St. Mary’s is the champion of the Lone Jack Tournament and may have secured the No. 1 seed in the Class District 14 Tournament.
Jessica Holder had 32 kills and Shauna Bauml 26 as the Trojans Saturday split with Knob Noster 23-25, 25-22 and defeated Sweet Springs 25-11, 25-17 in pool play.
St. Mary’s, the sixth-ranked team in the Missouri High School Volleyball Coaches Association Class 2 state poll, then downed Barstow 25-11, 25-12 to reach the final and then topped St. Paul’s Lutheran of Concordia 25-21, 25-22 to claim the championship and improve to 21-3-2.
“I told the girls if we defeated St. Paul’s we likely would get the No. 1 seed in the district tournament (Class 2 District 14 at Higginsville),” St. Mary’s coach Mike Espinosa said, referring to the ninth-ranked team in Class 2.
“Maggie O’Neal did an excellent job playing back row for the first time. She served 13 points against Barstow. It was a good team effort. We were missing four of our starters because of the flu.”
BLUE VALLEY NORTH STATELINE CHALLENGE: Blue Springs added another title to its resume Saturday.
The Wildcats went 6-0 to claim the title of the Stateline Challenge tournament at Blue Valley North in Overland Park, Kan.
Blue Springs went 4-0 in the first round of pool play to reach the championship pool along with Bishop Miege and host Blue Valley North. The Wildcats then defeated North and Miege each in two games while North and Miege split.
“It was a good day of volleyball for us,” Wildcats coach Katie Grusing said after her team improved to 26-4 overall. “We had a couple slow starts like we have had this year but managed to find a way.
“It was a big day for a lot of the girls. Our serving was better than it has been and our passing was spot-on, and that’s two areas we’ve struggled with recently. If you’re doing those right, then that makes everything else better.”
Grusing was happy with her team’s composure. They rallied from 10-17 and 19-24 deficits in one game against Blue Valley North to win.
“I think the best thing was watching the girls play very poised and very smart,” she said. “You couldn’t tell they were ahead or behind. They just showed great poise.”
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS INVITATIONAL: Five victories gave Lee’s Summit West a stellar 29-2 record and the championship of the St. Thomas Aquinas Invitational in Overland Park, Kan.
Blue Springs South, meanwhile, went 2-2 to claim the consolation championship.
The Titans defeated Oak Park and Liberty in pool play and then Olathe (Kan.) South 25-20, 25-21, Shawnee Mission (Kan.) East 25-21, 25-21 and St. Teresa’s 22-25, 25-18, 25-20 in bracket play to claim the title Saturday.
“It was great and just what we needed headed into districts,” West coach Mark Rice said. “Paige Vanderpool did a good job all day long with quite a few kills in most of the matches.”
Vanderpool had 94 kills and eight aces, Megan McGehee totaled 69 kills and 12 blocks, Katie Douglas had 62 kills, Haylee Gregory added 49 kills and five blocks, Kaitlyn Drawe recorded 75 assists and Kylie Rice had 65 assists to lead the Titans.
Blue Springs South fell 25-23, 25-7 to Bishop Carroll of Wichita, Kan., and lost 25-21, 25-13 to Shawnee Mission East in pool play. The Jaguars rebounded to down Liberty 25-23, 25-18 and then topped Kapaun Mt. Carmel of Wichita, 25-15, 25-16 in the consolation final.
“We were up and down, and that’s kind of been our theme all year,” Jaguars coach Carmen Johnson said. “We ended the day nicely, but we couldn’t slip by a couple teams we could’ve beaten. We’re just too inconsistent now. Hopefully we’ll get that turned around by the end of the season.”
HARRISONVILLE TOURNAMENT: Raytown South went 1-3-1 on the day, losing to Raymore-Peculiar 25-12, 25-11, Leavenworth (Kan.) 25-8, 25-22, Kansas City Christian 27-25, 25-21, splitting with Odessa 30-28, 20-25 and defeating Springfield Hillcrest 25-21, 25-16.
The Cardinals moved to 5-20-3 overall.
