 19 kills in the win. As a unit, the team hit at a .267 clip for the match. The two teams do have one common opponent this season in Jefferson City. Lutheran North owns a victory, while one of Blair Oaks three defeats comes to that common foe. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The champ is here! The defending state champs are still marching towards a repeat and own home-court advantage in this one where they are 7-1 at home. They had an easy go at it the last match with a convincing sweep of Hallsville. The Falcons got the typical output from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='124226' first='Autumn' last='Bax']</strong>, who put down 18 balls. Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='150016' first='Anna' last='Wekenborg'] </strong>did her thing adding 12 kills of her own. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction: We jumped on the Blair Oaks train a season ago and will not jump off now. The repeat is still in play with a Blair Oaks win today. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->