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The St. James Academy volleyball players were all smiles after receiving their second-place medals at the Nike Challenge in Chicago.

The weight of the world wasn’t on the St. James Academy volleyball players’ shoulders on Friday and Saturday at the Nike Challenge at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago, but the weight of the state of Kansas sure was.

Representing a state that’s often overlooked on the recruiting circuit by major NCAA Division I college coaches, the Thunder wanted to make both themselves and the state of Kansas look good at the national tournament.

They didn’t disappoint.

More than just win a few matches, The Thunder posted a 4-1 record, knocked off a few nationally ranked teams and finished second overall.

“I’m very proud of them because there was a lot of pressure on them,” St. James coach Nancy Dorsey said. “There were a lot of people saying ‘why are they going to Chicago? Why not just play teams in Kansas City?’ A lot of people were questioning it and knew it was a prestigious national tournament, and if they’d gone and failed they felt like it would’ve been a poor representation of Kansas volleyball. They were going not just for themselves, but to defend the state of Kansas. The kids felt that. I didn’t put that on them. It was very interesting to me that they were mature enough to come to that conclusion that they were representing more than themselves or their school, but their state as well. I’m very proud of them for that.”

St. James — ranked No. 24 nationally in the ESPN Rise Fab 50 poll — cruised past pool play opponents Wahlert (Iowa) High School (25-14, 25-18) and Sandburg (Ill.) High School (25-21, 25-23). Wahlert is a long-time Iowa state powerhouse, but the Thunder had no trouble in the match. Kelly Kolich and Rachel Gray had seven kills apiece in the victory and Lauren Brown had a career-high 13 digs. Against Sandburg, Bridget Blowey had a career-high 25 digs that kept alive numerous long volleys for St. James.

By winning the pool, the Thunder moved on to the final eight on Saturday. Again, they asserted themselves quickly as they dismissed Downers Grove (Ill.) South, 25-13, 25-21. Downer’s Grove, the No. 23 team in the ESPN poll, was once ranked as high as No. 5 this year. The Thunder clicked early in the match, however, hitting for a high percentage on attacks and also playing solid defense. Nia Williams had a team-high nine digs and the front row blocked numerous shots.

The victory propelled St. James into the semifinals against the host school, No. 49-ranked Mother McAuley. That school happened to be the alma mater of Dorsey and her sister, St. James assistant coach Jennifer Bell. With family and friends in attendance, as well as former coaches and administrators and even the sportswriter who covered Dorsey and her sister when they led Mother McAuley to state championships in high school, the Thunder played their best match of the season.

“They played probably the best they’ve ever played in the match against Mother McAuley,” Dorsey said. “You didn’t even have to like volleyball to be like ‘wow, that was exciting,’ because it was such a fun atmosphere.”

With a fired-up home crowd in attendance, Mother McAuley won a hard-fought first game, 25-21, which was the first game St. James had lost all season. Game two, however, was dominated by the Thunder as their offense flowed smoothly and the defense was staunch. St. James won 25-16 and then carried the momentum to a 25-23 victory in game three.

“After we beat McAuley in the semis, some people that I used to play for or just knew me from high school when I was there, came up to me,” Dorsey said. “They were like, ‘your team played as one; they were like one person. It wasn’t like there were six or eight or 10 or 12 people playing, they were like one person.’ They were literally in tears talking to me about how we played against McAuley. If you can get your team to do that, to play together with that kind of success … that’s what I coach for.”

As moved as Dorsey was by the comments, she was more moved to learn that the St. James players had told her husband, assistant coach Bryan Dorsey, that they had wanted to win the match for Dorsey and Bell. It was a gesture that Dorsey said was very moving, but it also may have cost the Thunder a bit in the finals.

“I think emotionally they went over the top in that match, and then in the finals they were so flat,” she said.

Not that it would have mattered much, Dorsey admitted of her team’s 25-14, 25-12 loss to Assumption High, the four-time defending Kentucky state champion and No. 8 ranked team nationally.

“We played a team that played better than any team I’ve ever seen at the high school level,” Dorsey said. “One analyst said they’re the best program in the country.”

Gray earned All-Tournament Team honors for St. James, and she led the Thunder with 69 assists, 12 kills, 20 digs and two aces in the tournament. Brown had 50 assists, 27 kills, 32 digs, four solo blocks and two aces. Blowey had 55 digs for the tournament, a personal best for a tournament. Hanna Forst had 28 kills, a .430 hitting percentage and 10 solo blocks. Brook Jansen posted a team-high 12 solo blocks and also had 24 kills. Kolich had a team-high 31 kills, as well as 29 digs, seven aces and six solo blocks.

The loss in the finals was St. James’ first of the season and dropped the Thunder to 27-1. It also was just their second setback in two years. Dorsey wasn’t worried, however, because she said the tough competition and big-time atmosphere her team experienced would prepare it for anything it would face in the postseason.

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