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St. Mary’s is the champion of the Lone Jack Tournament and may have secured the No. 1 seed in the Class District 14 Tournament.
Jessica Holder had 32 kills and Shauna Bauml 26 as the Trojans Saturday split with Knob Noster 23-25, 25-22 and defeated Sweet Springs 25-11, 25-17 in pool play.
St. Mary’s, the sixth-ranked team in the Missouri High School Volleyball Coaches Association Class 2 state poll, then downed Barstow 25-11, 25-12 to reach the final and then topped St. Paul’s Lutheran of Concordia 25-21, 25-22 to claim the championship and improve to 21-3-2.
“I told the girls if we defeated St. Paul’s we likely would get the No. 1 seed in the district tournament (Class 2 District 14 at Higginsville),” St. Mary’s coach Mike Espinosa said, referring to the ninth-ranked team in Class 2.
“Maggie O’Neal did an excellent job playing back row for the first time. She served 13 points against Barstow. It was a good team effort. We were missing four of our starters because of the flu.”
BLUE VALLEY NORTH STATELINE CHALLENGE: Blue Springs added another title to its resume Saturday.
The Wildcats went 6-0 to claim the title of the Stateline Challenge tournament at Blue Valley North in Overland Park, Kan.
Blue Springs went 4-0 in the first round of pool play to reach the championship pool along with Bishop Miege and host Blue Valley North. The Wildcats then defeated North and Miege each in two games while North and Miege split.
“It was a good day of volleyball for us,” Wildcats coach Katie Grusing said after her team improved to 26-4 overall. “We had a couple slow starts like we have had this year but managed to find a way.
“It was a big day for a lot of the girls. Our serving was better than it has been and our passing was spot-on, and that’s two areas we’ve struggled with recently. If you’re doing those right, then that makes everything else better.”
Grusing was happy with her team’s composure. They rallied from 10-17 and 19-24 deficits in one game against Blue Valley North to win.
“I think the best thing was watching the girls play very poised and very smart,” she said. “You couldn’t tell they were ahead or behind. They just showed great poise.”
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS INVITATIONAL: Five victories gave Lee’s Summit West a stellar 29-2 record and the championship of the St. Thomas Aquinas Invitational in Overland Park, Kan.
Blue Springs South, meanwhile, went 2-2 to claim the consolation championship.
The Titans defeated Oak Park and Liberty in pool play and then Olathe (Kan.) South 25-20, 25-21, Shawnee Mission (Kan.) East 25-21, 25-21 and St. Teresa’s 22-25, 25-18, 25-20 in bracket play to claim the title Saturday.
“It was great and just what we needed headed into districts,” West coach Mark Rice said. “Paige Vanderpool did a good job all day long with quite a few kills in most of the matches.”
Vanderpool had 94 kills and eight aces, Megan McGehee totaled 69 kills and 12 blocks, Katie Douglas had 62 kills, Haylee Gregory added 49 kills and five blocks, Kaitlyn Drawe recorded 75 assists and Kylie Rice had 65 assists to lead the Titans.
Blue Springs South fell 25-23, 25-7 to Bishop Carroll of Wichita, Kan., and lost 25-21, 25-13 to Shawnee Mission East in pool play. The Jaguars rebounded to down Liberty 25-23, 25-18 and then topped Kapaun Mt. Carmel of Wichita, 25-15, 25-16 in the consolation final.
“We were up and down, and that’s kind of been our theme all year,” Jaguars coach Carmen Johnson said. “We ended the day nicely, but we couldn’t slip by a couple teams we could’ve beaten. We’re just too inconsistent now. Hopefully we’ll get that turned around by the end of the season.”
HARRISONVILLE TOURNAMENT: Raytown South went 1-3-1 on the day, losing to Raymore-Peculiar 25-12, 25-11, Leavenworth (Kan.) 25-8, 25-22, Kansas City Christian 27-25, 25-21, splitting with Odessa 30-28, 20-25 and defeating Springfield Hillcrest 25-21, 25-16.
The Cardinals moved to 5-20-3 overall.
