Volleyball Slam Recap

Vernon Birmingham September 3, 2024 @ 01:44 PM

Unfortunately, I didn't do too well again this year. Spectrum went 7-1 in their picks. I went 5-3. I will point out, a couple of picks I would not have made but I didn't want to have the same picks. So really I could have been 7-1 but no excuses except for the one I just shared! Anyway, volleyball is back, and what a day it was at St. James! I haven't had a chance to watch back the games but did check out some highlights and review some stats and here is what I learned.   Washburn Rural took down Blue Valley in straight sets, -22, -6. The second set got ugly and I don't have much information besides the score. The second contest was more entertaining as the first set went extra points and ended with Blue Valley Northwest winning 30-28. They would take care of business in the second 25-20 to sweep 14th-ranked St. Michael the Archangel.   Match three is where in my normal frame of mind I pick Blue Valley North and should have done it but I didn't want to mirror my friend at Spectrum. North comes in as the 5th ranked team in my initial poll and they looked sharp. [player_tooltip player_id='173384' first='Jenna' last='McClure'] hit .688 on the day with 13 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='154041' first='Logan' last='Parks'] added 6 kills and 10 assists. We asked the question in our ranking preview who would be the new featured setter in the 6-2 system and it appears sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='757260' first='Gabby' last='Powell'] has taken the reigns, dishing out 14 assists.   8th ranked Blue Valley Southwest and their mascot took down Olathe Northwest in two, -19 and -21. [player_tooltip player_id='222092' first='Willow' last='Weninger'] lead the Timberwolf offensive attack with 6 kills on 10 attempts with zero errors. Hallie Vaughn added 5 kills and produced 3 aces behind the service line. Caitlin Shao dished 20 assists. On the other side of the net, [player_tooltip player_id='493530' first='Taylor' last='Foxworthy'] paced the new-look Olathe Northwest team in kills.   The battle of the privates went three sets with Bishop Miege escaping, winning the first and final stanza. [player_tooltip player_id='173376' first='Lauren' last='Lopez'] recorded her first double-double of the year with 11 kills and 10 digs. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='478871' first='Maryn' last='Dean'] joined the double-double party with 20 assists and 10 digs.   The first match of the day that featured two ranked teams in my poll had number one Blue Valley West taking on number seven Lee's Summit West. The first set saw the red West create distance and run away 25-16. The second set was more of what I imagined this match being with high-level play and haymakers being thrown from both sides. In the end, Blue Valley West outlasted the Titans 29-27. The Titans struggled offensively only producing 16 kills in the match, led by only 4 from [player_tooltip player_id='493090' first='Kamryn' last='McDonald']. [player_tooltip player_id='480396' first='Peyton' last='Kubik'] led the way for the winners with 9 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='173395' first='Brookelyn' last='Hatton'] was a problem behind the service line with 4 aces.   Two versus Three with Mill Valley and St. Thomas Aquinas. I changed the rankings of these two teams right before hitting submit last week and gave Mill Valley the edge due to being the defending state champs. So with them being the higher team, I had to pick them to win the match. I should have left it how it was as I thought Aquinas would win this match and they did, -22, -16. [player_tooltip player_id='153937' first='Alea' last='Goolsby'] dropped 7 kills to start the season and junior [player_tooltip player_id='698057' first='Kate' last='Wells'] added five. [player_tooltip player_id='436201' first='Riley' last='Riggs'] was phenomenal on the other side with 11 kills.   The final match featured the home team and it was a good three-set battle to end the evening. We got two extra sets with Lansing getting to 29 points in the first set to win it. The second saw St. James get to 27 to secure their first set win. The third had a lot of back and forth as teams exchanged leads but the 4th ranked Thunder escaped 25-21.

Unfortunately, I didn't do too well again this year. Spectrum went 7-1 in their picks. I went 5-3. I will point out, a couple of picks I would not have made but I didn't want to have the same picks. So really I could have been 7-1 but no excuses except for the one I just shared! Anyway, volleyball is back, and what a day it was at St. James! I haven't had a chance to watch back the games but did check out some highlights and review some stats and here is what I learned.