Wichita North is a program that caught my eye last summer playing in a summer tournament at Butler Community College. Buss stood out during that event and when is saw her play during the regular season and at the Class 6A State Tournament in Salina. She has committed to play for McPherson College. It warms my heart that she will get a chance to play college volleyball. There are college programs still looking to add talent from the Class of 2025. There are a couple of Buss’s teammates whose names I have been passing on to inquiring college coaches.

My favorite team to watch last season was Wichita North. I saw them play in Barton’s summer tournament and could not believe how hard they played in that event. I saw one of North’s regular season matches and then saw Buss and her teammates again at the state tournament. She is an energetic six-rotation athlete deserving of college opportunities. It was motivational to watch North compete and improve over the course of the season. They were just a state tournament title away from finishing what could have been a script for a Disney sports movie.

So I won’t lie, North was a team that tugged at me some. I first saw Buss and RedHawks play over the summer at the Butler Community College Tournament. A team of scrappy public school kids won my heart and admiration. North dropped their first two matches of the day at the Class 6A Tournament but beat Manhattan to force a three-way tie-breaker to establish who would play on Saturday. Buss is a grinder who if she played at a private school would have way more college offers. With private schools having so much success this postseason it was refreshing to see Buss and her teammates have success on the big stage.