Class 3 Districts 13-16

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are still working to highlight all of the district play in the great state of Missouri. There have been a handful of opening round/play-in matches that have taken place. Most matches get going tonight! Here are previews of districts 13-16</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 13 (listed in seed order) @ Harrisonville</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Pleasant Hill, Clinton, Harrisonville, Center, Warsaw, Southeast</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pleasant Hill and Clinton received byes in the six-team district. They were set up to play the winners of the first two matches from yesterday on Thursday evening. Pleasant Hill is 16-9 and looking to make a return trip to the final four, after making a deep tournament run a year ago. They have back numerous players with experience playing under bright lights like Aby Widhalm, [player_tooltip player_id='737588' first='Ella' last='Crain'], and [player_tooltip player_id='495317' first='Gabriela' last='Hanes']. Harrisonville enters 11-16 on the year. The top two seeds have seen each other this season with Pleasant Hill getting the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Warsaw defeated Center in the 4 vs. 5 match to start district play in four sets. They got 15 kills from junior Haylee Cobb. In the other contests, Harrisonville defeated Southeast in straight sets behind the play of Lexi George and her 22 assists. In the semis, I have Pleasant Hill defeating Warsaw. Clinton and Harrisonville have played three times this season. Clinton won the first two, 2-1 and 3-2. The most recent was a 2-0 win by Harrisonville. We will go with the home team Harrisonville in this match. Pleasant Hill district champs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 14 ( listed in seed order) @ Central High School</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Ewing Marion Kauffman, Northeast, Paseo Academy, Hogan Prep, Guadalupe Center, Central</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kauffman and Northeast earned first-round byes in the six-team district similar to the above. Many of the teams don't have stats or records listed on MaxPreps. On MSHSAA, Kauffman is 7-8. Northeast will enter 5-12. We will go with Northeast to win the district. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 15 (listed in seed order) @ Oak Grove</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Odessa, Oak Grove, Excelsior Springs, St. Paul Lutheran, Knob Nobster, Richmond</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Excelsior Springs and St. Paul Lutheran have already gotten wins under their belt with wins on Tuesday night. It took St. Paul four to get rid of Knob Nobster. Excelsior got it done in three, taking down Richmond and getting their 13th win of the year. We think Odessa will take down St. Paul Lutheran tonight behind the play of Kali Adamec, who is leading the team in kills. Odessa has lost two in a row but think they get back into the win column tonight. Oak Grove and Excelsior could be a good fight. They played very early in the season with Oak Grove getting the 3-2 win. Kailee Hansen was instrumental in that win with 13 kills. We haven't picked an upset in a while so let's go Excelsior beating Oak Grove at Oak Grove in the district. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whoever wins the other match, we think Odessa is too strong and will march their way to a district title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 16 (listed in seed order) @ Cameron</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Savannah, Benton, Cameron, Chillicothe, Maryville, Kirksville, Lafayette</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The action took place yesterday for everyone except Savannah. Benton as the second team made quick work of Lafayette, beating them in three. Third seed Cameron took care of business taking down six seed Kirksville to earn their 15th win of the year. 5th seed Maryville took down the fourth seed in a five-set barn burner to push back the 23 kills by [player_tooltip player_id='232216' first='Lyla' last='Beetsma']. Jalea Price led the match with 35 digs for Maryville. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We think top-seed Savannah will end the season for Maryville in the semifinal round and pick up their 23rd win of the year. They own a sweep over them earlier this fall. The setter tandem of Sara Younkin and Maddy Weis has been steady in 2023. In the other match, Benton and Cameron will meet for the second time this season. In the previous meeting, Benton won the match in a sweep. We don't know if it will be another seep, but we like Benton to win and take on Savannah in the championship. Savannah gets it done to move on. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->