Aquinas and Bishop Miege on collision course in 5A state volleyball

Source: The Star

Mike Ransdell | The Kansas City Star

Bishop Miege sophomore Shelby Workman went for the kill against Lansing during Friday’s match. Miege won 25-12, 25-20, one of its three victories on Friday.

more volleyball...

you might also like...

TOPEKA | For the last two seasons, the Kansas 5A volleyball championship has been contested between St. Thomas Aquinas and Bishop Miege, and it doesn’t look as if either team intends to let the rest of the state in on the fun this year.

The Saints and Stags — seeded first and second as state tournament play began Friday at the Kansas Expocentre — each went 3-0 in pool play and advanced to the 5A state semifinals.

Aquinas will meet Lansing at 10 a.m. today, and Miege takes on Topeka Seaman at 11 a.m.

Neither the Saints, the state runner-up last year, nor the defending champion Stags were flawless Friday, but they were good enough.

Aquinas advanced with wins over Kapaun Mount Carmel (25-18, 25-14), Seaman (25-22, 25-12) and Newton (25-21, 25-22). Coach Kim Bogart wasn’t satisfied with the way her team played against Newton in its third match, but she expects the girls to be ready today as the Saints try to reclaim the state title they won in 2006 and 2007.

“Our kids play club (volleyball), they play in big matches. They like the big matches,” Bogart said. “Our team has always been ready for the big match. So I think tomorrow — that’s the kind of environment they like to play in.”

Miege had its struggles early before finishing the day strong. The Stags opened with a 25-8, 23-25, 25-16 win over No. 7-seed Salina South and followed with victories over Bishop Carroll (25-14, 25-14) and Lansing (25-12, 25-20).

“Our first game, we started off a little rough, but we came back and played how we know how to play the last two games,” Miege senior Tashayla Person said.

Lansing went 2-1 Friday and returns to the state semifinals for the first time since placing fourth in 2007. The Lions will be the underdog today against Aquinas, which won the teams’ regular-season meeting, but Lansing coach Julie Slater said the message for her players is simple.

“Nothing to lose, you know,” Slater said. “They’re a great team, but we’re good too. And we believe in ourselves that we can (compete) for an upset.”

BV West back in semisBlue Valley West’s state championship hopes have been dashed each of the last three seasons by Washburn Rural, and the teams’ Kansas 6A pool-play match Friday didn’t go any better for the Jaguars.

But they would sure love another shot at the Junior Blues.

With wins in its first two matches of the day, BV West already had assured itself a place in the state semifinals before finishing with a 25-15, 25-18 loss to top-seeded Washburn Rural.

It was that same Washburn Rural program that defeated BV West in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 6A state championship matches on the way to three straight state titles.

“It’s always a grudge match,” Jaguars senior libero Sarah Buschmann said. “But I think in our heart we know today doesn’t really matter compared to tomorrow.”

The No. 4-seeded Jaguars advanced with wins over Maize (25-16, 25-22) and Lawrence (21-25, 25-12, 25-20) and will meet No. 2 Manhattan at 2 p.m. today in the semifinals at the Kansas Expocentre. Washburn Rural will play No. 7 Blue Valley North in the other semifinal.

After opening with a 25-17, 25-18 loss to Manhattan and dropping its first game to Olathe South, BV North rallied to reach the state semifinals for the first time since 2005.

The Mustangs came back to defeat Olathe South, 26-28, 25-21, 25-23 and then rallied again against Wichita Northwest, 22-25, 25-16, 25-11, in securing the last semifinal berth.

“We went three (games) at substate in both matches, and the two matches we won today went three. They’re just fighters,” BV North coach Matt Allin said. “These kids have fought all season. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve fought hard.”

St. James looks strongSt. James Academy took three convincing wins Friday in Kansas 4A pool play at the Bicentennial Center in Salina to advance to the state semifinals.

The Thunder, the defending 4A state champion, defeated Girard (25-8, 25-2), Paola (25-2, 25-9) and Abilene (25-13, 25-15). St. James will play Cheney today in the semifinals.

“You never are sure when you haven’t seen teams play in person,” St. James coach Nancy Dorsey said of her expectations heading into play Friday. “I was definitely not expecting to beat teams the way we did, but I’m happy about it.”

@ Go to KansasCity.com for a photo gallery from Friday’s action.

submitted by RYAN YOUNG - 2009-10-30 23:09:01