After the volleyball team’s win in the Sunflower League, they moved into sub-state. Sub-state was hosted at Olathe West, hosting three teams: Olathe South, Shawnee Mission East and Shawnee Mission South.
The first game was against Olathe South. South had the first serve, but West received well and middle Cami Sher made a kill. The first timeout was called by Olathe South at the score of 12-8. Fortunately, West won the point right after the timeout. The first set also included a block by Sher from an attack from Olathe South. In the final points of the first set, Olathe South tried to outdo Olathe West but couldn’t. The final point was scored by a kill from Sher, with the final score of the first set being 25-13.
The second set started with outside hitter Kayla Allen from Olathe West serving. South received it well, but on the hit, they received a foot fault from the referee. Some highlights from West were an amazing kill from Sher, the first ace of the game from Allen and, after a difficult play, middle Maryn Russell’s kill. After all these long and difficult plays, South decided to take a timeout at the score of 7-1. The point right after the timeout was awarded to Olathe West because of an ace from Sher. After the first timeout, the set included a great tip kill from Stowell, a kill from right-side hitter Kylee Webb and a block from Sher and setter Neely Leathers. Unfortunately, West also received a successful tool from South. The second timeout was called by South at the score of 17-10. Right after the timeout, the point was awarded to West after a kill from Allen. The set ended with a block from Russell and Stowell with the final score of 25-16. The first game was won by the Owls.
After the first game, the Owls were proud of their win, but also considered changes and improvements for the second set. Junior Grace Yeager explained what she would change in the second set.
“I think I would just bring up our energy a little bit and just believe that we can do it because we all know we can,” Yeager said.
The second game was between Shawnee Mission South and Shawnee Mission East. The first set was a very easy win for East with a final score of 25-12. The second set was a bit more challenging for East, but the team pulled through until the end with a final score of 25-22.
Getting ready for the Owls’ second game, the team was reflecting on how, for some of them, it would have been the last game they would ever play at West.
“The realization hit me that it was our last home game and could possibly be my last season of my career,” senior Ella Stowell said.
The second game for the Owls was against Shawnee Mission East. The first serve was for the Owls and Allen served, but unfortunately, the Owls lost the point because of a blocking error. The Owls wanted to gain the point back, so Sher had a kill over Shawnee Mission East. Coach Hoffsommer-Griffin decided to take a timeout at the score of 3-8. The point after the timeout was awarded to East with a tip. Webb tried to recover the point and she successfully recovered it. Unfortunately, the Owls had to take another time out at the score of 10-17. The Owls were awarded the point after the timeout with a kill from Sher. East decided to take a timeout at the score of 15-18. The point right after the timeout was awarded to the Owls with another kill from Sher. After a block from Webb and Sher, East decided to take their second timeout at the score of 21-22. The Owls had a great play and scored a point after the timeout with a kill from Sher. Both West and East had a very difficult ending, with the last point being awarded to West because of a kill from Webb, with a final score of 25-22.
The second set started with a serve from Shawnee Mission East, but the point was awarded to the Owls because of a kill from outside Joy Finley. Highlights for this set include a block from Sher and Leathers, a tip from Sher, a kill from Leathers and a kill from Stowell. East decided to take a timeout at the score of 15-8. The Owls won the point after a timeout with a kill from Stowell. East decided to use their second timeout at the score of 21-13 and they chose correctly because they won the point after the timeout with a kill. It wasn’t enough for East and the Owls took over and finished the set at the score of 25-15 because of a hit error from East.
Even though they won sub-state, the volleyball team had some struggles, but pulled it back together with teamwork and their bonding.
“Probably our chemistry [brought us together],” Cami Sher said, “we’ve played together for four years now, so the fact that we kind of know each other that well and know how we play and our strengths and weaknesses.”
The Owls moved on to the state championships. It was held in Salina, Kansas. The format was a rally tournament; they played against three different teams on Friday: Washburn Rural, Mill Valley and Lawrence Free State. They won every single match and got the chance to move up and go to the semifinals the day after. The first game played was against Olathe Northwest. After a bit of struggle, they successfully defeated them. They moved on to the last match, the match that would determine if they would be the best team in the whole state of Kansas. They played the last match against Blue Valley West, after much struggling and difficult plays, they lost the game and got state runner-up.
“I think we did really good” Ella Stowell said. “We played through some nerves and worked out some things in the beginning matches, but overall, we brought it together and played pretty well.”
