Since the Kansas Class 4A Sub-State Volleyball Tournament assignments were made weeks ago, I’ve felt the Louisburg sub-state was a three horse race, with the host team, the Louisburg Wildcats, and their Frontier League comrades the Paola Panthers and the Spring Hill Broncos the odds on favorites to take the tournament title and represent the area again at the State Volleyball Tournament in Salina.
With the release of the brackets for the tournament I’m even more convinced that the tournament champion will come from one of those three schools. In a previous blog entry, I outlined why I thought the Wildcats from Louisburg would be the eventual champion, and I’m standing by that opinion.
But, I’m here to tell you that if the Wildcats slip up, the Broncos and Panthers can, and will be right there to pick up the banner.
Really this column is more about what Spring Hill and Paola have to do to punch their ticket to state, rather than what the Wildcats have to do. For them, it’s easy, just play well, get a fast start and beat teams you’ve already beaten and you’re in. The main thing for the Wildcats is to get a fast start, this is a one and done tournament, the Wildcats can’t take a match off, they can’t take a game off, they have to fire on all cylinders, from the beginning, and they have to put teams away.
For the Broncos the task is simple, beat Louisburg. That’s it. The Broncos open with Iola, while the Wildcats open with Osawatomie, neither opponent will strike fear into the hearts of the Broncos and Wildcats, so they will match up again in the semi-finals. For either team, it’s then a matter of winning the final which will most likely be against Fort Scott or Paola. If you’re the Wildcats, you can look at those two teams and see opponents you’ve already beaten. If you’re the Broncos, you know you’ve just beaten a team who has beaten your upcoming opponent.
That brings us to the Panthers. A month ago I was ready to hand this tournament to the Panthers. They were playing solid volleyball, Paige Getz was developing into a solid middle hitter and Kelli Cullor and Cheyenne Rankin were doing great things on the outside. Melanie Golubski, Courtney Johnson and Elizabeth Edwards were strong along the back line with Mallorie Nelson starting to really get comfortable setting the ball for the hitters at the net. That was a month ago, and the Panthers have gone into a bit of tailspin lately, but all is not lost, and there’s no reason why the fourth seeded Panthers can’t take home the ultimate prize on Saturday at Louisburg.
It all starts with the seeding. In my opinion, the Panthers drew about the best position they could have, sure if they make it through their first round match, they’ll have to face the number one seeded Tigers of Fort Scott in the semi-final (I know, I’m giving the Tigers a win here, but let’s face it, Prairie View, the Tigers opening round opponent hasn’t won all year long, I don’t think they’ll suddenly start Saturday, but hey if they would happen to miraculously knock off the Tigers, that makes my argument for the Panthers even easier.). Any other seeding position, and they would have to face one or both of their biggest rivals just to get to the final. With this seeding Paola won’t face either until the final and by then they could have a tremendous amount of momentum on their side.
Why, you ask would the Panthers want to look to a semi-final match with the Tigers? Well, the Panthers already own match victories over two of the Tigers SEK comrades, the league champion Pittsburg Purple Dragons, and the third place Chanute Blue Comets. The Tigers, well they finished fourth in the SEK with a 6-2 record, so, if the Panthers can rekindle some of the fire they showed earlier in the season, there’s no reason to fear the Tigers. And, as I’ve mentioned before, the Tigers have been beaten by Louisburg (and Anderson County for that matter) and the Panthers know they can play with the Wildcats, so then its just a matter of going out an playing like they know they can.
From there, it’s a simple matter of defeating either Spring Hill or Louisburg in the final. Now for the Panthers, they’ve beaten Louisburg, at Louisburg, but have not had much luck with the Broncos this year, so to me, the Panthers have the best of both worlds here too. In a matchup with the Broncos, the Panthers can draw on the fact that it’s hard to beat a team three or four times during a season, and against the Wildcats, the Panthers can draw on the fact that they have just recently defeated the Wildcats on their home floor, and, it seems like the home team very seldom wins the sub-state tournament they host.
So there it is, it’s all there for the taking, the Panthers have a golden opportunity to pull off another stunner and make a return trip to the state tournament, but it can only happen if the Panthers take a quick trip back in time and find the team that was playing so well through the middle part of the season. If that team shows up, with this short, three game format, anything is possible.
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