LADY VIKING SPIKERS FINISH 2ND IN CLASS 3A

Close Season at 32-13

By Staff

HUTCHINSON – Bouncing back from a stumble in the opening round, Smoky Valley powered back at the Class 3A State Volleyball tournament to finish second.

The Lady Vikings went 2-1 in pool play and then went three sets to beat Silver Lake to set up a rematch with Heritage Christian in the Class 3A Finals, who then beat Smoky Valley a second time and taking the 3A title.

In their opening match of pool play, the Lady Vikings stumbled to Heritage Christian and suffered a straight set loss (8-25/9-25) with Breanne Peters leading the team in digs with seven and Katja Blanchat finishing with three blocks.

“We did not open well against Heritage Christian,” noted Lady Viking head coach Doug Schneider. “But we did not curl up and let it affect our whole day. We made a decision to use that match to drive us throughout the rest of the weekend and that is a credit to this group and what they are made of.”

No doubt they bounced back as they scored a decisive straight set (25-15/25-21) over Beloit in match two of pool play. Hope Duncan punched out 12 digs and Katja Blanchat made eight kills with Adrian Hazelwood dishing out 22 assists to lead the Lady Vikings to the win.

Smoky Valley continued to compete with passion in their final match of pool play as they dismantled Goodland, winning 25-9 and 25-10 as Hazelwood passed out another 18 assists, Duncan made nine kills and both Breanne Peters and Katja Blanchat each had seven digs.

Winning two of three in pool play qualified the Lady Vikings to the Saturday semi-finals where they tangled with Silver Lake and in an extremely hard-fought match came out winners in three sets (25-22/23-25/25-23). Blanchat made 17 kills and Hazelwood lead the team in both Digs with 16 and assists where she dished out 24.

Speaking of the match with Silver Lake, coach Schneider mentioned, “We had to make some big plays throughout the battle with Silver Lake to get the win. We responded well to the second set loss and came back with a lot of energy in set three. W showed a lot of character with a late deficit in set three as they played with such a belief in one another, and they got it done.”

In the Class 3A state championship, the Lady Vikings once again lost in straight sets to Heritage Christian, though this time the sets were closer in scores (9-25/17-25).

Coach Schneider summed it up by saying, “We played better against Heritage Christian in the finals, but we just did not have enough. I thought we continued to improve against them each set we played; we just could not overcome some big runs they had.”

Going 3-2 at the state tournament left the Lady Vikings with a season mark of 32-13 as they say goodbye to five key seniors in Hope Duncan, Adrian Hazelwood, Tinley Scott, Breanne Peters and Avery Ahlstedt.

Three of the Lady Vikings, Duncan, Hazelwood and junior Katja Blanchat have played in three state tournaments, finishing third, losing in pool play and finishing second.

Tinley (Scott), Avery (Ahlstedt), and Breanne (Peters) each played in a pair of state tournaments of which they lost in pool play and then finished second this season.

Among the career stats left in the books, Adrian Hazelwood finished her Lady Viking career with 2,863 assists, 271 kills, and 767 digs while Hope Duncan made 1,152 kills, 1,131 digs and 1,177 serve receptions in her Smoky Valley career.

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKING VOLLEYBALL at Class 3A State Tournament

(all stats from maxpreps.com)

Pool Play vs. Heritage Christian >

Lost 0-2; 8-25 / 9-25.

Assists (3) > Hazelwood – 3; Blocks (3) > Blanchat – 3; Digs (16) > Peters – 7, Hazelwood – 4, Ahlstedt – 3; Kills (3) > Duncan – 3; Service Aces (0).

Pool Play Match 2 vs. Beloit >

Won 2-0; 25-15 / 25-21.

Assists (26) > Hazelwood – 22, Peters – 3; Blocks (6) > Scott/Blanchat – 3; Digs (35) > Duncan – 12, Hazelwood – 9, Blanchat – 5, Scott/Peters – 3; Kills (26) > Blanchat – 8, Duncan – 6, Ahlstedt – 5, Scott – 4, Hazelwood – 2; Service Aces (4) > Scott – 2, Blanchat/Duncan – 1.

Pool Play Match 3 vs. Goodland >

Won 2-0; 25-9 / 25-10.

Assists (27) > Hazelwood – 18, Duncan – 3, Peters/Scott – 2; Blocks (7) > Scott – 3, Hazelwood/Blanchat – 2; Digs (29) > Peters/Blanchat – 7, Hazelwood – 5, Friesen – 4, Scott/Duncan – 3; Kills (27) > Duncan – 9, Blanchat/Scott – 6, Ahlstedt – 3, Hazelwood – 2; Service Aces (2) > Friesen – 2.

Semi-Finals Match vs. Silver Lake >

Won 2-1; 25-22 / 23-25 / 25-23.

Assists (30) > Hazelwood – 24, Peters – 4, Blanchat – 2; Blocks (3) > Blanchat – 3; Digs (70) > Hazelwood – 16, Duncan – 14, Scott/Peters – 13, Blanchat – 9, Friesen – 3, Ahlstedt – 2; Kills (33) > Blanchat – 17, Duncan – 9, Scott/Ahlstedt – 3; Service Aces (2) > Scott/Peters – 1.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH vs Heritage Christian

Lost 0-2; 9-25 / 17-25.

Assists (14) > Hazelwood – 10, Peters – 2; Blocks (2) > Ahlstedt – 2; Digs (20) > Blanchat – 7, Scott – 4, Duncan/Peters – 3, Hazelwood – 2. Kills (14) > Duncan – 6, Blanchat – 4, Hazelwood – 2; Service Aces (1) > Duncan – 1.

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at macks.people.places@gmail.com)