The Shawnee Dispatch / Thunder cruises to title

Archive for Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Dispatch Staff Reports

September 17, 2008

Big schools or small schools: the size of the opponent makes no difference to the St. James Academy volleyball team.

St. James, last year's Class 4A state runner-up, took on a field of 4A and 5A foes on Saturday at the Valley Center Tournament. The Thunder returned home unscathed, winning all five of their matches in the minimum of two games and claiming the tournament title.

They are now 10-0 this season.

St. James thrashed its way through pool play as it dominated Rose Hill (25-9, 25-17), Campus (25-8, 25-11) and traditional Class 5A power Wichita Bishop Carroll (25-5, 25-16).

Then came a hard-fought 25-21, 28-26 victory over Goddard in the semifinals and a 25-14, 25-15 shellacking of Andover - St. James' state semifinal opponent in 2007 - in the tournament finals.

As they've done all season, the Thunder used a balanced attack offensively and defensively to win. Senior Setter Rachel Gray paced the offense with 85 assists and junior setter Lauren Brown had 48 assists. Senior left side hitter Kelly Kolich had a team-high 40 kills, sophomore middle hitter Hanna Forst had 28 kills and senior middle hitter Brook Jansen had 26 kills. Kolich also had a team-best eight aces, and Gray and Jansen had four aces apiece.

Defensively, senior Bridget Blowey had a team-high 43 digs, senior Nia Williams had 31 and Kolich had 25. In addition, Jansen had eight solo blocks and Gray had three solo blocks.