FALL SPORTS NOTES: Missouri state volleyball on deck

Source: The Star

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The best in Missouri high school volleyball will be on display at Municipal Auditorium Friday and Saturday when Blue Springs competes for the Class 4 state championship, O’Hara tries for the three-peat in Class 3 and Kansas City Lutheran plays in Class 1.

While O’Hara (27-6-1) has yet to lose in a state tournament since coach Lori Hanaway returned to the program in 2007, the players from Blue Springs (32-4) will make their first trip to the state stage. Semifinal matches in all four Missouri classes are Friday with the championships being contested Saturday.

“My five best friends are on the team,” Blue Springs senior Mallori Fournier said. “It’s an honor to take such a team with great talent to the state tournament.”

This season, Blue Springs has celebrated several successes, having advanced to the finals of the prestigious Mo-Kan tournament as well as clearing other hurdles. Sophomore Taryn Miller has stepped up for senior starter Rebecca Pettit who needed season-ending knee surgery. And Miller earned “rock star” praise from coach Katie Grusing for her 28 digs against Liberty and Lee’s Summit North last weekend in state-qualifying matches. It is performances such as Miller’s and the overall Wildcat teamwork that Grusing believes has brought the Wildcats this far.

“I can’t emphasize enough what a fine group of young ladies this is,” Grusing said. “It’s just a really good fit for this group, and they worked hard to make this happen.”

CROSS COUNTRY On Saturday the top cross country runners will compete in the state championships in Jefferson City.

The Lee’s Summit West girls team, which has won six of seven meets this year, are favorites to win a third straight title in Class 4, and Harrisonville senior Maksim Korolev looks to take his first state title in the Class 3 boys race. Then there are runners like Raymore-Peculiar junior Devon Young, a sectional champion with hopes of improving on last season’s performance.

A year ago Young suffered an asthma attack, resulting from the change to cold weather, and finished 48th in Class 4. But now Young believes he can do much better. Plus, he has checked the weekend weather forecast — high 60s.

“I’m going to thank the weather,” Young joked. “I’m going to go out and race smart. Just relax and have fun.”

BOYS SWIMMING A season worth of practices inside their new district facility helped both the Lee’s Summit West Titans and Lee’s Summit North Broncos to excel in Suburban Conference swimming and diving meets.

Last weekend, while the Titans won the Mid Six title, the Broncos finished second behind champion Blue Springs in the Big Seven. North coach Shelby Ruge said the Broncos also broke two school records.

Ruge can see how the Lee’s Summit District Aquatic Center, which opened late summer and shared by all three district schools, has provided her team extra incentive to perform well.

“All the boys put a lot of effort in, there were a lot of changes this year in the facility and practices,” Ruge said. “Now we have our own pool. That stepped up our expectations for our boys this year.”

In Missouri swimming and diving, the state meet follows conferences after two weeks. So both schools look to qualify more individuals today for the Nov. 13-14 state championships in the St. Louis area.

LS North junior Bobby Faulkenberry, who swam on the school record-breaking 400 freestyle relay team that finished in 3 minutes, 24.08 seconds last weekend, leads the pack of nine state-qualified Broncos. The number also includes diver Drake Duckworth, whose 400 score also set a Bronco record in an 11-dive event.

LS West has qualified eight individuals and every relay tam, including the state-ranked 400 freestyle relay team with Alec Jackson, Ryan Dake, Drew Adams and Brent Crosby.”

“We’re hoping to get four guys into the finals,” coach Colleen Gibler said. “That’s a realistic goal; when they’re swimming at their best, that should happen.”

submitted by CANDACE BUCKNER - 2009-11-03 13:15:01