FSHS volleyball 4-2 at invite

Overland Park — Free State High went 4-2 before losing to Class 5A power Roeland Park Miege in the semifinals of the Johnson County Community College Volleyball Invitational on Saturday at JCCC.

The Firebirds (7-2) beat Kansas City (Mo.) Notre Dame de Sion, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21; Shawnee Mission Northwest, 25-20, 25-22; and Blue Valley West, 25-22, 25-22, but lost, 25-19, 25-19, to Park Hill (Mo.) in pool play.

FSHS beat Blue Valley Northwest, 26-28, 25-13, 26-24, in the quarterfinals before falling to Miege, 25-11, 25-17, in the semis.

“We ended up losing to one of the top teams in 5A in Miege and one of the top team in Missouri, Park Hill, so overall we did a good job,” Free State coach Nancy Hopkins said. “We played great defensively and were very aggressive for this early in the season.”

Jenny Heppert had 28 kills and 26 blocks, and Katelin Karlin had 39 kills and 25 blocks for Free State. Hopkins also cited the defensive play of Jamie Stanclift and Sarah Heider.

Free State will travel Thursday to Olathe South.

Valencia champion at Omaha meet

Omaha, Neb. — Free State High cross country runner Alysha Valencia placed first, and Danny Schneider placed second in their categories Saturday at the Millard South Invitational.

Valencia finished in a time of 15:13; Schneider finished in 16:29.

As a team, the Firebird boys placed second out of 13 squads, and the FSHS girls were sixth out of 11 teams.

McGovern unbeaten at Hiawatha tennis

Hiawatha — Free State High’s Jamie McGovern placed first at No. 2 singles Saturday at the Hiawatha Invitational, posting a 5-0 record. At No. 2 doubles, the Firebird duo of Jessica Luman and Holly Maygers also were unbeaten, at 4-0, and placed first.

Meghan Bock was fourth in No. 1 singles, and Molly Fyler and Laura Watkins did not place at No. 1 doubles.

Also Saturday, Free State sent a team to the Marysville quad in Marysville. Andrea Koch and Leigh Luina placed second in No. 1 doubles, and Julia Guard and Tess Owen were second at No. 2 doubles.