Lawrence High’s volleyball team made it to a championship round of the Joan Wells Invitational on Saturday.

The down side was that it was in the consolation bracket playing in its own school’s west gymnasium.

The Lions showed plenty of physical prowess in all five matches it played, but they won only two of those five matches and walked away with a sixth-place finish, no trophy … and a stern lecture from LHS coach Jo Huntsinger.

Two days after an intense match against Free State High at Olathe East, the stagnant Lions (12-10) were flat in their own tournament.

So what happened since Thursday?

“It’s not even on the physical level,” said senior Bobi Riley, who anchored a majority of Lawrence’s highlights, including a collection of thunderous kills. “It’s really on a mental level.”

Huntsinger knows that.

“We really feel that physically we can be competing with anyone in the state … but we’re having some major issues with competitiveness and drive and priorities,” Huntsinger said. “And that’s going to be the focus of next week’s practice.”

LHS senior Bonnie Toplikar also diagnosed her team’s problem as a case of mental errors.

Lawrence High's Bobi Riley (6) has her shot deflected by Shawnee Heights' Paige Ward (13) in the Joan Wells Invitational. LHS fell to Heights on Saturday at LHS.

“We tried as hard as we could,” Toplikar said. “We weren’t where we were supposed to be. It’s a frustrating day because there some teams we faced that we could have beat. We just didn’t pull through.”

Huntsinger was flabbergasted that a team made of two juniors and seven seniors could have such an evident lack of leadership.

“We don’t compete,” Huntsinger said. “We fold when its tough. We need people to step up, take responsibility and take charge.”

Huntsinger did see some positives during the day, namely the improving play of Riley.

“She’s doing a good job but she needs more help,” Huntsinger said. “Volleyball is the ultimate team sport, and we need everyone to step up. Bobi can’t do it all on her own, even though she tries.”

Lawrence High's Bonnie Toplikar (7) blocks the spike attempt of Shawnee Heights' Whitney Kobbeman during the Joan L. Wells Invitational. The Lions went 2-3 at the event Saturday at LHS.

LHS started the day on a good note with a victory of Blue Valley Northwest (25-14, 25-16), but lost the next two matches in its pool to Park Hill (Mo.) South (25-19, 25-14) and Shawnee Heights (25-18, 25-22).

“We just really took a nose dive from there,” Huntsinger said of the falloff after the win over BVNW.

The Lions won their first match in the consolation bracket in dramatic fashion, defeating Maize, 12-25, 25-13, 27-25.

The third game against Maize was tied at 25. With Lawrence up 26-25, senior Drew DeBiasse almost collided with a section of folded bleachers to hit the ball over her head. Junior Kayla Nolte sent the ball to the opposition’s side.

LHS had wrapped up the final point to move onto the fifth-place game against Shawnee Mission Northwest.

The Lions lost to the Cougars in three games, 25-23, 22-25, 25-11.

Roeland Park Miege beat Park Hill South, 25-6, 18-25, 25-6, for the tournament championship. Wichita Carroll was third after a 25-16, 20-25, 25-22 victory over Shawnee Heights. Blue Valley Northwest was seventh after beating Maize, 19-25, 25-20, 25-19.

Lawrence will be the host school of a quadrangular with Shawnee Mission East, Leavenworth and Lansing on Thursday.